I have a bit of a Love/Hate relationship with World of Warcraft. I loved the game and enjoyed it and all of the people I used to play with (shout out to my peeps in Epitome on Spirestone). However, it was a large time sink. It. Devoured. My. