Bored with WoW?

[John Keefer]

I'm looking to do a story on people who may be bored with the game, although I want both sides. If you play WoW, and played Wrath of the Lich King and wouldn't mind talking a bit about it via some email questions, PM me or zip me an email.

Thanks!

John

[Pogo]

PogoTribal at hotmail

I quit the game after playing the WotLK beta, so if you're just talking specifically about WotLK then I guess I don't qualify, but I imagine any issue anyone had with WotLK pretty much still applies to TBC.

[MarchHare]

I imagine any issue anyone had with WotLK pretty much still applies to TBC.

Not necessarily. I think one of the main reasons people are bored with WoW at the moment is that the existing level 80 raid content is "too easy" and there are no new challenges remaining until the Ulduar raid is released in patch 3.1. Contrast that with the last few raid instances in TBC which were so hard that only a tiny fraction of the playerbase got to experience them.

Personally, I'm still really enjoying WoW despite having all the raids on farm-status for several weeks (10-man mode, at least, we don't often run 25-man raids). Screw the uber poopsock catass players who want content so hard that less than 3% of the WoW population will ever see it. I'm happy with Wrath's raid difficulty as it is.

[Demon G Sides]

I'm looking to do a story on people who may be bored with the game, although I want both sides. If you play WoW, and played Wrath of the Lich King and wouldn't mind talking a bit about it via some email questions, PM me or zip me an email.

Thanks!

John

I never even got to the Witch King beta before quitting.

[idrisz]

I never even got to the Witch King beta before quitting.

Yeah I'm sure all of the WOW players are waiting on the Witch King beta too.

[Anaxagoras]

Yeah I'm sure all of the WOW players are waiting on the Witch King beta too.

You sad, sad man.

[Eric T Cheng]

Not necessarily. I think one of the main reasons people are bored with WoW at the moment is that the existing level 80 raid content is "too easy" and there are no new challenges remaining until the Ulduar raid is released in patch 3.1. Contrast that with the last few raid instances in TBC which were so hard that only a tiny fraction of the playerbase got to experience them.

I think the fact that Blizzard got rid of the attunements played a part in the instances being "easy."

I never saw the end bosses for BWL, SSC, TK and BT, until I pugged them at level 80 for the Achievements. A lot of people didn't get the attunement for SSC and my guild at the time only managed to do SSC after Blizzard dropped the attunement for it.

[Demon G Sides]

Yeah I'm not correcting it. He looks like Er Murazor, so sue me.

[Jab2565]

I stopped playing Wow awhile ago somewhere in the mid 40s but this was before the expansions would that be ok for your story?

[noun]

I wouldn't say I got bored with it, exactly. There was always something to do and usually it was satisfying if not always "fun". The problem with WoW was the ungodly and perpetual time commitment it demands, especially post 60. This game is not for anyone planning to do anything else with their life and that's just wrong.

[Fugitive]

I don't know if I'd say I'm really bored with WoW, but I am taking a bit of a break from it right now just to avoid getting too frustrated.

WotLK triggered the explorer/achiever itch in me and lured me back in, but I'd fallen way behind my friends, who were long since level 70 and in high-end gear while my warrior was still 36 (I probably should have just transferred my 66 priest from another server, but it felt too redundant with a friend with an uber-geared priest already). I spent most of my time since WotLK launched just leveling up and working through the rest of the BC content that I hadn't yet seen with my priest, and even now I'm still only 71.

I did everything solo along the way partly since there were always too many solo quests to be done, and partly because I'd been shying away from pickup groups after getting constantly spammed with the most moronic group and guild invites. The intent was to play with my friends, but they haven't been available either, since they're always getting dragged away to do guild stuff.

So, when I finally reached the WotLK areas, I sat back and realized that I'd developed a level 71 prot warrior that's never actually tanked in an instance, trying to catch up to friends I can't play with in a guild that's not interested in me and what the hell am I doing here??? I did still enjoy soloing in WoW, but there's still only so many "go kill X of Y" quests I can take before it becomes stale (the reason I'd abandoned my 66 priest in the first place), so I'm now on a bit of a break to let my interest 'recharge' a bit.

[Infinity]

PM'd you John,

[Gordon Cameron]

I'm thrilled to say that I'm bored with WoW. Canceled my account a little while ago after playing Lich King for a bit and realizing I wasn't enjoying myself. I sincerely hope my disenchantment remains, because I want that monkey off my back already.

[Old Man Gravy]

I'm thrilled to say that I'm bored with WoW.

DING GRATZ

[z22]

I was having a fun time slowly leveling up to 80 (I'm L76 right now). One of my main mods (Macaroon) doesn't work after Tuesday's patch and I don't have it in my to find, learn, and configure a different buttonbar mod, so instead I'm waiting until the mod is fixed.

I go waaay overboard tweaking my GUI, usually spending 5-12 hours just setting up the GUI where I like it and how keys are bound, so any change is a painful process for me.

I guess I'm bored, but not of WoW, because I can't play WoW. I doubt this helps. ;[

[Pogo]

I'm thrilled to say that I'm bored with WoW. Canceled my account a little while ago after playing Lich King for a bit and realizing I wasn't enjoying myself. I sincerely hope my disenchantment remains, because I want that monkey off my back already.
I'm happy for you. After a couple of weeks, all that time you spent playing and paying for WoW will be like a distant memory. Once in a while you're remember some moment that you treasure, something that wouldn't have been possible had you never played, but for the most part you'll wondering why you ever spent so much time playing in the first place.

Not necessarily. I think one of the main reasons people are bored with WoW at the moment is that the existing level 80 raid content is "too easy" and there are no new challenges remaining until the Ulduar raid is released in patch 3.1. Contrast that with the last few raid instances in TBC which were so hard that only a tiny fraction of the playerbase got to experience them.
Actually, what you described was pretty much how raiding has always worked. Doable content to start, getting progressively (infuriatingly) harder, introducing gear checks to make sure you ran previous content dozens of times for enough DPS/HPS, like a good little paying ant.

The only difference now appears to be that the content is more accessible from the start, and it only took 4 years for Blizzard to learn that this is a good thing!

[BigWeather]

The best part of WoW to me is quitting -- I always feel like a million bucks when I do it. Every time!

(The above is true, but I think it is really sticking this time. I'm at an age where I value time far, far more than money and WoW (and all MMOs) are way out of whack on the time v. fun scale.)

[Johan A]

I'm kind of bored.. I liked being a casual raider that had tough fights, and was happy killing Illidan before 3.0 came out, but like 10 months after the elitists.

Now we've killed everything possible and is farming it once night a week since over a month.

[malkav11]

I got bored with WoW around level 43, long before Burning Crusade even came out. I cancelled my account back in September of 2005. But Lich King looks cool enough that despite that and my incredibly low opinion of Blizzard's account admin department, I'm being sucked back in.

Of course, to see WotLK content I'm going to have to get through 1-70* first. We'll see how *that* goes.

*This is the reason for my extremely low opinion of Account Admin.

[intruder]

Here are my gripes with WoW right now:

In one word: too easy

I already found various changes from patch 3.0.8 that cater even more to the casual players:

- additional rep with Sons of Hodir by handing in Relicts that are BoE now (were soulbound)

- Fast opening of containers (quest items) and veins

- Grobbulus got a nerf in Naxx 10 (poison clouds tick far less)

- Heroic Oculus end boss has been nerfed as well (my opinion)
less HP and less damage

- Certain achievements have been made easier by asking for less quests / increasing time to do them

- Cooking daily quest requirements have been nerfed (4 Northern Stews instead of 12)

- Alchemy requirements have been nerfed (Cooldowns and materials). Same for enchanting.

Each point alone doesn't look so bad however them combined + the already too easy expansion content makes the game trivial.


Now to the expansion:

- Leveling is too easy because quests are chained automatically. Once you accept a quest often 2-3 others "light up" that are done in the same area or ask for drops from quest mobs.

- Reputation is gained too easily / too fast with the tabards + daily quests.

- Some BOE blues are the best non-raid items and easily aquired from the AH. Example: Runic Dark Mantle for warlocks.

- Instances / raids are too easy. No need to buff with food / potions.
No need for attunements to anything but Malygos (and then only one in raid needs to be attuned). Trash is aoe'd and hardly any use for cc

- Deathknights are overpowered + get mounts, gold and first levels in totally easy mode. No need to know about speccs for leveling. Take what you want and go.

- Gold is too easily aquired. Same with gathering. No need to sell anything on AH. Banks are full with shit that is not used.


My personal situation:

a) Rogue, lvl 80 (main):

- Geared in badge gear + T7 + Naxx items. Needs 2 more items from Naxx + 2 optional. Needs 1-2 items from OS 25, 2 T 7.5 items from VoA 25. Will need the OH from Malygos once we tackle him (still missing HOT healers).
Exalted with everyone but Oracles:

Current activities:

- Doing cooking daily to get 8 more badges for recipes
- Doing Oracle dailies to get exalted (9-10 days remaining)
- Running Naxx 10, OS 25, VoA 25
- Waiting for Malygos
- Doing achievements

Play time needed per week: 8-10 hours (unless he does Naxx)


b) Warlock, lvl 80 (Alt):

- geared in badge gear, blues and some Naxx 10 items. Could use 4-5 items from Heroics, 4-5 items from Naxx, 2x T7 from VoA 10 and 2 x T7.5 from VoA 25. 1 item from OS 25. Malygod once we do it.
Close to be exalted with all important factions in WoTLK.

Current activities:

- Running Heroic UK, UP, VH, Old Kingdom for items / rep.
- Getting exalted with Ebon Blade (15000/21000)
- Getting exalted with Kau'lak (12000/21000) with quests in Howling Fjord to go
- Getting exalted with Sons of Hodir (1240/21000) without using Relics
- Doing transmutes and Research to discover Alchemy recipes
- Running Naxx 10
- Running VoA 10
- Running VoA 25
- Running OS 10
- Running OS 25
- Waiting for Malygos

My situation after this weekend will be:

- Cooking daily for 5 more days
- Heroic UK, UP, VH, Old Kingdom if my drop luck / dice roll luck sucks
- Oracles for 1 more week
- Sons of Hodir for 1 more week
- Transmutions / research (maybe some farming depending on luck)
- Raiding 1-2 days and pugging 25 man content
- Achievements in the old worlds for main

My situation in 2-3 weeks will be:

- Transmutions / research (maybe some farming) if my luck sucks
- Raiding 1-2 days and pugging 25 man content
- Switching from Oracles to Frenzyheart and back for rep item (bottle / egg) until the items drop (pet, mount, item to turn into Wolfar)
- Achievements
- Hopefully tackle Malygos and then put him on farm
- Running Sister dailies in Stormpeaks for mount drop / Troll Patrol daily for trinket / look for Time-Lost Proto-Drake (to do at least something)
- Waiting for new content

Pretty bleak or?

[Jag]

I'm bored, but I play nonstop despite boredom. I've cleared everything in WOTLK and pretty much geared my main fully (except a few pieces I don't really care about). I'm now working on my alt which is more interesting since its a completely different playstyle.

Part of what keeps me going is my guild asked me to be an officer even though I really didn't want to. It doesn't take any of my time and after 4-5 years I felt I should give something back to the guild that has given me so much entertainment and fun (I like the people in it). If it wasn't for that, maybe I would take a break. Who knows.

[Wallapuctus]

I quit because my cyber sex guild broke up.

[unbongwah]

I think one of the main reasons people are bored with WoW at the moment is that the existing level 80 raid content is "too easy" and there are no new challenges remaining until the Ulduar raid is released in patch 3.1.
That presumes people last that long before getting bored with WoW. [Or do you just mean current WoW subscribers who have gotten bored?] I made it to the mid-30s before quitting a few years ago. I tried Burning Crusade, but I just couldn't bring myself to level up another new character and stopped after an hour.
I'm at an age where I value time far, far more than money and WoW (and all MMOs) are way out of whack on the time v. fun scale.
Yeah, same: MP games like L4D fit both my limited free time and my ADD personality way better than any MMORPG - way less time wasted getting to the "good stuff."

EDIT: what this guy says about RE4 vs KH (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b8G8delDlk) applies pretty well to my views on L4D vs WoW.

[Joe M.]

I'd probably be dreadfully bored if I hadn't had an old guild ask me to come play a ret paladin in their raids. So now I tank two nights, and DPS for those guys whenever I can. I find 'the grind' (gear, rep, random novelty items) a lot more enjoyable on a toon that puts out ridiculous damage.

[Skipper]

I'm of the completely opposite type right now. I had quit WoW a few months ago but fired my accounts back up for Lich King. I'm now completely readdicted and having a blast.

[EvilIdler]

I play a few hours now and then (about a level, then I'm bored till the next day and rested XP bonus). It still looks like a kiddie game.

Big, fat gold-seller banner at the top now, by the way. Fuck Google.

[AndrewM]

I've been spending most of my time in game leveling alts (to experience the old world content I haven't seen) and making money on the auction house, which has turned into an amusing mini game on its own. Though trying to sell inscriptions is frustrating, as there so many to keep track of, and so many people trying to sell them. What I need is a mod that will tell me which of X items aren't currently being sold for under, say, 10 gold.

[Mysterio]

I've been spending most of my time in game leveling alts (to experience the old world content I haven't seen) and making money on the auction house, which has turned into an amusing mini game on its own. Though trying to sell inscriptions is frustrating, as there so many to keep track of, and so many people trying to sell them. What I need is a mod that will tell me which of X items aren't currently being sold for under, say, 10 gold.

Just use AuctioneerSuite (http://auctioneeraddon.com/dl/#preview). It will tell you whether existing auctions for an item are above or below the market value, and whether or not you can undercut them. It takes some time to understand all the info it makes available to you, but it makes "playing" the AH much easier.

[AndrewM]

Just use AuctioneerSuite (http://auctioneeraddon.com/dl/#preview). It will tell you whether existing auctions for an item are above or below the market value, and whether or not you can undercut them. It takes some time to understand all the info it makes available to you, but it makes "playing" the AH much easier.

I do use Auctioneer. But that's not the information I'd like. What I want is to be able to have a list of glyphs that I know sell for a decent amount, and some how click a single button to get a list of all of the glyphs from that set that are either not currently listed or are only listed for stupid prices (like above 50 gold, say).

But yes, Auctioneer does have a ton of features. Maybe something like this exists already. Though I am having some odd bugs with it. Sometimes listings for an item don't show up in the Appraiser when they do show up in a regular scan, so I'll think I've lucked into a situation where nobody has listed a particular item, but there are actually 10 of them. I should check out the Auctioneer page to see if there are any fixes.

[Dave Long]

Are you running an auction scan each time you go to sell things? You need to do that.

[walTer]

For the first time, I am actually looking forward to playing AFTER I hit the level cap. Blizz has done a wonderful job with LK-the phasing after questlines, the DK intro zone, the new cinematics after quest lines, Wintergrasp (of which I have not even tried yet)...

