Tobold's Blog
Monday, September 18, 2006
 
Bad fun on Plasticbag

Alan sent me an interesting link to an article with long discussion on Plasticbag.org. The author is a casual player, much more casual than me even, and he asks himself why he feels compelled to continue playing World of Warcraft while resenting it.

Of course in a way World of Warcraft is designed to keep us playing, no matter what. The mechanisms of that are simple: social contacts and character development. Not playing would mean losing contact and status with your online friends. *And* it would invalidate the hundreds of hours you spent getting you character where he is. There is a "barrier to exit" a game like WoW.

My personal solution is to keep playing as long as I still have fun things ahead of me (and I'm looking forward very much to the expansion), but not obsessing too much on one single character. Variety is the spice of life, and if you are bored after hitting level 60 with one character, just start the next one.
Comments:
I'm still a relatively new player to Wow. I have only been playing for about 6 months and I have also gotten that feeling of "Why am I still playing this game?"

The thing that got me out of this funk was finding a new guild. I realized that being in the huge 300+ member guilds wasn't for me. Being in those guilds made me feel more like a number then a member.

I am now in a new guild that has maybe 50 accounts and I have loved every minute of it. I like to say I'm in a guild like "Cheers" where everyone knows my name.

When I got into my funk I thought for sure that I would cancel my account and move on but thankfully finding a new guild has brought enjoyment back to me and I find myself playing more than ever.
 
Sounds to me like it is time for the writer of that entry to stop playing WOW for awhile and find something else that grabs his attention. I have always believed that the word "addiction" is a little like jello: the moment you think you have wrapped your hand around it, it slips out of your hand. What is casual for one is considered addictive to others, simply because that person doesn't enjoy the same thing. I have had just as hard of a time putting down a good book as I have WOW so perhaps I am an "addict" who needs literature rehab. I highly doubt it; oops sign one of an addict, denial.
I can understand why someone would feel as though they were obligated to play a game due to online friendships they have forged, but lets face one fact here: before WOW I would consider myself just as happy as post WOW so saying goodgbye to those friends I have made online would be sad, but easily done as the only thing we have in common is WOW.

For me, wow is a hobbie just like reading, part-time writing, or films, it is not something that I do because I am compelled to do despite my desire to secretly throw my computer out the window because I hate the game. I feel sorry for people who have to constantly struggle with themselves to justify why they play a game that started out fun but now has taken over their lives and they hate themselves for having a love hate relationship with an electronic program.

The number one complaint that I hear from level 60 characters is how "boring" the game becomes at 60. To them I ask this question: What did they think it was going to be? I knew what life at 60 was going to be like long before I ever dinged that magic number: I was either going to raid, do 5 man instances, or grind faction. I chose to start by grinding faction because there are some rewards that I want to acquire by myself such as the timbermaw defender trinket. I enjoy a good 5 man run, but if I need to take a bio break while grinding, I can do it; if I am hungry, I can eat; and if I decide I just don't want to play anymore because my wife is home and I want to spend time with her, I can log and not have to worry about countless people being pissed off because I "let them down".

I guess it just boils down to what you want from a game: if all you care about is epic loot, then you are going to have many nights where people "let you down"; if you care more about social aspects, then you will be sad when some of your friends leave the game or the guild; but if you really are just playing the game because it is fun, then the moment it isn't fun any more, you can feel free to just walk away guilt free and find something else that feels fun again.
 
Well said Wolf (arean here)
 
Tobold, I am not sure if you could classify yourself as casual any more. You may not be "133t", but you do raid, and you have explored much of the game's content multiple times for almost 2 full years.
 
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