Well I’ve been out of WoW for a couple months now. Though I wasn’t in it very much for a few months before that anyway. I don’t miss the game as much as I thought I would. I realize now that there was a constant burden of disappointment for me when I was in the game. I didn’t level as fast as my friends or my husband so I felt constantly left behind or abandoned. I felt like a “lesser” player because I didn’t have the uber lewtz that many others seem to judge a person on. I wasn’t part of a raid so didn’t get to see the cool stuff others were constantly going on about.
And there wasn’t a bloody thing I could do to change any of that. I couldn’t magically conjure up the time to accomplish all of those things so WoW had become not so much of a game as a chore. I no longer felt the freedom to just relax and enjoy the game. There was this constant internal pressure that if I didn’t accomplish these things then I wasn’t as good a person as those around me.
WoW stopped being fun. And I hadn’t realized that.
I miss my friends. That’s a damn fact. I no longer get to spend time with them. Occasionally get to speak with them in IMs, but not near as much as I used to. It sometimes feels like WoW was the only thing that held us together. That’s the only part that makes me truly sad.
I am at a loss as to what to do with this blog, however. Currently it is sitting on a friend’s server wasting his valuable space. And honestly, the only reason people read it was because it was about WoW.
So what to do now.
/sigh
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Came across your blog while checking out lorecrafted and I have to say that I sympathise wholeheartedly with your plight. I stopped playing WoW for 2 months straight because of burnout and watching everyone I know outlevel me. I was running a small guild and it took up tons of my time (after getting out of work) to the point where WoW felt like a second job that I wasn’t getting paid for.
My husband and I play together now and after taking a break, I found that it didn’t matter if I was running raids and being level 80 with my friends. My friends are still online to talk to and I still have fun with them, eventhough they’re off doing something else. They don’t pressure me to catch up, they know I’ll get there eventually. You will too. It’s only a job if you make it so….and if their friendship is dependant on your raiding with them, they’re not really friends.
One thing that gets me through this is the achievements. If you ever do go back to playing, why don’t you try doing some of the non-raid oriented achievements and accomplishing them with your friends? The 75 pet achievement is just as difficult for a geared 80 as it is for a lil level 74.
– Syreine (Moon Guard-H – US)
Fwef. After struggling through the 50 pets just before I stopped playing I don’t think I would be up for 75.
Truly though, leaving WoW itself hasn’t been a bad thing. I am working on my own little business venture and someday I still hope to be a published author in my own right rather than playing in other people’s worlds. We’ll see how that goes.
I completely understand your plight! Long ago I realized I’d never have the epics that others have … and I’m totally okay with that now. I just do what I want, when I want, with who I want, and that keeps me having fun. Achievements and holidays rock!!
I’m also enjoying some “emergent gaming” where I try to create and RP a character following strange rules that Blizzard didn’t anticipate, like my character Victorie the Dragon Slayer who only kills dragonkin and no other creatures — very challenging, but very fun! And as I’m the only one doing it, I can take pride in it even though it’s something I can work at in small chunks.
I also tried creating a blog recently, but that turned into an entire web site, which I love doing. It’s all about RP, and has a kick-butt character sheet system, if I do say so myself. It’s not about numbers, but about characters. It’s at http://www.rpgeeks.com if you want a peek.
I’ve linked your blog to my site because many of your topics are evergreen and I am enjoying reading them. Good luck with the business idea and book — I’ve gone down both paths with success, and recommend them to anyone who has the guts to try it and the tenacity to stick with it.