One of my favorite bloggers, The Game Dame, wrote the other day wondering whether Big Red Kitty had actually left WoW.
Interesting this should come up at this point in time. While I miss Daniel blogging as BRK, I’m enjoying his new effort, Brain Needed Space. However, I’m finding mine does too, lately.
While my WoW-playing hasn’t lessened a lot, it hasn’t increased, and Elune knows I have plenty of opportunity, being retired.
Saturday, I logged in for about 90 seconds, then spent the rest of the day (and evening, missing the potential to raid) amusing myself in other ways. (Yes, I was still on the computer, and yes, most of the time was spent playing around with the theme for my (ostensibly WoW-oriented) blog.)
But I didn’t miss the game, nor did I have any angst whatsoever. It was nice to not feel like I had to log in, to help the Guild. (Not conceit: We’re woefully short on healers, so my absence could mean "no raid.")
The thing is, so much of WoW now has that "been there, done that" feel to it. Dailies…blessing or curse? World Events…blessing or curse (especially those with dailies tied to them, such as the Argent Tournament)? I don’t appreciate the feeling I (sometimes) have, that I’m “falling behind.”
Behind what, or whom? I have almost 20K gold among my characters; I’d bet that puts me in the top 10 percent of all WoW players (anyone know if there’s a site that has that sort of stat, to satisfy my intellectual curiosity?).
I am a guild officer and healing coordinator; I really am a better-than-average healer. I can get into a heroic 5-man or a Naxx run any time I have the desire (with respect to heroics, especially, I don’t often have the desire: what can I possibly get with badges that I “need”?). So my options within the game aren’t really limited: I do know how to occupy time in the game.
However, with the exception of a couple pieces that drop from Kel’Thuzad, Sartharion 2D/3D and heroic Malygos, I can only upgrade my gear in Ulduar, and only one or two items would come from 10-man. But I still enjoy raiding, when it feels more like fun than work.
I wouldn’t say I’m becoming disenchanted with WoW. Rather, I’m just not as enchanted as I once was.
Lately, it’s felt like work: We’ve struggled mightily to get enough people for a 25-man raid. We didn’t get into Ulduar-25 last week, and have managed only one foray there this week. Friday night, I felt obligated to join a 10-man guild run to Ulduar, and while it was fun, to some extent, I’d have much preferred wiping seven or eight times on XT-002 Deconstructor in Heroic mode, rather than regular.
I seriously doubt I’ll be leaving WoW anytime soon; however, an ad at Wowhead for the beta of a steampunk1-oriented MMORPG2 piqued my interest; the first time in four-and-a-half years I’ve had even the slightest hint of interest in even looking at another online game. (WTB multiplayer Fluxx!)
I wouldn’t say I’m becoming disenchanted with WoW. Rather, I’m just not as enchanted as I once was. (Hey…I can tell the difference!)
So what keeps me coming back? I’m sure you can guess: My friends; two of them especially. The three of us have been together in game for four years now, and I would venture to say we enjoy each others’ company considerably. While we all enjoy raiding, we can be just as happy (happier, probably, since we tolerate our own failures a lot more easily than we do some of the noobishness of some of our guildmates) grouped together for some lowbie quests, as well as doing 5-man quests at too low a level with just the three of us.
I know we’ve had a couple notable departures from the ranks of WoW bloggers of late, but for those of you who don’t blog (okay, even if you do!), what are your feelings about the game these days? Is something missing for you? Did it fall overboard on the journey to Northrend? Or did you lose it while flying from Naxxramas to Ulduar?
- Incidentally, if you’re a fan of Steampunk, I highly recommend you check out Choose: an online choose-your-own-adventure, “audience participation” novel (or interactive web serial) by Tami Moore (aka Vonya, the Egotistical Priest). ↩
- Edit: I neglected to include the URL in the original posting of this article, even after refreshing Wowhead dozens of times to get the ad to pop again. My apologies! ↩
I have times where I do the same thing. Or I did. Alot of mine comes from social angst though. Guild chat dead? I’m not playing. I’ve just come off a period of the “blahs” myself, and I’m in a new guild. I’ve wanted to play MORE in the last week than I have in the last few months. I find no matter how low, I always get out of my funks and go back, and find something fun to work on.
I still have just as much draw to the game as I always did. That may be in large part due to my play style being focused more towards leveling, questing, and farming than it is towards raiding.
If there’s anything that’s changed that has had any impact at all it would be the frenzy that everyone is in right now to have 80s with BiS gear with business-like mentality for how the game should be played.
