So, folks… how enthusiastic are you about WoW these days?
Think back to when you started to play WoW, whether that be a month ago or four years or what have you.
Now, compare that with how you feel today. :)
I’m not talking about patch worry, or summer slump, or issues over time spent playing the game that could be better spent on family activities.
I’m simply talking about how you feel about playing the game now, and whether you feel that your enthusiasm for playing has grown, lessened, or stayed about the same since you began.
The game came out in November of 2004, and inevitably people change over time. There have been massive content additions, class changes, and massive adjustments to the frame of the game.
It wasn’t that long ago that the very idea of a PvE player on a PvE realm server transfering directly to a PvP server would be met with mass hysteria.
That level of hysteria was, in some ways, a good thing, because it showed that people were vocally passionate about the game and willing to share their opinions loud and proud.
They cared enough about the game to make an effort, whether you agreed with them or not.
Now, I’m NOT saying the passion is gone. I think it entirely reasonable to believe that, over the course of time, people have gone from the rabid, passionate announcing of love for Warcraft to a mellower, more gentle, deeper love for the game and it’s depth.
It’s one of those things, a new love is a love that burns bright and hot with a consuming flame, and you can find yourself talking about it to everyone you meet.
But as time passes, the love can either grow deeper and stronger, and more comfortable, and the need to talk about it all the time lessons…
Or the passion fades, things change, and the two drift apart and stay together out of habit rather than need.
So, if you’ve been playing for a while, it’s something I wonder about. Are you still in love with Warcraft and feel the need to log in out of desire, or are you going through the motions out of long time habit, but could take it or leave it?
I’m not even going to talk about people that have lost their love for the game, but still play because they DO love the people in their guild.
This subject is relevant to me, because we’re past 4 years of the game being out there. I’ve been writing this blog for two years now, damn near half the life of the game itself, and it feels like a very short time to me.
I’ve been talking about WoW for half the time the game has been around.
It may not be true, but it feels as though a lot has changed in the way the public itself talks about the game, the coverage it gets in media, the way players talk about things, the whole experience.
Back in the first year, the world media was wandering around stunned that millions of people would come together to play a single video game. It was everywhere, and the shock of various closed-minded media types that think that video game player = socially retarded geek was plain to see.
These days, that sensation is over. Time has passed, the amazement is over.
We now face acceptance. Ho hum, the media says. Millions play. So what?
Most media outlets have moved on from their shock… perhaps because if there is anyone other than a politician that worries about pissing off a massive block of potential voters/consumers, it’s the media.
As far as blogging about the game, a lot has changed there as well.
As short a time as 2 years ago, a blog post about feral Druids letting folks know that you get 2 Attack Power from 1 point of Strength, but only 1 AP per point of Agility, and that in cat form only, would have been helpful. It would have been something new to learn for a lot of people. Simple little tips like that.
These days, the general questions that I get from most people are based around variations of 1% hit or less, and the fine tuning of threat rotations because someone wants to get more than 1600 dps while Bear tanking effectively. Rather than one best gear set for tanking, and definitive ranked items, you can have as many as four different types of items depending on your target instance/raid situation.
It’s the same players, but with a ton more understanding and maturity about the game.
No more innocents in the game, perhaps.
Maybe I could put it better by saying that the mystery has vanished. We know what World of Warcraft looks like in daylight without any clothes on.
Some people are fine with that, and love the game even more for knowing all there is to know and being comfortable together. Others might have lost their excitement along with the mystery. They might feel they know the game too well.
When you blog, I really feel that you should blog out of enthusiasm and passion for your subject. The reason you keep coming back is because you feel there is something to say, that your thinking is on the subject and you keep coming back to it.
With so many folks that are moving on from blogging about WoW as the years pass, it’s easy to think that the reason is a lack of passion about the game.
Is that it? Do people blog when caught up in that early love and passion, and the drive to blog fades as the love mellows over time?
Are some bloggers still writing about and playing WoW, even though they have lost that lovin’ feeling, out of habit?
Has WoW still got it after all these years, or hs something vital been lost over the years of changes?