Stupid game.

Oh and I scan the AH while at work- it's great for that.

[AndrewM]

Are you running an auction scan each time you go to sell things? You need to do that.

Yes. As I said, it mostly works, but for some specific items even after I scan nothing shows up for them in the appraiser, while they do show up on the main scanning window.

Oh and I scan the AH while at work- it's great for that.

The latest version of Auctioneer has some kind of Turbo Scan button that only takes a few minutes to scan on my server, as opposed to the regular scan, which takes 15 minutes. It looks like a fast forward button. I don't know how long they've had it, but I only recently noticed it.

[Lorini]

When you are looking at an item using Appraiser, press Refresh and you'll get a live count of who is selling that item for how much.

For the topic at hand, I am not really bored of WoW, but I am taking another look at what I want to do in my life, and in order to do some stuff that has nothing to do with games (like find another career) I will have to cut back on gaming including WoW.

[Mysterio]

For the topic at hand, I am not really bored of WoW, but I am taking another look at what I want to do in my life, and in order to do some stuff that has nothing to do with games (like find another career) I will have to cut back on gaming including WoW.

You, too, huh? I suppose we're two peas in a pod in this regard.

[AndrewM]

When you are looking at an item using Appraiser, press Refresh and you'll get a live count of who is selling that item for how much.

I know, but for a few items it doesn't work, instead just bringing up a blank screen when you hit refresh (even though there are items for sale), which is what I am trying (apparently very poorly :) to convey.

Anyways, back on the topic of boredom with WoW, I think my new goal will be to hit the money cap on a character (214k gold, at least as of last year). Seems doable, though the market I make most of my money in (blacksmithing) could easily dry up, once everybody is running level 80 dungeons.

[RepoMan]

Yes, I am deeply bored with WOW. I haven't played in something like three years, after a brief flirtation with it which ended when I realized that I didn't care nearly enough to commit to playing it on a schedule, which meant that I couldn't keep up with my chronically addicted friends leveling-wise, which sucked all the fun right out of it. And since then all the new expansions etc. just look like MOTSOS.

(Wow, nice, I just made up that acronym and it's already on Google! heh)

Oh, you mean you didn't care about what I thought? THEN WHY'D YOU ASK THE QUESTION, SPARKLEPANTS?

[AaronSofaer]

I don't understand why people think or assume WoW has to eat your life for you to enjoy it.

[Wolff]

TLDR: Post above this one :D

Just a question

Why are so many x-wow players (as exemplified by some responses in this thread)...

"I'm thrilled to say that I'm bored with WoW."

"I'm happy for you. After a couple of weeks, all that time you spent playing and paying for WoW will be like a distant memory. Once in a while you're remember some moment that you treasure, something that wouldn't have been possible had you never played, but for the most part you'll wondering why you ever spent so much time playing in the first place."

...see not playing wow anymore as some form of accomplishment to be lauded? Do you congratulate someone when they step away form GTA4 or GoW2?

Seems like much deeper addiction problems at work here then any fault of the game itself. Neglecting your family, friends, work for any pasttime is unhealthy. Yes wow is a perpetual grind (carrot on the proverbial stick) else there would be no reason to resub each month but if you are not enjoying the game why keep going? You do not need to spend 40 hours a week playing wow to experience the content it offers (especially currently).

These replies remind me of the grand page long posts on the wow forums announcing that someone isn't gonna play anymore and really what's the point of that.

I for one have come and gone from wow before no big deal. Currently I've been playing routinely since slightly before BC. I keep playing because of the community of friends I've made in my guild and WoW scratches my pop monster-pinatas for more loot to pop bigger pinatas itch better than any other game I've ever played.

I also do take the time to explore other titles out there as well. One of the best things wow has done for my own video game critique is for me to find 6 hours of content for sixty dollars unacceptable and imho that's a great thing.

[Athryn]

I think it's the same reason that people get so mortally offended at shows like BSG or Star Wars and feeling that they've been "ripped off" by the creators or something.

AKA it's standard nerd rage.

[Pogo]

Do you congratulate someone when they step away form GTA4 or GoW2?
If either of those games are taking time away from more important things in their life, sure.

Seems like much deeper addiction problems at work here then any fault of the game itself. Neglecting your family, friends, work for any pasttime is unhealthy. Yes wow is a perpetual grind (carrot on the proverbial stick) else there would be no reason to resub each month but if you are not enjoying the game why keep going? You do not need to spend 40 hours a week playing wow to experience the content it offers (especially currently).
It's easy for some people to go overboard. Seeing the traditional WoW content required raiding, and raiding required a lot of time spent not having fun. It's pretty simple. You may not have had to spend 40 hours a week, but seeing the content in early TBC or in early original WoW required 15-20 hours a week.

When you're taking time away from your life because you feel a social obligation to people who, for the most part, only care about you in a superficial manner, there's a problem. It's not a problem everyone has, but there are a lot of people who would know what I'm talking about. This is a game that is specifically engineered to trigger Pavlovian responses. It's not the first game to do so, but it's certainly the first to do so at the scale of 10 million people. Combined with the very well-designed social features, and the character attachment and feelings of ownership and progression, WoW can make people feel very obliged to keep playing way past the point where they're no longer really having fun.

It's not unique to WoW, but the prevalence of the game gives it the top spot on a list of addictive video games. So yes, I congratulate people who say they finally pulled away from the game, because that wording implies that they could detach themselves from something they were no longer utilizing for any good reason (i.e. having fun). I would congratulate them in the same way as if they quit smoking.

[AaronSofaer]

Seeing the traditional WoW content required raiding, and raiding required a lot of time spent not having fun. It's pretty simple. You may not have had to spend 40 hours a week, but seeing the content in early TBC or in early original WoW required 15-20 hours a week.


No, it didn't.

It just required 15-20 hours a week if your Guild raided a lot. There are a number of progression Guilds who don't. The one I was in, for example, was one of the top Guilds on the server (Kel'Thuzad), raided only 10 hours a week, and had no attendance requirements; many members only raided 3.

[Wolff]

I'll second the notion that the required amount of time wow needs is really what you decide you are going give.

If you are in a guild that grinds for 4 hours a night multiple nights on the same boss over and over again...find a different guild.

However if you only give 4 or 5 attempts on your progression content the time requirement goes way down. In burning crusade we raided 3 nights a week for 3 hours a night. We managed to kill Illidian (when he still sheared and stuff) pre-nerf-patch. Currently we clear all 25 man raid content in one 3.5 hour night and another 1 hour night.

If you are really concerned about someone perhaps you shouldn't congratulate them for quitting wow but should perhaps be suggesting a psychotherapist.

In addition the guild members that I am friends with I'm actually friends with. Not that I would see them every day. But I still manage to see some of them about once a year or so, about the average I see most of my old college friends.

The problems I have with the "Gratz for quitting wow, lets be all high and mighty over those that still play" statements is that it is intentionally or unintentionally pooing on the enjoyment that large numbers of healthy individuals spend time with the game when really you should probably keep the conquest of your own personal demons private.

[Pogo]

It just required 15-20 hours a week if your Guild raided a lot. There are a number of progression Guilds who don't. The one I was in, for example, was one of the top Guilds on the server (Kel'Thuzad), raided only 10 hours a week, and had no attendance requirements; many members only raided 3.

And to get to a level where you could farm AQ40 and BWL with just two 5-hour raids a week required how many hours? And all that time spent side-grinding AQ20 for the epic reputation rewards from Cenarion Circle?