If I were in your particular situation, I probably would be bored. My solution to it would likely be to roll another toon on a brand new server and start over from scratch. But, that’s just how I roll.
Psynister last blogged about Paladin AoE Grinding: Basics.
In fact, some of my most fun now comes from playing my level 75 rogue.
I’m hardly a “hardcore” raider, although I’m more hardcore than I once was. I enjoy the challenge of the encounters; the loot is okay, but that’s not the main draw for me. Unfortunately, there is a vicious circle at play: To raid deeper, you need better gear; to get better gear, you have to raid more.
Well I’ve only recently (6 weeks-ish now) returned from a 7 month hiatus from WoW, meaning I missed the end of BC and beginning of Wrath so I am still pretty interested. I don’t really raid for quite a lot of reasons, though I have done 1.5 clears of Naxx 10 and a Sarth 10 kill, but I find I still really enjoy running heroics and doing dailies. I like the Argent Tourney quite a bit, though I am horrible at jousting and make a friend do it for me.
I like achievements and getting rep, and said friend and I have been working through all the old BC heroics that my current Druid never completed. However, if I don’t feel like logging in I just don’t and that’s just fine too. Some days I log in not at all and some weekends when I’m not working (the precious few) I can find 4-6 hours worth of things to do in a given day.
Awlbiste last blogged about Price of Admission.
I enjoy, to some extent, rep grinds and achievements too. However, my main is a Holy Priest–so while I have no problem killing anything in the game anyone else can kill solo, it just takes a while–almost as long as it does a pally! (Oh wait…that is so old-school.
)
Yes, I know I could dual-spec Shadow; but I made it Disc instead. Ah well…
Being absent for a while myself (40 days may not be as much as ~40 weeks as Awlbiste mentioned, but absence is absence, right?), I also felt the nice things about not having to log back in. But that absence made my heart grow fonder, but not in the sense that I needed to get back into the whole hardcore raiding thing, but I wanted to simply experience more of what the game had provided.
Now I’m about to start getting into Ulduar 10′s, There’s a bunch of holiday events that I absolute LOVE doing. I’m itching to try my hand at PvP. I’m so enThralled about Horde lore that I’m interested in potentially levelling an Orc just so I could immerse myself into its story. WoW is a spectacular universe, and I hope you can continue to enjoy it for what it is, rather than what it ought to be.
krizzlybear last blogged about Random Recipe: Bacon Double Cheeseburger Quesadilla.
I went through a period just like you, only it was a few weeks ago. I found letting go of my my responsibilities as Recruiting Officer cleared up a lot for me immediately. We all love this game so much, that sometimes we try and do too much.
I’m not saying you should stop being an Officer or a healer, but maybe it’s partly contributing to your malaise, especially if you’re having problems getting off the ground in 25′s. And if that’s where you want to be, it’s harsh to say.. but maybe start looking around. I’m sure you know there’s plenty of guilds on KT knee-deep in Ulduar by now, and they’re all always scrambling for healers.
Though I think we might be opposites that way. I’ve liked the 10′s more then the 25′s of Ulduar so far. But I think it’s more being able to go w/ 9 other people who will want to try the crazy hardmodes and wipe all night because we like it, and the fun ‘competition’ between 10′s groups. The plus is that we always go back to 25′s the next night with a ton of information we didn’t have previously.
Carmello last blogged about Of Twins and Heroes.
There are two problems with looking at a new guild: First, the aforementioned friends. We’re kind of a package deal (and a helluva good package, I might add). Second, I’ve earned a LOT of gear with Oro, and leaving them (now) for another guild would just not sit right with me: I feel I owe them the opportunity to try to succeed in Ulduar.
Regarding 10s: I wouldn’t mind that, if I could pick the group. AND if we could have the same 10 people raiding each night. Unfortunately, that simply isn’t the case, right now.
Nick Yee wrote an article on the Daedelus project about player lifecycles – http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001646.php Basically the longer you play for, the more likely you are to go through burnout and end up playing casually.
For me raiding and being an Officer means sacrificing other things in RL and the benefits of playing in what Yee calls the Mastery phase are just not balancing out with the RL sacrifices. So I’ve taken some time off at the moment to get on with RL activities. Last night I got called into a raid because we were short on healers, and I did enjoy it a lot more than I have for some time even though we just wiped a lot.
Sometimes we joke WoW is like a second job, so my recommendation is to take some annual leave! Even if you are an Officer (I am also) and even if you are just starting on new content like Ulduar.
Actually, I did just take 10 days off last month, and I’ll be gone for most of June as well. Since the time off last month was spent dealing with my mother-in-law’s passing, it was hardly a vacation.