Is it as simple as saying that some people remain faithful to their one true love as long as that love is true to them, and others will always be looking for a new affair?
Is there maybe some small bit of mystery that we need, that as long as we are promised that there will always be something new and fresh coming down the road, we will continue on?
Over four years, and Blizzcon tickets sell out in milliseconds. That alone says something, doesn’t it?
You know what the one thing I think is, when I wish for a change in the game?
I wish that Bind on Account Heirloom items could be mailed or shared to characters of the opposite faction.
That’s it. I wish that I could trick out a hordie lowbie with Heirloom leveling items like a gun, shoulders, trinkets and (someday) breastplate.
In fact, I’d like an entire set of gear from Heirloom items. And yes, I want it across faction.
Is that the desire of someone tired of the game? Or of someone that wants to see even more of what there is to see…. but is tired of playing the 1 – 58 item hunting game.
Something to think about, that’s all.
Things I think about when I log in, when people like Aurik leave blogging and the game behind, when I think about the lack of media attention to WoWthese days as compared to it’s heyday, etc etc.
I’m going to miss /Hug. But things change, people change, and sometimes folks recognize that they aren’t getting what they need anymore, and feel the desire to move on to something new.
I still love the game. I enjoy most facets (pvp, not so much) and look forward to logging in even if it’s just to meander around.
Regarding blogging, I haven’t ever started one so don’t have the first hand experience. But, I do read them daily and I do miss the ones that have stopped. A time or two, I felt upset that a favorite had stopped publishing and I wouldn’t be able to hear from them again.
I can’t see the end of my fascination with WoW/WoW blogs. You (all) keep blogging & I’ll keep reading! =)
I still play the game but it’s largely because I can buy anything I want for my characters and I can’t find anything better. I can’t say my enthusiasm level is very high anymore largely because the game just seems stuck on a track that I don’t want to be on. 3.2 very well could be the last straw for me, having played the game since beta and loved it for so long it is hard for me to imagine not playing wow, but with my current dissatisfaction with the game I really don’t see I can play it for much longer.
Interest comes and goes. The game has been out for a lot of years, and it has it’s good moments and it’s not so good moments.
I started taking yet another break about a month ago and I’m finding that each time when I come back to the game I want to play it less. I feel like I’ve exhausted what fun I originally found and now all that’s left is repeating the same thing over and over.
This comes from someone who started playing nearly at release.
I still have not reached 80 on any character. The only raiding I’ve ever done was Gruul’s Lair and Karazhan. I still love the feel of playing melee (especially feral druids) and I wish I could get the feeling back of popping into bear at the last minute and saving us from a wipe (even if I normally suck at the class). But I find it harder to log in the longer I stay out, because everyone that plays the same time I do is either 80 and not gonna waste their time with me, or they’ve stopped playing because doing quests just gets old when that’s all you can do.
I joined a new guild full of awesome people, but I have always played this game best with at least one other person who’s going through the same thing I am. Soloing is the same kills, over and over again, and 80s are raiding, not rerolling. If I could find someone to teach me the ways of being a druid while leveling with me, I’d probably have fun again, but who does that?
Long story short, there’s plenty of mystery still for me, but no one to experience it.
For me the big draw of the game is the social aspect. Atm I’m in my own guild shared with my alts but my friends list is maxxed out with former guildies, obscenely talented players and average people who have mediocre dps but make me laugh. I don’t feel as addicted as when I started playing a year ago and I’m in no hurry to see ulduar even though my gear and skills are likely sufficient. I nonetheless probably still play at least 8 hours a week doing mostly 5-mans and I still think it’s $15 well spent each month. (P.S. BBB, this isn’t your retirement announcement is it?)
Sending Bind on Account items to characters of another faction on pve realms would be great. My favorite races of World of Warcraft are the elves, Night Elves and Blood Elves. I play a Night-elf and I’m always willing to level up a blood elf, but start the same game from the zero point sometimes makes me give up easily. At least, its good to know a bit that Blizzard is making the idea of leveling an alt very easy in each new patch, for ex. we will have 60% mounts in early level 20 and for less gold cost…
And about the subject, I still like to play the game, but I miss that feeling of discovery something new and different in each place you go in this game, that feeling you have when you are starting your first character.