I think you were one of the lucky ones to have a guild of a full core of 39 other people who had their shit together. You're not adding in the time you took farming for consumables, unless you took the lazy way out and piggybacked off of somebody else who farmed consumables, in which case you probably still had to farm for gold to get consumables (no 1-hour-for-200-gold-repeatable-quest-athons back then).

We managed to kill Illidian (when he still sheared and stuff) pre-nerf-patch.
After 6 months of doing the same content, pushing the same buttons, over and over again, because you sure as hell didn't kill Illidan in your T4.

The problems I have with the "Gratz for quitting wow, lets be all high and mighty over those that still play" statements is that it is intentionally or unintentionally pooing on the enjoyment that large numbers of healthy individuals spend time with the game when really you should probably keep the conquest of your own personal demons where they belong.

You apparently didn't even read my fucking post, and denial is a helluva drug.

[AaronSofaer]

Pogo, I didn't raid in classic. Only TBC. Everything you're talking about... doesn't apply to TBC, which you included in your post.

Cause honestly, getting geared up to do Kara was really easy even with pre-nerf Kara/pre-nerf Heroics, and a number of Guilds were clearing half or more of Kara in blues.

[Wolff]

You apparently didn't even read my fucking post, and denial is a helluva drug.

Cursing on the interwebs = you win everyone else is wrong

[pyrhic]

Think your memory is being rather selective there aaron. Or you're talking about life after the keying and rep requirements were significantly nerfed.

[Pogo]

Pogo, I didn't raid in classic. Only TBC. Everything you're talking about... doesn't apply to TBC, which you included in your post.

Cause honestly, getting geared up to do Kara was really easy even with pre-nerf Kara/pre-nerf Heroics, and a number of Guilds were clearing half or more of Kara in blues.

TBC really just continued the progression of vanilla WoW. The game quickly hit a gear check with SSC, the time commitment needed to key yourself by running non-heroics for reputation, then getting into the heroics, then getting keyed. There are a lot of implied ancillary grinds to raiding. Unless you're guild was really very skilled, you were most likely taking several raiding nights just to learn a new boss, and if it still didn't work out, you went back and re-did previous content to keep gearing up people who raided less. If you raided less, you were a liability to the guild and officers were probably actively thinking of replacing you. This is another social pressure that ties into why someone would want to keep raiding.

Of course it sounds like now they've hit more of a sweet spot with the casual crowd.

Cursing on the interwebs = you win everyone else is wrong

I responded to your post but you chose to ignore the answer I gave as to why someone would keep playing even if they're not having fun. That's all.

[Athryn]

If you raided less, you were a liability to the guild and officers were probably actively thinking of replacing you.


This does not happen in every guild, in fact I would say that it doesn't happen in most guilds.

Your attitude towards people that still play is the same kind of holier than thou ex-addicts (see: ex smokers, AA going alcoholics, etc) exhibit. Just because you don't like it anymore, and were an addict doesn't automatically mean that everyone else's experience is identical to your own.

Sure, there are people addicted to it out there, but there are plenty of people who aren't, and who can play it, and even do things like raid, without it taking over their lives. :)

[Pogo]

This does not happen in every guild, in fact I would say that it doesn't happen in most guilds.

Your attitude towards people that still play is the same kind of holier than thou ex-addicts (see: ex smokers, AA going alcoholics, etc) exhibit. Just because you don't like it anymore, and were an addict doesn't automatically mean that everyone else's experience is identical to your own.

Sure, there are people addicted to it out there, but there are plenty of people who aren't, and who can play it, and even do things like raid, without it taking over their lives. :)

Of course. But this is the "Bored of WoW?" thread :)

[Desslock]

I haven't played in something like three years, after a brief flirtation with it which ended when I realized that I didn't care nearly enough to commit to playing it on a schedule, which meant that I couldn't keep up with my chronically addicted friends leveling-wise, which sucked all the fun right out of it.

/this.

I think the furthest I got was a level 12 character in 2004.

[Lorini]

You know, I've been playing (outside of a couple of months) since the game started and I've never played on a schedule and I've had fun. If you PvP, for example, there is no schedule. If you don't raid on a schedule then there is no schedule. I'm with a guild that doesn't make you raid, they raid, but you don't have to. And I've been told repeatedly that it's not a problem with them.

Pogo, supposing if I told you I quit Wow and then watched nothing but trash TV for my entertainment. Would that be an improvement? A good thing? I've gone from challenging myself, working with people, possibly developing some team/leadership skills, to Judge Judy. But apparently I'd be better off.

I will say that one of my pet peeves (out of many I know:) is people being holier than thou about their particular choice in gaming and criticizing other people's choice of gaming. It's cheesy, it's easy to do, and frankly it makes the person look silly. We are here because we game until 'quarter to three' in whatever choice of game we make. Just respect that thanks.

[AaronSofaer]

The game quickly hit a gear check with SSC, the time commitment needed to key yourself by running non-heroics for reputation, then getting into the heroics, then getting keyed. There are a lot of implied ancillary grinds to raiding. Unless you're guild was really very skilled, you were most likely taking several raiding nights just to learn a new boss, and if it still didn't work out, you went back and re-did previous content to keep gearing up people who raided less. If you raided less, you were a liability to the guild and officers were probably actively thinking of replacing you.


First off, the Guild I raided with had no attendance requirements and never "replaced" anyone.

To your other points... repping up, running Heroics, etc only takes tens of hours a week if you're doing it that much. If you raid three hours a week, run instances another three, and quest/farm another hour, you're still playing an average of about an hour a day.

Sure, you won't be clearing all the content in the game within a month of release of TBC with a schedule like that. On the other hand, some people don't feel the need to do that.

[Aeon221]

This does not happen in every guild, in fact I would say that it doesn't happen in most guilds.

Your attitude towards people that still play is the same kind of holier than thou ex-addicts (see: ex smokers, AA going alcoholics, etc) exhibit. Just because you don't like it anymore, and were an addict doesn't automatically mean that everyone else's experience is identical to your own.

Sure, there are people addicted to it out there, but there are plenty of people who aren't, and who can play it, and even do things like raid, without it taking over their lives. :)

And lets be honest, comparing quitting a video game to quitting smoking or recovering from alcoholism is insulting. WoW doesn't put a drug into your system that causes you real physical pain when you stop playing it. It's no more addictive than any other activity.

[Athryn]

And lets be honest, comparing quitting a video game to quitting smoking or recovering from alcoholism is insulting. WoW doesn't put a drug into your system that causes you real physical pain when you stop playing it. It's no more addictive than any other activity.

Sorry, I was comparing behaviors, not levels of addictiveness. I do agree with you that it isn't anything like the seriousness of alcoholism, but the people who quit seem to act similarly to me.

[BigWeather]

I also do take the time to explore other titles out there as well. One of the best things wow has done for my own video game critique is for me to find 6 hours of content for sixty dollars unacceptable and imho that's a great thing.

That has nothing to do with your video game "critique" as the amount of content per price has nothing to do with the quality but rather the value. WoW may have redefined your idea of what makes certain games a good value and other games not.

WoW, and in general all MMOs, are a great value but offer an out of whack time / fun ration -- what I consider the quality of the experience. I'll gladly pay $60 for six hours of content if the content is fun while I'm playing, compelling in the sense that it encourages me to advance, and memorable once I've finished it. A longer experience, within reason, is a bonus, as is replayability.

