Blog Azeroth

I recently experienced something rather disturbing with regards to why I play WoW. It appears that somewhere along the line I got wrapped up in the playing for loot rather than playing for fun, new experiences, etc. I've spent some time trying to figure out how, when, and why that changed and more importantly how do I get back to playing for fun? Getting new loot is great, but if that becomes my reason for playing I'm afraid I'll get to the point where I don't enjoy the game based on my personality.

I would love to read about your experiences of how you started playing the game, how you now play the game, and how that may or may not have changed for you?

This sounds like a great Shared Topic.

I blogged about this ~a week ago.
http://chicanery.fibergeek.com/2008/04/ ... en-ticket/

I play for fun.
I've defined fun to be "it's more entertaining than watching TV".
I raid for gear so that I can have the "magic ticket" to go on to the next biggest raid.
I help farm content so that everyone in my group can get their magic ticket.
I farm for consumables (with is hella boring) because that is part of the "gear" I need for my magic ticket.
I fish (which is -not- fun) because I need the skill to pull up Lurker.. and because I need to consumables.
If I'm not having fun.. I'll stop.

Way cheaper than drinking.

I started playing because my friend dragged me away from Everquest (who never started playing WoW with me after dragging me away from EQ *shakes fist*). I started playing this game because it was an awesome game. It has a decent combat system and as any good MMO it has that great emersive feeling that keeps you playing long hours into the night just like any MMO.

After all this fades though you realize you are no longer playing just for loot or flashy graphics. You continue to play long after "wiping the whole nightlong" becomes boring. You play because of the network of people that you have erected around you keeps you playing. Whether you would feel bad leaving because your guild would be short a tank or healer or just because you love to hang around these group of weirdos as I like to call them. Even the forum trolls have a group of 'others' who are on the forums daily, flaming back and forth to each other.

You come for the game, stay for the people. That is the addicting part of an MMO in my opinion. The rest is just fun bonuses.

I experienced the same thing. As a result, I deleted my toons, uninstalled the game and stayed away from it entirely for 2 months. Then I started getting bored. Really bored. My wife got tired of me complaining, so i reinstalled it, started over in a new roll/faction and have enjoyed it all over again. My recommendation is to walk away from it for awhile. If you realize you don't miss it, fine. If you decide to come back, as I did, that's fine too. But make the game fun for you and how it matches your playstyle. It's your money and your time: Make them worthwhile.

i was an officer in a semi casual raiding guild for about 6 months.

i joined not too long after i had turned 70 and through other friends was able to raid 25 man content even though my guild wasn't ready yet.

at that time i always thought that raiding was just a bonus and that wasn't really why i played wow...how naive i was.

through a series of events the 25mans i was raiding in fell apart about the same time that i began leading a new kara team. the kara team was new to their classes and new to kara and was previously being led by a dictator like rogue who refused to answer to the officers for his actions because this was "his kara team". as a response to that attitude he was removed from the raid and i was put in his place.

i was determined to lead a well organized and fair raid. i researched gear and rep rewards to try to get my healer about 1100 +healing and for our tank to reach uncritable uncrushable stats but no matter what i did we just couldn't get past moroes or maiden.

i started begging the other officers for help prepping the team. i requested gear mentoring and help organizing heroic runs for rep, gear upgrades, and badges. each time i asked for help i was met with comments such as:

"they need to be responsible for their own gear"

"if they want to know something they'll ask"

and
"i brought my alt last week. what more do you want"

meanwhile my group is wiping on moroes for a month and a half.

i felt very alone and increasingly stressed out until finally it blew up and someone made a very telling statement that made me re-evaulate my reasons for playing the game.

they said, "we're a casual guild not a raiding guild."

that was when a light went on and i realized that i wanted to raid and do it well. i wanted to be in a guild that cared about it enough to put effort into it and that was where i enjoyed the game the most.

i left the guild not too long after that to join a "raiding" guild.
they're were alot of hard feelings. since then some have healed and some haven't.

i spend alot less time playing (which makes my husband happy) but i feel alot more accomplished (which makes me happy) and even though i don't have the level of depth in my new guild (yet) that i had in my old guild. the game has become a game again and i think it was the right decision for me.

psy

p.s. coincidently all of the officers that had made the negative statements ended up leaving to join raiding guilds 2 weeks after i left and the most supportive and helpful officers got left behind to clean up the mess the others had left.
what a gas i'm telling ya.

I pretty much went through this rite of passage in a previous MMO. Basically it started out as just a group of friends meeting up at low levels and exploring with a sense of wonder and eventually a guild was created and members were added. It evolved to the point of raiding and each accomplishment/discovery brought an added sense of power. It was easy to feed off of the excitement and before we knew it, it was all about upgrading and getting the next best thing. When I saw good friends attacking each other over who was worthy of loot or quitting out because someone won a roll on a coveted item, the game turned sour and it just got to the point where logging on felt like I was going to my evening job. In my time away, I was able to see that I gained absolutely nothing from that game except a lot of wasted time. Nothing I won was hanging in my closet. That epic mace I worked so long and hard to get ... was gone when my subscription was canceled. It wasn't like I could hang it on my wall like a sword or anything. All I had were recollections and memories of people and how they interacted with me. And I cringe when I think of how I appeared to other people in RL, including my coworkers. I was so obsessed with raiding that I would play into late night to the point where I was tired enough to sleep in my car during my lunch hour. I'd try to weasel out of family events on weekends so I could secretly play a video game. It wasn't as if I could put screenshots in a family album and look back on good times. I did miss out on some things and I regret that.

So it was a no-brainer for me to set new limitations when I got WoW. I just log in to have fun and to chat. I don't ask for help in getting gear or loot. If I can't get it solo or in a group, then it's no big deal because each expansion is going to render it worthless in due time. I actually prefer how pvp gear is set up so I'm not dependent on anyone else to help me get loot and I can go at my own pace. Nobody to get mad at, nobody to roll against. More fun this way. What I basically look for in games is how I can get something out of it. Obviously I'm not going to get loot, but I can become a better writer if I roleplay or blog about my experiences. I can become a better artist if I use the game as a tool for expressing myself. Those are experiences I can take with me long after I'm done with WoW or any other MMO. Hope that makes sense!

@Matticus: But sometimes you need to combine the two.

I like being able to accomplish something, however small, if I log in. Can't just do that irl, but even a daily is an accomplishment some days. And those days, it's great to be able do something to completion, and if it can be in an aesthetically enjoyable fantasy environment, so much the better.

I am smack bang in the middle of a series on this at the moment (well... close enough to), and I guess the main reason is that I am hooked! However, the amount of money I spend on my WoW subscription is definitely better than what I used to spend on my shopping addiction!

I play because not only is it a lot of fun, but it also gives me a sense of accomplishment. Nothing is better at relieving my stress than putting a stack of life-draining curses on some hideous monster (although I'm still waiting for the addon that will substitute in a picture of my supervisor).

Also, I love the adrenaline rush of being in an instance and getting more mobs than expected and having to work extra hard to kill them all before it's too late.

I love the fantastic group of people that makes up my guild. We're supportive of each other in game and out.