I still enjoy it, but its more about my guildies and such atm… when we see another step in the story, that will really get me going again, being a story person and lore-hound.. :) Re-reading Arthas right now, and exploring my rogue alt’s relationship with her older sister (who turned out to be a guildie of mine) and other such fun things.
Still love the raid, too!
WoW and I are more like roommates than lovers nowadays. We hang out together, and have lots of the same friends, but we just don’t get it on like we used to. Eventually, I think we’re headed for a separation. (God, that’s a fun analogy…)
Most of the guildies I’ve played with for years have quit in the last 6 months. We still keep in touch via Facebook, so there’s less of a need to log in and chat with them. I went to Blizzcon last year, and would go this year if I wasn’t preparing to move our family of 6 to Minneapolis in August. I still like talking WoW with other people. But I’ve tried other games and read lots of general MMO blogs (so I think I should tell WoW that I want to start seeing other people. /snicker Okay, I’ll stop with the analogy!) They’ve made everything so accessible in WoW that there’s nothing to aspire to really.
I rolled an ally shaman recently and got her to 71 just to see northrend from the ally side. Being able to send her my heirloom gear (and my Blizzcon bear) would be nice. But I’m definitely ready for the Next Big Thing.
Guild issues aside (of which I have many), I’ve been having fun. On my boomkin/bear, I’ve discovered a renewed interest in PvP, and even started learning how to bear tank with her. I learn something new about the druid class every day, and I absolutely love it. I’m actually on Rhyasha (laser chicken) more than Sharvhan these days. I still love raid tanking with Shar (though I have to deal with a raid officer and a guild leader who hate DK tanks) and I’ve been working more on Achievements with him these days.
I have my off days; days that I do nothing but herb or mine or simply just sit in Dalaran and chat. I’ve learned my bad days and good days are reliant on the guild though, and who I’m having fun talking with/who I have to put up with. I’m looking forward to the patch, but the new raid content doesn’t thrill me.
There are a few things that keep me going in the game. Maybe not with that inquisitive nature of the first year of playing… but definitely with some passion. And when that passion is waning, something always comes along to renew it.
First, there’s absolutely nothing that can really beat the adrenaline rush of downing a new boss that you’ve worked your butt off to beat. That huge uproar on vent of FINALLY downing it. And the more progressed that boss is, the better it feels. Okay, so we’re not all raiding freaks. But I get a small version of that with each ding of each alt. With each achievement. I’m a WOOOOOSH whore. Really. And bosses dying WITH achievements makes it even more enjoyable.
Then, there’s a second passion of mine. I absolutely adore taking newbies under wing. A druid was asking in trade what the defense minimum was. Perfect opportunity to make a new friend, teach them the basics. yesterday there was a lowbie posting on the realm forums that they were looking for people to level with, to help out, to teach them. I don’t understand why most of a realm will shun noobs and then rant about clueless max-level characters. Why not contribute to their “education” and be able to point at someone later and go “I helped make that.”
WoW and I have a love/hate relationship. The drama side makes me want to quit. The good things remind me that I’m not going anywhere for a long while.
I cannot count the number of times I’ve left and come back (back again after a few months break currently). For me, I think the only reason I haven’t quit completely is that I haven’t found anything better to do with my computer free time (as opposed to family free time, work free time, etc). When a pc game/mmo comes out that can get me as excited as I was when WoW first released, I think then is when WoW will finally end for me. My biggest worry is that it will be the next MMO from Blizzard (and hence a new 5 year addiction) :)
I’m burned out on the *game*, but I’m rediscovering a fascination with the *world* via some tinkering with the map and model viewers. They really have done a lot of good work crafting the WoW landscape.
Funny that this topic parallels my current state of the game mindset. I am an Alliance player with toons at max level. I have started a “Hordie” project to see the entry level zones to avoid the dailies grind of my current L80 toons. It is sometimes hard to imagine that a single game can keep my interest for the past three years. Kudo’s to Blizzard for being a premier software producer. Cross server/faction heirloom items would be excellent.
