Random thoughts about WoW

So, yeah, I'm an addict to this game. It's more of a fad for me; I go through spurts. It seems that I'm on an "on phase" at the moment. I've been playing since the last week of closed beta, which is way longer than any console or game I've ever owned. It's almost something that I'm going to start keeping secret. Pfft... who am I kidding?

Get ready for the stream of consciousness....

I've run the gamut of feelings and emotions about this game. At first, like most players, there is the entire 'wow-factor' (and not the acronym). Next, I joined a guild moving into end game content; and I got to experience what I feel is the game's biggest draw, its multiplayer social aspect. Then I moved to the angry player; the one that thought that Blizzard could never get it right. Finally, I'm to the point that I'm in love with it, entirely.

Back in the early days, I started my MMO experience with Lineage (thanks to MacDork). It was the first game that I played online and my first entry into the world of MMO's. That game had its pitfalls, but I enjoyed it waaaay better than the few times I tried EQ. WoW had TONS more quests than Lineage. WoW allowed groups to enter into an 'instance' and kill badguys, and NOT have some a-hole straight steal a drop that took FOREVER to get. Plus the world is HUGE in comparison. Oh yeah, and perhaps the biggest draw: you couldn't de-level from an ingame death. That always pissed me off. Lastly, there were factions; gone were the days of people getting pissed at one another for kill-stealing and gathering people to PK (that's right, we used to call PvP Player Killing, and it was shunned).

These were the days that I could lo gin for 15 minutes and be satisfied. These were the days that everything had the 'new car smell' about it. Unfortunately these were the days that every single person had seemingly better gear then me, and I thirsted for it.

On to phase 2; end game content. I found myself a guild that was starting in some end game content. Their requirements were low, and they were very casual. I entered the Molten Core for the first time. To be quite honest, I was really let down with the design, in general. What I failed to notice on the first 2 runs was the social aspect, because I didn't have the Ventrilo software that allowed me to vocally chat with my raid members. So, I was stuck watching this organize and happen before me, and I was essentially left to imagine the conversation, only receiving basic commands thru the in-game text chat. Once I got the software, the end-game content's allure became immediate apparent. Here I was, some bum on the East Coast of the US chatting with folks from South America and Australia! I feel somewhat bad that I play so much, but, I don't feel like I'm missing out on what most parents would argue is the problem with playing too many videogames; missing out on social interaction.

Anyhow, I started getting that gear that I dreamt of for so long. I started maturing along with my new guild in WoW. Soon, I was offered a position of leadership as the acting Paladin Class Assistant. I later found that it meant crap, but at the time, I felt like a king. I was one of the elite few out of 500 players that had a real say. I took the Class Leader position soon after the current one decided to stop playing. I was now responsible for my class, which held about 70 players. My duties included scheduling players for raids, assisting young members to the class with specific quest lines and/or gear and builds. In raids, I was allowed to speak during boss fights, directing the flow of the class, and ensure that we were doing our jobs.

Phase 3 of my WoW life started when alot of drama started tearing our guild apart. I won't get into specifics, but a few of us class leaders took it upon ourselves to essentially commit mutiny on our leader. We reformed the guild under a new name, taking with us players that had the same views, and electing to keep ourselves a sort of democracy, with 3 guild leaders. Myself and 2 others. Little did I know that this was the point that things in the game really started to piss me off. I'll get into those later, but this was the point I really started noticing it. We had a great run in this new guild. We saw alot of the game's content, and made alot of friends. However, for me, all of those pitfalls of the game, and issues I had with the way things were going as far as leadership was concerned, coupled with the fact that I started heavily renovating my house and stepping up my schooling all led to me having to step away from the game. So I did, after a year of playing non-stop for at least 3 hours a day, I put it down.

So, after that time, what did I come away with? First thing that comes to my mind is the fact that the creators keep fucking with classes and changing the way certain things work. The most recent patch changed alot of things that specifically got me. Another thing that they got rid of was 40 man content. I thought that this would have been a great idea, however, its just not the same, in my opinion. People a jerks, plain and simple. I should have known that its a virtual existence, and people can be virtual assholes as well as they can be real ones. I think the biggest thing that gets to me is that the game isn't the same type of 'new' as it used to be.

And so starts phase 4, three months later. I came to terms with my addiction, but also realized that the stuff that was bothering me was petty. This is still the best MMO out there. And for good reason... it's fun. There is really no way around it, the creators at Blizzard did an excellent job with this game. It's the best balanced game in terms of classes, pvp, casual/hardcore. The changes that bothered me are just a way of furthering balance. The 40 man content isn't a problem now that I'm not in a big guild anymore. I don't surround myself with aholes. Finally, the game may not be as new to me, but that just means that I have alot of experience. So, I've directed my energy to helping out newer players experience some of the content that I've done so many times before.

The long and short of it is that I'm having a ton of fun again. I just wish I still had contact with the non-aholes of the past 3 phases. I'm sure I'll get back into the end-game content, I'm just not sure which character I'll be playing as.