And while WoW can be fun, can be compelling, and can be memorable that is interspersed with hours where it is none of the three. So while WoW may be a fantastic value price-wise it is a terrible value time-wise. I do, however, feel that it is a quality game in the MMO space.

(City of Heroes is still my favorite, followed by UO pre-housing sprawl. =))

[Aeon221]

Sorry, I was comparing behaviors, not levels of addictiveness. I do agree with you that it isn't anything like the seriousness of alcoholism, but the people who quit seem to act similarly to me.

I'm personally not a big fan of lumping psychological dependencies in with physiological dependencies. I think that the differences of scale are far more important than perceived similarities in behavior.

For instance, if I go into nicotine withdrawal, I experience headaches, fatigue, craving, general pain and an inability to concentrate. A WoW player just experiences cravings because no chemical dependency exists.

I'm of the opinion that the term habit forming does an adequate job of capturing the desire to play of former-WoW players, and that the term addiction overstates their problem.

[Pogo]

Pogo, supposing if I told you I quit Wow and then watched nothing but trash TV for my entertainment. Would that be an improvement? A good thing? I've gone from challenging myself, working with people, possibly developing some team/leadership skills, to Judge Judy. But apparently I'd be better off.

Yeah I realize some people might do this. You're right it'd be just as bad (or worse).

And I'm not "holier than thou." I originally made only one comment on someone who obviously played longer than he wanted to, and I think going into why he played longer than he wanted to (and myself as well) is interesting enough to post about.

[stormslayer]

The thing about this thread that amuses me is that some of the active players are complaining that the game is too "easy" now to suit casual players. By easy, they mean less grind, less pointless and repetitive quest requirements (12 fubars instead of 4 fubars, back in the day, were needed for the quest to get pointless experience # 7004), and less hunting around on the map for NPC's (which assumes that even when quests weren't chained, people weren't just looking online or downloading a dozen different interface addons).

It's a stupid game that could be more creative with minimal work. But the reason most play it is b/c of people. Making the game more accessible for new players is in your interest. Try not to resent the fact that Blizzard is making leveling easier -- just b/c you wasted too much time on a repetitive nightmare doesn't confer any sort of virtue.



sd

[pyrhic]

I do think it's to easy now, but it's not because certain quests require diminished collections. Everything from the instances, to non-instanced outdoor zones have been nerfed.

Do you recall LBRS back in the day? That first big pull before you descended into the spire was a great test of any pug group. Do you understand your class? Agro(before agro reporting mods were either popular or even available)? Your roll? Timing? Positioning? Today, the regular instances are zerg fests - assuming you're doing regular instances, because the only reason for regular instances is to level to 80, at which time everyone just does the heroic.

How about outdoor instances? Soloing an outdoor instance was something of an accomplishment - and where i think people who did it learned a lot of valuable skills. Observation. Timing. Mana/health management. Pulling. Agro management. Those instances are all gone now too.

You're right though, the main benefit is adding to the player base. But as the game gets simplified, I personally start losing interest because there's little in it for me any more. I don't play tic-tac-toe or checkers anymore for the same reason i won't be playing wow much longer - the mechanics of the game are no longer challenging nor interesting.

Economically, it's a sound decision - better to appeal to the 9+M player base and risk the 1+M player base. But I begrudge it a bit because i'm on the wrong side of that equation and I did enjoy my time there.

[Gordon Cameron]

TLDR: Post above this one :D

Just a question

Why are so many x-wow players (as exemplified by some responses in this thread)...

"I'm thrilled to say that I'm bored with WoW."

"I'm happy for you. After a couple of weeks, all that time you spent playing and paying for WoW will be like a distant memory. Once in a while you're remember some moment that you treasure, something that wouldn't have been possible had you never played, but for the most part you'll wondering why you ever spent so much time playing in the first place."

...see not playing wow anymore as some form of accomplishment to be lauded? Do you congratulate someone when they step away form GTA4 or GoW2?


I never said being bored with WoW was an accomplishment to be lauded. I said I was thrilled to discover, after being intensely addicted to the game for years and taking drastic measures to quit (including destroying the game CDs, deleting characters, etc)., that my interest seemed to be waning. What's hard to understand about that? I like the game but do not like the fact that it had such a hold on me or wasted so much of my time. Whether this speaks of some "deeper addiction problem," or whatever, seems to me to be neither here nor there. When I play WoW, I tend to play it immoderately and this affects my life negatively. So I'm quite pleased that, for the time being, I am not inclined to play it; and I hope it stays that way. Should I go seek psychiatric help in order to cure an addictive personality? Perhaps, though my understanding is that no such cure exists. In any case, this doesn't in the slightest bit change the fact that I am, and by rights should be, happy not to be playing WoW at the moment.

Again, I have no idea what is hard to understand about this, nor do I appreciate the subsequent characterization of it by Athryn as "nerd rage." WoW is a great game, but it's not good for my life, and that is my own business.


The problems I have with the "Gratz for quitting wow, lets be all high and mighty over those that still play" statements is that it is intentionally or unintentionally pooing on the enjoyment that large numbers of healthy individuals spend time with the game when really you should probably keep the conquest of your own personal demons private.

I don't know if you meant this to apply to me too, but you began your initial comments with a direct quote from me, so I'll respond to this too. I have not for a second been high and mighty over other people who still play. I have nothing to say about their experience of the game. I can only speak of my own. I quite freely admit that I have some personal demons when it comes to WoW; I have been more addicted to it than I have ever been to anything. Why should I keep that private? Am I committing some breach of gaming forum etiquette?

[Athryn]

Again, I have no idea what is hard to understand about this, nor do I appreciate the subsequent characterization of it by Athryn as "nerd rage." WoW is a great game, but it's not good for my life, and that is my own business.


You were obviously not the person I was directing that at. I was directing it at the kind of people who hate on the game after they quit in a way similar to the people that hate on BSG, or Star Wars, etc. The ones who seem to take it personally that Blizzard/Moore/Lucas did something bad to them by not doing it exactly the way they wanted.

[Gordon Cameron]

Not obviously... your comment followed hard upon Wolf's with no clarification. Sorry to have taken offense however.

[Pogo]

You were obviously not the person I was directing that at. I was directing it at the kind of people who hate on the game after they quit in a way similar to the people that hate on BSG, or Star Wars, etc. The ones who seem to take it personally that Blizzard/Moore/Lucas did something bad to them by not doing it exactly the way they wanted.

I really fail to see how those are the same people who quit WoW for the reasons I've been discussing in this thread. I wasn't at all referring to those hardcore raiders who are mad that they are no longer in some exclusive club that gets all the unique gear and trinkets just because they have the time to grind out reputation and dungeons, or spite Blizzard for nerfing their class to the ground after they've had months of obvious imbalances in their favor *cough* warlocks *cough*.

Judging by the WoW forums in the past, those people add another layer of personal problems on top of their addiction, and for the most part they seem to keep playing the game because they can't let it go. There's an 'elite divide' here, and the two issues aren't always related.

So, I'm really in agreement with you that bitching about the game because Blizzard isn't doing what you want them to do is pretty stupid, although there are a number of people on these forums that do complain about gameplay decisions in general (including myself, of course) about any number of games discussed on Qt3.

[Griddle]

All this can be summed up with the following. Internet games are serious business. Play games, or don't, you have nobody to blame but you. I mean no malice in saying this, but the fact remains, nobody shoved any game down your virtual throat, and if you are bored with it, you owe no person an explanation as to why you quit. Like my Dad said, if you are not having fun, you're doing it wrong. :)

[Johan A]

By easy, they mean less grind, less pointless and repetitive quest requirements (12 fubars instead of 4 fubars, back in the day, were needed for the quest to get pointless experience # 7004), and less hunting around on the map for NPC's (which assumes that even when quests weren't chained, people weren't just looking online or downloading a dozen different interface addons).