“I wish that Bind on Account Heirloom items could be mailed or shared to characters of the opposite faction.”
Oh that would be great. I wish I could send them to alts on other servers too.
I’m still enjoying the game but somehow … the game feels smaller than it used to do. I feel more as if we’re being herded like cattle into doing the same content in this expansion. I like my character and the people in my guild so it’s not an issue … but I miss the sense of freedom.
Kinda flickering out, myself…
http://hardcorecasualwow.blogspot.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-blizzard.html
I still love the game. The WotLK quests have given me the most fun I have had in game, having been forced entirely into casual playing due to lack of time. I will probably never be able to raid thanks to my unpredictable schedule.
However…
I don’t know what I am going to do after I finish questing in Northrend, and that day is approaching fast, as I am only 10-20 quests away from Northrend Loremaster.
I love the game a lot. I hate a lot of the people (PVP server ftl >.<), but I love the game. Everything is still fun and great for me, but you’re right about the mystery. I have the Explorer achievement (who doesn’t nowadays), and I really enjoyed running through zones I hadn’t leveled in with my trusty Charger and crusader aura. I enjoyed teleporting to the top of the Twin Colossals, and I even enjoyed swimming through lakes which I’m still sure had to be made of centaur piss. Although there’s nothing new for me until the next expansion as far as sweeping, breathtaking zones and quests are concerned, I still have a lot of fun.
I would love to be able to move boa items to other servers. Annoying not to be able to. The managment of said items would be handled online through account management.
I have been playing for around 2 years and have 3 level 80’s and a level 71 lock but the game is rapdily losing interest for me. I try very hard to find new things to do in game but its becoming very old very quickly. I guess i need to try something new for a while :(
I’m playing wow for 1 1/2 years now. I have 4 80s, 3 in the 70s, 2 in the 60s and a lot of other chars (2 accounts) … and I don’t have enough time to do all the things I want to do. I believe that I’m actually the only one that thinks that blizzard should slow down with their new content because of course I can’t allow my high-level-chars to slack (because once they do, they will have a harder time catching up) and because I want my low-level-chars to experience the game as well (I am a quest-whore, reached embassador (or exalted with with all factions when that achievement wasn’t in the game) on most of my chars before they even could buy their first mount).
- I want a char to be exalted with every possible faction (this includes the achievement Insane ^^)
- I want a char from every class to be 80 (or what max there is) und well equiped (4/10)
- I want every profession maxed out on at least one char (9/10, and my tailor is just missing 10 points)
- I want a pacifist-char to be 80 (inspired by the blog http://pacifistundeadpriest.blogspot.com/) currently lvl6 und busy farming copper and fishing (I don’t like pvp that much but I’m looking forward to the upcoming changes in the next patch, travelform lvl16 ftw :D and also exp in BGs)
- I want a char to have every possible mount and pet
- I want a char with the title “Loremaster”
So, as you can see, my enthusiasm level is high. I played “normal” warcraft before but was never into lore (heck, when I saw Illiadan for the first time in wow I called him Mageslayer (DOTA)) – now I’d like to know more but I don’t have time to play AND read ^^.
What I can’t stand is the pvp-part or to be more precise that Blizzard forces me to do pvp for the meta-achievement (especially the one from childrens weak; combined on all chars I did all meta-achievements but that one and I can’t see me doing it next year so my enthusiasm to do any of the events went vom 100 to 0 unless I can get something else out of it (like mounts/pets or titles – come on, a paladin has to have the title “the noble”)). The last time I forced myself to do BGs was when honor-pvp-gear was better than T4 for bears.
I still enjoy WoW. However, between work being busy/summer hours and buying a house, I simply don’t have the energy to sit down and play for more than a few minutes. I’ve been playing for over 3 years now and my interest has always ebbed and flowed. While I am still into raiding, I am glad that there is more being added to the casual end, because for the next several months, that’s going to be my playstyle.