The time in June should definitely recharge me in a lot of ways.
I haven’t been playing as much as usual, but that’s more because of things going on in my life than anything else. There are only so many hours in the day!
Good luck fighting your own burnout. I’m sure you’ll come through the other side eager as always!
I find that once the weather starts turning nice, it’s a whole lot easier to start entertaining yourself with things outside of WoW. Let’s be honest here, if it’s a weekend and 80 degrees outside would you rather (a) raid Ulduar on the computer, or (b) call up the guys, fire up the grill, and pop the top on a few brews? I know which one I’m picking.
I hear you there, Brimm! And while I’m not the gardener my wife is, I have NO problem sitting out on the deck with a cold one, watching other people work.
Trouble is, we haven’t had nice weather yet. (I’m no longer counting the two days in the 80s we had last week, since we had snow all weekend, and the forecast is rain all week.)
I’m still very happy playing the game, though I play in different ways now than I have been in recent months. My guild raids, and I’ve been a raider off-and-on since I dinged 60 in vanilla WoW. I take my time with leveling, but once I hit the cap, I raid. Recently, the gear-check on Flame Leviathan combined with a crazy schedule at work (thanks to everyone in my department wanting vacation) has put a halt to my raiding completely. I wasn’t able to hit Naxx as much as others, and my guild refuses to carry people, so until I can add some iLevel points to my gear, I’m out for the count.
I find that I don’t really mind. Hubby and I set up a recruit-a-friend thing, and played two characters to 60. We’re working on a second set now, though the bonus time is getting short. I’m still having a ton of fun. I can log in, do my dailies, whatever, then go back to the new set of alts and just… play. It’s much more relaxing than… OMG I just got out of work, do I have arrows? Flasks? Am I repaired? Ack ack ACK raid starts in ten minutes and I’m NOT READY because I had to work later than I thought!!! Raiding is awesome, but right now in my guild it’s very much srs bsns, and I’m just not in that mindset.
Asara last blogged about I got a new toy!.
I find my boredom with the game is cured by taking a day or two off.
Granted I’m not a raider so my absence isn’t felt in that manner.
Even if it were, I’d still take thay break. RL>WoW.
Or somesuch nonsense.
Nonsense, I say! Nonsense!
WoW always slightly loses me in the Spring, which culminates in me barely playing come July.
My guild is casual – we don’t rush content like other guilds seem to. We’re still dorking around in Naxx-10. Ulduar will be around for a long time. So there are a lot of things that are still new to us. I’ve yet to see Emalon or anything past FL in Ulduar. And that’s cool.
The best cure for the blahs is a nice break though.
Kimberly last blogged about Achievement Roll Call.
On Twitter: @ladygypsy
I think it’s cyclical. Three months ago I could barely be bothered to log on, and now I am 100% WoW-centric. It’s nice to talk some time off, mentally if nothing else, and then come back swinging when it piques your interest again. I think it’s the nature of a hobby that spans years.
Liore last blogged about Guild Leader-ing and Drama: a whine.
I am deep in the middle of a set of blahs right now myself.
Once I made 80 and got reletively geared I found that other than dailys there was really not much to do. I don’t PvP much at all, and since I can no longer buy anything worth having without an arena rating I don’t even do battle grounds.
I don’t do dailys for cash anymore, not since I started making money with the AH. I suppose I am down to leveling alts and occasionally raiding when time allows.
Dechion last blogged about Way beyond grumpy.
I’ve gone through several stages lately. From leaving my hardcore alliance raiding guild, to focusing on my horde guild 99%. (My best friend is GL, i am co-GL). Now I end up doing alot of ‘work’ in guild,
which is kinda burning out in itself.
Whats surprising to me is I don’t raid much at all any more, whereas I used to raid 3 nights a week or more. My wife got so fed up with it that it was a ‘her or me’ situation. And I don’t really miss it. Sure, sometimes I do, but since I have a 80 hunter, 73 warlock , 70 DK…and a 40 druid, I know I will not get into a raid any time soon with those toons. Maybe when my druid hits 80 in six months or so.
Anyway, for me it got to the point where I would have my alts gquit, and play them for a while, or just not logging in. There was so much drama in the horde guild that I had to deal with, that pretty much kills your interest, fast.
Anyway I discovered that my best friend, my wife, and I, can 3 man instances our level (paly/druid/lock combo), and we set aside some time friday nights to do that, just 1.5 or maybe 2 hours, and this is what I look forward to more than anything in-game or out. All 3 of us are so busy, that to play together for that much time is a huge sacrifice. We make the most of it, and have a good time. We like not having to deal with the PUG issues (my wife absolutely refuses to play with anyone except me and my best friend).