Not at all. You missed the point entirely.

At least I am complaining that there is NOTHING CHALLENGING in wow anymore.

It is no fun when a raid boss dies on the 1st or 2nd time you try him.

Gameplay is about overcoming challenges, and if there is no challenge in a game, then I might as well just read a book or watch a movie.

[Tyjenks]

Like my Dad said, if you are not having fun, you're doing it wrong. :)
The right way is to be in multiple guilds on multiple servers with multiple mains and alts and then play multiple MMORPGs. Right Grid? ;P

(I miss WoW)

(Sorry, I am not here because I quit because I was bored. I either have to give the game my full attention so I can get out of it all that I want or not play at all. Half-assing and playing a couple hours a couple times a week makes me feel inadequate in some way. (Not that I was a harcore raider or min/maxer before.))

[SolomonGrundy]

Not having fun with WoW?
Go play LOTRO!!!

:)

[Acosta]

If either of those games are taking time away from more important things in their life, sure.

I'm relieved that Pogo is here in this videogames forum to lecture us about the "important things in life".

[Fugitive]

And, of course, right after saying I'm taking a break from WoW I go and spend all day yesterday in it for the Lunar Festival stuff. Damn you, achievements!

[Joe M.]

Not at all. You missed the point entirely.

At least I am complaining that there is NOTHING CHALLENGING in wow anymore.

It is no fun when a raid boss dies on the 1st or 2nd time you try him.

Gameplay is about overcoming challenges, and if there is no challenge in a game, then I might as well just read a book or watch a movie.

Yes, we kind of sort of knew this was going to happen when they released a raid dungeon that legions of players had already cleared, both in original WoW and their extensive beta.

If you've cleared everything including 3-drake Sartherion on Normal, then more power to you, but I wouldn't term that last one "easy" by any stretch (well, haven't tried it since patch -- it may well be now).

These days I don't really play WoW for the challenge exactly. I know that when the new raid instance is released it's going to be cleared inside of a month. There really is a limit on the challenge they can provide this late in the game. I'd be thrilled to be surprised but honestly most of the encounters in the game are just rehashed or slightly different ability sets that we've already seen. Identify those, quickly formulate a strategy and kill the boss. It's fairly clinical and the expected outcome for everything except -- possibly -- the last boss or two in any new raid instance.

Despite the lack of challenge I've probably never been happier with the game. I'm free to help friends because I don't have to farm for 2-3 hours daily. I can poke around with achievements because that rep item isn't nagging away at the back of my mind. I have a much happier girlfriend :P because I only need to raid 2-3 nights, if that, and never on weekends.

Personally I think it's an improvement from spending 3 hours every morning herbing in Felwood and several hours every night in [BWL/AQ40/Naxxramas].

[JonSaunders]

Not at all. You missed the point entirely.

At least I am complaining that there is NOTHING CHALLENGING in wow anymore.

It is no fun when a raid boss dies on the 1st or 2nd time you try him.

Gameplay is about overcoming challenges, and if there is no challenge in a game, then I might as well just read a book or watch a movie.


This, but to be brutally honest the entire game has been like that since they changed TBC at the beginning. We had 1 or 2 shotted everything till you hit a brick wall (which we usually never got past), which in TBC never happened till sunwell for us with Muru which we just couldn't get past (till 3.0) everything else was 1 or 2 shotted for us.

[stormslayer]

Think about it though. What a crazy dumb concept for a game -- it's only difficult when you get to raid bosses.

So on the one hand, I agree with you. If a game has no challenges, it isn't fun.

On the other hand, I don't want to have to wade through dozens of hours of bullshite grind to get to the challenges. It's bad design.

Imagine if WOW had differential equations for population growth of the mobs, and there were resources in the game for them (or players) to capture. you ignore a region and suddenly an orc horde comes out of the mountains and levels everything in its path.

How cool would that be? You know, compared to a fixed pdf where everything spawns like clockwork w/ known drops.

sd

[Anaxagoras]

And, of course, right after saying I'm taking a break from WoW I go and spend all day yesterday in it for the Lunar Festival stuff. Damn you, achievements!

"I figure I can fit in just one more Coin before I have to go to bed. Then I'll have cleared the bottom half of Kalimdor."

"Well, while I'm here, might as well run into Maraundon to get the guy in there, right?"

"Jeez, now I'm only 2 coins away from getting all the Dungeon coins. Let me take a quick flight out to Nexus, and *then* I'll go to bed."

Damn achievements.

[Pogo]

I'm relieved that Pogo is here in this videogames forum to lecture us about the "important things in life".

Yeah because I speak for everyone here.

You know a possible important thing could very well be playing another videogame where you are having fun.

And good job, because I totally bit.

[DTG]

Not having fun with WoW?
Go play LOTRO!!!

:)

Yep, that's what I did, about 4 months ago, after playing WoW since it launched.

I only have about 10-15 hours per week to game, usually late at night when the east coast is going to bed. Even though that's "hard-core" for me, it just doesn't cut it for WoW if you want to do anything but solo grinds and watch everyone else be on to higher content by the time you're ready for end-game. Even starting a new toon is just a solo shot to level 60, bypassing all the great classic instances unless you can join up with a group of 70's or 80's doing achievements. I was fairly intense for a period of 4 or 5 months back in the classic game: MC, BWL, etc, but that level of committment could not and did not last, and I basically PUGed and soloed to 70 in BC. I spent about 20 hours with WotLK, but the magic was gone for good. Like most any game after a while, I got bored with it.

LOTRO is, so far, more accomodating to slow-movers like me who aren't in a hurry. Alot of players are still lower than 50, still doing original content, so grouping is easy and it's still a challenge. Turbine didn't gimp the original content when they released the expansion, so getting to Moria is still something to look forward to. I figure they can get away with this because of its smaller player-base and what seems to be relatively few subscribers who spend 40 hours per week playing, so there aren't a million screaming posts about how there's no challenge to the game.

And I prefer the setting and graphics in LOTRO over those in WoW. I think the only thing I miss is being able to swim underwater, and that's nothing. I'm sure I'll eventually get bored with this also, but I'm more into the lore in LOTRO now that I was back in the beginning of WoW.

[SpookyKG]

Yep, that's what I did, about 4 months ago, after playing WoW since it launched.

I only have about 10-15 hours per week to game, usually late at night when the east coast is going to bed. Even though that's "hard-core" for me, it just doesn't cut it for WoW if you want to do anything but solo grinds and watch everyone else be on to higher content by the time you're ready for end-game. Even starting a new toon is just a solo shot to level 60, bypassing all the great classic instances unless you can join up with a group of 70's or 80's doing achievements. Like most any game after a while, I got bored with it.

LOTRO is, so far, more accomodating to slow-movers like me who aren't in a hurry. Alot of players are still lower than 50, still doing original content, so grouping is easy and it's still a challenge. They didn't gimp the original content when they released the expansion, so getting to Moria is still something to look forward to. And I prefer the setting and graphics in LOTRO than I did the BC graphics. I think the only thing I miss is being able to swim underwater, and that's nothing. I'm sure I'll eventually get bored with this also, but I'm more into the lore in LOTRO now that I was back in the beginning of WoW.