I’ve gone from playing every facet of the game (PvE, PvP, Achievements, Rep Grinds and more) to limiting my play time to simply PvE end-game raiding. I’m not sure if it’s my new job just limiting my time, but I find myself logging in for 30 minutes when I get home to do my AH duties, and then just showing up for raids to work on Ulduar-25 hard modes. I’m certainly less enthusiastic now than I was a year ago, for sure.
I’ve even thought about stopping raiding as a way to cut down my play time. Call it burn-out or blame it on the constant machine gun changes we’ve gotten thrown at us or the new instances every second — who knows?
I still love the game, but I think there’s so much to do that I just end up cutting a lot out of it.
Interesting question.
I think my enthusiasm kind of runs up and down; my interest remains very high.
So; while some days I dread going into WoW due to guild burdens, I always read several blogs (thanks, btw) and try to keep up with the newer stuff.
I’m with the poster who said they wished Bizz would slow down the release in content. I don’t feel I’ve had a chance to go deeper into the various choices and also feel I have/can fall behind the uber-achievers who’ve zoomed through levels and dungeons. For this, maybe you are right: much of the mystery is gone. We don’t really fine tune our end game gear anymore; all we have to do is look up which is the best head piece for a lvl 80 boomkin and go buy it or farm until it drops.
Online, I look for good solid information. Your article on Vuhdo was fantastic, the timing perfect since I’d just started using the add on. Actually, I like the blog a lot (thanks again) it has a nice range of interest, information and story-telling. Keep up the good work!
My play time has drifted downwards some, but candidly more because of the constraints of RL, wife and kids occupying the priority slots. I haven’t finished all the end game content like a lot of the bloggers that are stepping away seem to have (I’ll fight Vezax tonight for the first time), so I’m still engrossed in the game, so my throttling back is external factors.
I think this phenomena is a matter of growing up. WoW splashed on the scene and drew millions of subscribers. Now obvously people of all ages play, but the bulk core of the game was likely that group in roughly the college age group, or generally the demographics that could manage the huge time input.
That whole age band of players is now in a different place in their lives than when they started the game, to an extent they’ve grown up in terms of their RL careers, families, what have you. And WoW has grown up with it. Pure conjecture on my part but I think the core demographic has shifted because that core has had life changes in the intervening years. That and the playerbase has grown beyond it’s original demographics, you have to draw from other wells to get to 12 million players.
So WoW adapts, and content is sized more for shorter time frames and more forgiving tuning. The often heard lament that they’re pandering to the casuals has some merit, but the demographics of the game has changed with the passage of time and the expansion of the player base.
I’m actually dabbling in Multi-boxing as a diversion from just raiding or waiting to raid on my main. Which makes me wish I could mail BoA gear between accounts, so long as they were battle net linked. I’m the owner of all 5, why not? But I also don’t know how much it’s worth it on a toon already L60.
BBB I always enjoy reading your stuff, you’ve always had a good writing voice and you don’t take yourself too seriously. I’ve noticed a lot of the bloggers I return to these days it’s more about their voice and anecdotes than it is their analysis or commentary. Hell, EJ carries most of the load for numbercrunching for ferals, but it’s far more entertaining reading hero bear stories on a blog.
Nearly 5 years later, and I’m still enjoying it.
My main is raiding again. After clearing MC, BWL, and AQ40 in vanilla, I skipped “serious” raiding in TBC. Blizzard’s relaxed difficulty levels has allowed me to raid 1 or 2 days a week and still see everything (we’re working on Yogg25 tonight). TBC raids were always “srs bsns” and I never found a guild willing to work around my limited game time.
At the same time, my Druid is at the level cap and I’m having an absolute BLAST as a Cat in PvP and a tree in PvE. At this point I’ve moved my warlock from “Main” (vanilla) to 1st alt (TBC) and now Enchanter for my mains.
Sooner or later WoW will lose its appeal, or something better will come up. But for now, I’m still having fun – even if it’s a different kind of fun I had when I first started.
