That Thing You Do
There are things we all enjoy about WoW that keeps us glued to the computer day after day. Some folks have been playing every single day since it was still in beta. Others, like myself, have been around since the start of Burning Crusade. And still others are new to the game, having only been introduced to it since the latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Yet something keeps us logging in every night after a long day of work or school and enjoying ourselves and spending $15/month to see our pixelated characters do their thing.
What I wonder is what is it that keeps you logging in? If you’re reading this site, odds are it’s RP-related. God knows, I don’t go giving any helpful hints on how to warlock or rogue. Is that the only facet of the game you enjoy though? What about queuing up for PvP in the battlegrounds? Are you an arena god? Do you raid with horrifying regularity to the tune of seemingly endless wipes in ICC-25 and an affinity for fish feasts?
And now for the hard question: Do you enjoy that aspect of the game you largely focus on? If the answer is “Yes,” kudos to you, you’re playing the game the way you want to. If the answer is “No” or you’re unable to make yourself say “Yes” for any reason, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate the status of your online time within Azeroth.
It should be noted that this isn’t a bad thing. Not at all! I’ve been there more times than I care to recount. Back in BC, I was raiding 6 nights a week 4-5 hours a day until we were finally able to down Illidan. And while I was happier than a pig in mud to have finally downed him, I had a sudden revelation. I didn’t enjoy myself. These 24 other people I was raiding with? Nice enough for the most part, sure. But there wasn’t a connection there. We showed up to raid, did what we had to do, got immensely frustrated far more often than exhilaratingly happy and then logged off for the night after passing out loot or paying stupidly high repair bills. There wasn’t any social aspect to the game, despite us all working towards the same endeavor. Guild chat was mostly non-existent. Raid chat was as well since all communications took place over Vent. There was individual happiness that never felt shared among the raid team.
So I quit.
I quit raiding. Hell, I quit the game for 4 months. My warlock’s gear was vendored or deleted, his bags and bank emptied and the character ultimately removed from my account and deleted as well.
Looking back on it, that was more than a bit extreme, sure. But since then, I’ve reevaluated my personal status and goals in the games countless times (without deleting the characters again, natch). I’ve gone in spurts with what I enjoy about the game, with RP being the major draw that keeps me coming back for more. The other parts? I don’t raid much these days. Maybe I’ll do the raid weekly if I have the time and am even remotely interested in it. Most weeks, though, I pass because I just can’t seem to bring myself to care about it. PvP? I dabble in it, but I don’t do it every single day anymore because very few of my friends share interest in it to do it regularly. So playing alone gets boring after a match or two in Arathi Basin. Arenas? Haven’t set foot in one in a few months.
I’m ok with all of it. I’m fine with my emblem bought gear. I’m fine with the idea that I won’t down (or likely ever see) Arthas. Getting the Justicar title? Probably won’t happen for a very, very long time, if ever. None of that bothers me. Because my goals in-game are being met everytime I sit down to RP or write fic with Anna, Bricu or Loreli.
What about you? Are your goals being met?
Get to the Choppa!
Call in the Cavalry
Make It Count
The Plagueworks (10 player)
The Crimson Hall (10 player)
I play to level and I play to experience the different classes, builds, zones, dungeons, and so on.
Just playing the game in general is what keeps me going, and it doesn’t bother me to do the exact same thing over and over. I’m not a long term goal setter when it comes to games, instead I set a plethora of small goals.
Each time that little lowb dings I’m ready go gain another level. Every time I reach another tier in my talent tree, a gear upgrade drops, some completely useless item with a cool name (Dwarven Fishing Pole on my druid?), or an interesting quest comes my way it’s all refreshing and renews my desire to play.
The same can be said even when I’m power leveling professions by farming with high level toons. 24 stacks of Copper Ore? Nice, time to hit that Tin. 440 Silk Cloth in my bags? Sweet, moving on up.
Social interactions go a long way towards keeping me interested as well, but I could take them or leave them in the long run so long as I was having fun in the game itself. I prefer solo play as I often get frustrated when grouping for quests because I often have such a different play style than other players. I don’t quest to read the text, I don’t care if we’re killing these guys because it hurts Arthas or because it makes that druid over there happy, I quest for the rewards.
At the same time, I could be sitting in town doing absolutely nothing at all and have a blast just chatting it up in gchat or on vent.
But I do need to have something going on, whatever it is. For instance, I can’t be questing in a group and have one person sitting there reading all of the quest text and then tabbing out to go check for where the best location of a quest drop is; I don’t like wasting my time doing nothing. Similarly, I don’t like questing with someone who gets all of their quest drops on the first five mobs and then moves off to do another quest while I’m still waiting on my first drop over here. It’s not a matter of “wait for me”, but rather “why in the world are we bothering to be in a group if we aren’t doing the same thing?”
I’m one of those guys that can have a great time doing almost anything. Almost.
I usually go through phases. For a while, I really enjoyed raiding with my PVE guild. That got old (guild drama ftl), so I moved to Feathermoon to try this RP thing. Playing Windstar made me remember how much I enjoy leveling new characters. By the time she was 80, I was all set to go back to the heriocs/occasional raids again. And now RP is getting very interesting again. And whenever I need another break, I still have a ton of little alts to spend time leveling. And then you toss in all the little stuff, like the holiday events, and proffession grinds. I do almost no PVP at all, just occasional Wintergrasp battles, but it’s always an option, if I ever decide I want to.
I think the variety of things to do, plus the freedom to do whatever I happen to be in the mood for, is what has keeps the game fun for me. I have been playing since release, and I don’t see it ending any time soon.
Well… if judging from the past year, it would seem to be wasting time on alts. For the first six months of that year, I had a blast. I had fun with whatever I was playing.
Right now though, I’m not too sure. I’m reasonably content playing, but I don’t know if I would say happy. That’s probably a bad sign, but I guess because I’m not miserable that it’s ok – just need to find my happy place again.
I’d mention RP, but you’d probably laugh at me
Mostly, if I’m not enjoying an activity, I’ll stop for a few days. Sometimes I do things I don’t enjoy as much for the end result, but I try to have a person to chat with while I’m doing them, which sweetens the experience. There are so many different kinds of things to do in WoW that I can always find something to do that suits my current mood. Well, except RP, which eludes me. I think I just need to chase it harder….
and
Happy birthday!
I take breaks from time to time, just to take a breather. I come back fresh,and find new things to enjoy.
That said Happy Bday!
Happy Birthday, From One Ground Smear to Another!
I take breaks from time to time, just to take a breather. I come back fresh,and find new things to enjoy.
That said Happy Bday!