My only true MMOs (I don't count GW) were WoW and LOTRO. WoW I was in the first wave of quitters, in that time when MC was the top tier instance, you had hit 60, and it was "join a guild that was recruiting or be left out forever." And I was a shadow priest that wanted to be viable in a RAID, something which WoW didn't do.

LotRO I picked up for a month or so when it came out, then really got into it this summer (quit when I started med school). LOTRO, for me, didn't have the excitement of random PVP, etc. (though either did WoW after the Honor system was put in [if any of you could remember that far back]... PVP was MUCH more exciting before it), but what it did have was pacing, story, well-scripted instances, a sense of involvement, and a community that was leagues more mature. As well as that journal thingy which made grinding fun and useful. LOTRO is really great at what it does, and skips out on all the icky parts of WoW... I'd recommend it for anybody looking to try something new and cool without fear of addiction.

[intruder]

Yes, we kind of sort of knew this was going to happen when they released a raid dungeon that legions of players had already cleared, both in original WoW and their extensive beta.

If you've cleared everything including 3-drake Sartherion on Normal, then more power to you, but I wouldn't term that last one "easy" by any stretch (well, haven't tried it since patch -- it may well be now).


Malygos is a new fight (phase 2 and 3).
We seriously tried him yesterday for the first time and came to phase 3 every time (lacked dps though so he enraged).
Mainly due to a rogue that is pvp specced right now we didn't manage to beat the enrage counter.

During the weekend I pugged some old encounters to get the corresponding achievements:

AQ40 (we stopped at Huhu in vanilla WoW) with 10 man (1 healer):
We managed to one-shot everything until Twin Emps where we needed a 2nd healer. Had to skip the slime thing because we only had 1 mage + a shammy for frost damage (was not enough).
One-shotted C'Thun although most had no clue what to do besides killing some tentacles and stuff. I died once at beams and got a battle rez.

BWL: 15 people one-shot all up to Nef with NO tactics.
Firemaw and Flamegore were done in a absolute noob way that would have resulted in guild kicks back then... I got like 27 debuffs even with using Cloak of Shadows. Nef wipe because someone talked to him...
2nd Nef try it was decided that I (rogue) will tank him because I had the Onyxia Scale Cloak. /flex we did it. :)

Mount Hyal: Zerged it with 20 people. Archimonde wipe but kill in 2nd try (people died due to fall damage incl. me). According to people that cleared all content in 25 since TBC he is the hardest boss right now.

I soloed full Scholo and Strath both sides for achievement, AD rep and Elders. I didn't use any specials on most bosses.
Only hard time was on the one mini-boss before Gandling where some adds become shades and are immune to melee damage...
Had to kill them very fast before they popped into shades or vanish (took some tries and had to wait for vanish to cooldown).
I did Strath undead side in 10 min (35 min on the clock for rescuing the AD NPC).
I got 15000 AD rep (tons of rep items) and am exalted with them now.

I need ZF, some lower stuff like RFK, DM and AQ20 to have all dungeons cleared in vanilla (achievements).
I will need some people for AQ20 but the rest I will solo.

-> The game is too easy. Nuff said!

[Jag]

Malygos is a new fight (phase 2 and 3).
We seriously tried him yesterday for the first time and came to phase 3 every time (lacked dps though so he enraged).
Mainly due to a rogue that is pvp specced right now we didn't manage to beat the enrage counter.

During the weekend I pugged some old encounters to get the corresponding achievements:

AQ40 (we stopped at Huhu in vanilla WoW) with 10 man (1 healer):
We managed to one-shot everything until Twin Emps where we needed a 2nd healer. Had to skip the slime thing because we only had 1 mage + a shammy for frost damage (was not enough).
One-shotted C'Thun although most had no clue what to do besides killing some tentacles and stuff. I died once at beams and got a battle rez.

BWL: 15 people one-shot all up to Nef with NO tactics.
Firemaw and Flamegore were done in a absolute noob way that would have resulted in guild kicks back then... I got like 27 debuffs even with using Cloak of Shadows. Nef wipe because someone talked to him...
2nd Nef try it was decided that I (rogue) will tank him because I had the Onyxia Scale Cloak. /flex we did it. :)

Mount Hyal: Zerged it with 20 people. Archimonde wipe but kill in 2nd try (people died due to fall damage incl. me). According to people that cleared all content in 25 since TBC he is the hardest boss right now.

I soloed full Scholo and Strath both sides for achievement, AD rep and Elders. I didn't use any specials on most bosses.
Only hard time was on the one mini-boss before Gandling where some adds become shades and are immune to melee damage...
Had to kill them very fast before they popped into shades or vanish (took some tries and had to wait for vanish to cooldown).
I did Strath undead side in 10 min (35 min on the clock for rescuing the AD NPC).
I got 15000 AD rep (tons of rep items) and am exalted with them now.

I need ZF, some lower stuff like RFK, DM and AQ20 to have all dungeons cleared in vanilla (achievements).
I will need some people for AQ20 but the rest I will solo.

-> The game is too easy. Nuff said!

Did you raid with my guild on WW, because that's exactly what they did this weekend. Raid all the old content for achievements.

I decided with Lunar Festival that I could give a shit about achievements. If I can get something fun or cool, i'll do it, but i'm not jumping through all those insane hoops to get a proto drake in 12 months or so.

I think my attitude is part of me getting bored with the game, but yet I log on every morning before work and every night after, while spending the day perusing wow forums. It's clearly an addiction, but for the most part hasn't affected my life (i've played since launch).

[unbongwah]

I don't understand why people think or assume WoW has to eat your life for you to enjoy it.
For me the issue isn't so much the total amount of time I spent playing WoW (or any other MMORPG), it was the amount of "dead" time spent on unfun things like forming a group, transit, inventory management, leveling, crafting (though that's optional / self-inflicted), etc. It doesn't help that my favorite bits of WoW are the instanced dungeons, which require more of a per-session time investment than, say, solo grinding or monster hunts. After a certain point, the ratio of fun time to dead time just gets too far outta whack to be worth my free-time investment.

And if you're trying to game with the same group of friends, coordinating everyone's schedules is a huge hassle.
I do agree with you that it isn't anything like the seriousness of alcoholism, but the people who quit seem to act similarly to me.
I quit WoW because I got bored of it - YMMV, of course. If you or anyone else still enjoys it, more power to you. And I empathize with those who enjoy WoW but realize they spend far too much time playing it when they should be doing something else. I only look down on people who complain about how unfun WoW has become for them but keep playing anyway: if you're that compulsive about playing a game you no longer enjoy, you've earned every moment of tedium and misery that comes your way.

[Unless you really do have OCD, in which case you probably need treatment, not an focal point for your tendencies.]

[Skipper]

I've played with a couple of folks like that. They bitched and griped about WoW being an obsession AS they were logged in and raiding with the guild. Then of course they were right back the next day.

I'm not bored at all lately, in fact I'm having a blast. We've been mixing up normal runs with "alt runs" so the dynamic changes quite a bit, and everyone gets to make fun of each other for sucking playing the new class.

[NI]

For me the issue isn't so much the total amount of time I spent playing WoW (or any other MMORPG), it was the amount of "dead" time spent on unfun things like forming a group, transit, inventory management, leveling, crafting (though that's optional / self-inflicted), etc. It doesn't help that my favorite bits of WoW are the instanced dungeons, which require more of a per-session time investment than, say, solo grinding or monster hunts. After a certain point, the ratio of fun time to dead time just gets too far outta whack to be worth my free-time investment.

I very much agree with this comment. The reason I'm still playing, is that I've managed to keep the "ratio of fun time to dead time" reasonably high. Being in a good guild is vital as (good) instance groups are often forming and the fixed raid schedule makes it possible for me to just log on and raid without waiting.