I’ve been playing about 1.5 years. I still enjoy the game, actually I’ve been enjoying it more recently than 3 months ago. Unfortunately, lots of RL stuff coming up so I’ll be taking some time off. But I hope to return soon.
While there are many players that have been playing for 2,3,4 years and may be ready for something else, at the same time there are new players coming into the game. In my guild, it’s great to hear and see the excitement of someone getting a big upgrade, helping to take down some huge boss in a raid, reach 80, get their first mount, or collect 50 pets. It reminds you of when you started out and had that excitement. Like anything, the freshness and excitement of WoW fades over time and you’ll never re-capture the experience of your leveling first toon. But there are still many things in the game that are fun to do and enjoyable. It’s a testament to the game design and depth that after so many years people are still enjoying playing WoW.
Mine is way down… been playing since November 2005… because of the hours I work, and the raiding guild I’m in, I never get to do anything anymore. If I DO get into a raid, I’m not allowed to have anything that drops. I only get taken as a warm body that can do damage. My druid is even worse off, and he was my main character. Never seen the inside of Naxx, or Uldaman, or any 10 man dungeon… probably never will. At this point, as Samodean says… I’m still doing it because it’s what I do, not because it’s really something I enjoy anymore.
I’ve tried starting my own guild.. .but everybody who wants to raid is already in a raid guild, and I don’t WANT to be in one. I don’t want to be in a guild where a dozen people are expected to stand around outside an instance so someone can be replaced for one fight because the core group that gets all the rewards doesn’t include a hunter that can use tranq shot in the one fight it’s useful. Or be penalized for not being willing to do so.
I can’t even pug. Nobody running at the times I can. I hate achievements. I wanted the iron drake really badly… and there’s no chance in the world I’ll ever get it.
I get told that if I’m just doing it for the gear than I’m doing it for the wrong reason. But then why, when I was online and wanted to go to a raid that you were forming, you told me I didn’t have the DPS? What happened to ‘it’s not about the gear’? If I don’t get any drops, I don’t get any better, if I don’t get any better I fall farther and farther behind and I’ll never get a chance to do anything.
I WANT to keep playing… I do… but what else can I do in the game?
Mailing BoA items cross faction, yes I would love that too, but 2 things:
1) I want to mail the 4 yr anniversary baby bear pet cross faction too (for servers where I, at the time, had only one faction but have since rolled the other); and
2) Worry about the BoA items later, the time to roll alts is apon us; the Fire Festival allows you to proc a 300 fire damage; read that again THREE HUNDRED fire damage. That, my friend, is a whole lot of hurt on a lowbie mob :)
Plus the flame achievements. Not so much into achievements myself, but 1750 xp for lighting a bon-fire, and 2500 xp for snuffing out the opposite faction’s fire. Burn, baby, burn.
(BTW, the ‘you’ up there is NOT BBB… sort of an open letter / editorial rant type thing.)
I’ve been playing for several years now, my druid was always my main and I levelled veeery slowly. I got bored during the levelling and did other things. Eventually I reached level 70, and raiding has been my passion since. I raid in a casual guild, but I raid seriously. I can’t commit to 5 nights a week, and besides I love my guild and my friends there. I still hate levelling, I’m here always to make and game with friends. Solving strategies in a group is the most fun I can have and exploring raids remains exciting to me. I’m eager to see the bosses in Ulduar, and I still want to go back some time and see Black Temple, which I never saw.
Once in awhile I wonder if I should do something different with my spare time. I wonder if this is all a “waste”, but I’m still having fun and for now that’s what is important. If it weren’t for the people, I’d go in a heartbeat, though.
I’m not as gung-ho as I was, but I still find things that I enjoy in the game. It’s still my hobby and one of my major interests, it still fuels my creativity in ways that I thought had gone when my college program sucked the life out of me. I’ve been playing for four years now and the game is still interesting and engaging to me.
I have two 80s, three mid-70s, a couple 70s, several in the 60s. Learning the ropes of various classes, seeing various dungeons and challenging myself – I think it’ll remain interesting for a while. Taking the leap into Alliance waters for the first time in three years definitely helps.