I have barely started argent tourny (i did my first daily yesterday), and nobel-garden I may pass on. My biggest pleasure right now? Blowing through zones on my DK. After some 40 hours of play, I’m at level 70. The levels are going faster than my druid at level 40. Its insanely fun and rewarding to just chop through everything like swiss cheese. If it weren’t for the DK, i probably wouldn’t be playing. Anyway, maybe try another toon or another MMO with your friends, it may be what the doctor ordered. I do know that my druid is going to be the last toon i level, and i can’t see myself playing much beyond christmas.
My life is getting so busy, and my wife is getting burned out fast. I think I would relish having so much to do I can’t log in to WoW.
I think there is a definite life-cycle to any hobby or game, and many of us have reached the point where we’ve seen everything there is to be seen.
(sorry for the extremely long comment).
I’m going through something similar. To me, Ulduar ended up demanding more than I had the time or energy for. It didn’t matter that it was new content. I’m still not sure what I’ll end up doing tbh.
Kel last blogged about Rethinking WoW #3: Time available.
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[...] April 28, 2009 The more you tighten your grip, the more will slip through your fingers Posted by Dechion under random ravings No Comments Yesterday Kestrel of Kestrel’s Aerie asked a bit of a thought provoking question. He asked “Is Wow losing it’s hold?“ [...]
Well, I still see mr. RK occasionally online. I believe that he’s taken blogging for WOW off the table, but still plays occasionally when he has nothing better to do
very timely post, kestrel.
I dohave to agree with a lot of the posting, but i do think some of it is being an officer in a guild. Having to push people, organize, do strategies, dkp, roster, etc… does take some of the fun out of it.
Derevka last blogged about Kologarn Healing Tips.
I haven’t been on WoW for about three weeks now other than to raid once or twice a week. Lately, I’ve been spending most of my free time (what little of it I have any more) messing around on the internet – playing with my website, watching stuff on YouTube, reading Wired, etc etc.
Bacclor last blogged about Who Thinks I Should Mess With Twitter?.
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I did something new in the game recently and began to level a toon on another server…a PVE server. I’m not sure why really. My good friend created a character there and so I thought I would mix things up and join with her in another realm as I feeling a tad blah and thought the change would do me good. To be honest it has been refreshing. Starting a toon from scratch with no gold, no horde and meeting new people. Its been a positive experience thus far.
I’ve had periods where I took short breaks from the game as well. Its impossible to keep up the “rush” you often get from the game, so I think changing it up or taking a break is a good way to see the game freshly.
Cathy last blogged about Authenticators – An Absolute Must.
I can at the moment come up with 4 things that’s making me loose interest in WoW.
1. Playing just to flee reality
2. Grinding (number 1 tends to end up here)
3. The feeling a have to raid
4. Playing too much
At the moment I’m looking a bit too much at number 3 and 4 and I might very well take a break in a little while even if I’m cutting down on the raiding starting last week.
Nice post.
Personally I’ve taken up a Warlock alt which is very fun to play with; she’s not in a guild atm and since I rarely play single-player games anymore that’s a welcome change, to get away from people. 
The only thing I do with my main (holy paladin) and my lvl 80 DK right now is raiding and farming herbs (which is awfully fun, strangely enough). No dailies, I’ve sworn to myself never to do a daily again. Now that Ulduar has come out, raiding is alot of fun again since I got bored of Naxx as an instance after the first weeks (even though the raids were okay).
Like Bornakk or whoever said on the official forums, “If you don’t want the hat you do not need to get it.” I thought that summed it up pretty good.
This post scared me as I was reading it because it was like reading my own story right now all the details were spot on.
I believe that the reason so many long term, non bleeding edge raiders feel this way is that the challenging content simply was not there for the first 6 months of Wrath. Sure, Ulduar has now fixed that problem but sadly so many people have joined the pug raiding band wagon that small guilds have lost a lot of core players meaning getting guild runs together is difficult and recruiting healers right now on Shadowsong EU (and presumably the rest of WoW realms) is almost impossible.
I am hopeful that things will get better as the pugs hit the brick walls in Ulduar where you need the organisation to get through them but tim will be the judge of that.
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I thought I was through with WoW on April 1st, but after about a month and a half of trying other games, I found I really liked the way WoW played – especially hunters.
So…I came back, but I don’t plan on raiding, and I do plan on wasting time if it suits me.