I also farm as little as possible. Back in the beginning of TBC, I took a long break from raiding just because I felt I had to farm consumables to a degree I wasn't willing to do. These days gold are so easy to come by that I can just buy any consumables I need, tokens for rep, etc, without farming them myself.

[Jag]

I only look down on people who complain about how unfun WoW has become for them but keep playing anyway: if you're that compulsive about playing a game you no longer enjoy, you've earned every moment of tedium and misery that comes your way.


This ALMOST is me. The problem with WoW is there is always something that is fun to do (like NI said above). Whether loading up my tank alt and working on his gear, playing the AH or trying to solo old bosses, there is plenty to do that is fun. If its not fun, I won't do it.

Lately I've played every Wintergrasp that I can and had a blast. Got my 65 marks for some great new gear for my alt so now i'm moving on to something else.

[Skipper]

Lately I've played every Wintergrasp that I can and had a blast. Got my 65 marks for some great new gear for my alt so now i'm moving on to something else.

65? I thought it was 200? Hell am I missing out on alt gear because if so I'm soooo logging in to buy that.

[Athryn]

65? I thought it was 200? Hell am I missing out on alt gear because if so I'm soooo logging in to buy that.

He might be talking about the tokens for winning Wintergrasp, as opposed to Stone Keeper Shards. They recently put a bunch of pvp gear on the vendor for those, like boots and wrists or something like that.


I love Wintergrasp too, but I wish they would fix it to keep it from fucking up the rest of the game when it's running.

[Griddle]

The right way is to be in multiple guilds on multiple servers with multiple mains and alts and then play multiple MMORPGs. Right Grid? ;P

Hahaha, you got it man.

/derail Harass me on 360 some time, i finally got my cold account up and runing. :)

[Jag]

65? I thought it was 200? Hell am I missing out on alt gear because if so I'm soooo logging in to buy that.

Yep. The WG marks (not shards) can buy some nice gear with 3.0.8. 40marks for a sweet Druid tanking helm that's comparable to T7 normal and a trinket that's somewhat comparable to the Mirror of Truth. Not as good as Naxx epics, but still fun to get just for blowing stuff up in PvP.

[walTer]

I consider myself a casual player (OH THE HORROR!!!)

When BC came out, I had not played in about 8 months or so, got it, hit 70, played a few months more then quit.

LK came out, I had been off for about a year or so and got hooked up with the Drop Bears (they are quite fun) and just hit 80 last nite. I will be getting my epic mount-hopefully kinda soon, I want to run all the dungeons, play some PVP in Wintergrasp etc...basically I am having a fantastic time.

Now, once I do all of the above, I will probably take some time off again--plus I have so many other games I need to finish.

But there is something really addictive about WoW...Like it was said above, there is always something FUN to do.

Oh and screw achievements....sheesh, I have now started going around HUGGING small animals for an achievement. WTF???

Stupid game.

[The Mad Hatter]

Ultimately, it’s the people that make the MMOG fun in the long run. WoW is a great game, but I’ve no doubt that I would have run out of steam with it even before TBC if I hadn’t found a steady guild to play with. Ultima Online was the same way for me…I kept my subscription long after I was bored of the game, just because old friends continued to play. Once they quit, I followed very soon after. Currently in WoW, I still raid, level alts, do achievements, but it’s the doing them alongside reading Gchat, talking to people, etc that keeps it interesting.

BTW, on the "WoW is too easy" comments…I was just thinking how UO went through a similar situation when they instituted Trammel and focused on the PvE gameplay. I was one of those people who loved the mad chaos of pkillers, thieves, and the rest of it, but I recognized that I was in the minority. OSI had to cater to the majority of their subscribers, and those subscribers wanted consentual PvP and easy gameplay. It was a business decision, a choice just like Blizzard made when they simplified raid content. You don’t stay on top by making the hardcore 3% happy, but by making the game enough fun for the casual 50+% to keep paying their monthly fee. All of the "it’s too easy now, real men raided Molten Core six days a week" type comments only validate the changes made (and I say that as someone who once did raid MC six days a week, heh).

[intruder]

Ultimately, it’s the people that make the MMOG fun in the long run. WoW is a great game, but I’ve no doubt that I would have run out of steam with it even before TBC if I hadn’t found a steady guild to play with. Ultima Online was the same way for me…I kept my subscription long after I was bored of the game, just because old friends continued to play. Once they quit, I followed very soon after. Currently in WoW, I still raid, level alts, do achievements, but it’s the doing them alongside reading Gchat, talking to people, etc that keeps it interesting.

BTW, on the "WoW is too easy" comments…I was just thinking how UO went through a similar situation when they instituted Trammel and focused on the PvE gameplay. I was one of those people who loved the mad chaos of pkillers, thieves, and the rest of it, but I recognized that I was in the minority. OSI had to cater to the majority of their subscribers, and those subscribers wanted consentual PvP and easy gameplay. It was a business decision, a choice just like Blizzard made when they simplified raid content. You don’t stay on top by making the hardcore 3% happy, but by making the game enough fun for the casual 50+% to keep paying their monthly fee. All of the "it’s too easy now, real men raided Molten Core six days a week" type comments only validate the changes made (and I say that as someone who once did raid MC six days a week, heh).


I agree that a lot of the appeal is good people in a great guild. Especially if you have to do PUGs and then do some guild runs you see the difference and appreciate your guildies.

I know there was / is a huge discussion concerning casuals vs hardcore in WoW. One of the arguments against dumping down the game is that casuals strife to become better (more hardcore) when they see the accomplishments of the big boys (shiny armor, big weapons etc.).
I never dreamed of seeing Onyxia in vanilla WoW because I considered myself to be "not fit" for it. My first night in that lair was one of the best things that happened in gaming for me to this day. Seeing this huge dragon raping us time after time after time while all hell broke loose in that damn cave that was littered with our bones from previous tries still gives me goosebumps to this day.
40 people running into the cave, 20 right side, 19 left side, 1 tank in front of her was epic!

Recently we went there for achievement for a new DK alt. 5 manned the old bitch and for giggles ran through the eggs to add the whelps...
She was dead 10 seconds after landing...
Heartbreaking!

There is so few that people can do these days to "stand out" from the rest and serve as an example for people to push themselves to become better.
Namely: a proto-drake, a mammoth with the 2 NPCs, some titles (of the Nightfall, The Immortal (to do this with 25 peeps without death is not easy) and to a lesser extend: Twilight Vanquisher) + maybe the Strath timed mount. The drake will be common once people completed the World Events this year in December. What colour the mount has is irrelevant I think. Is that enough?

[Skipper]

I feel like they added achievements AS that new distinction. I'm sure we'll have tough raid content again. It won't be every instance though. I think the ability to raid and still have days off during the week is awesome, both for the enjoyment of the game, and the ability to see more of it (as an alt, in pvp, etc.) I think it was a great decision on their part, it's helping me enjoy the game a lot more now than I did in early BC and back in vanilla WoW.

[Wallapuctus]

In all seriousness (I didn't quit because my cyber sex guild broke up), the game play model just got old. The new content never really added anything new, just continued the same, successful, design. I enjoyed that style of play for almost 3 years, but I finally wanted to play another game.

I skipped roughly 2 years of gaming because of WoW. I didn't have time for anything else, and I didn't much want to play anything else either. The double whammy of Mass Effect and Rock Band on the same day finally pulled me away for good, and I haven't looked back.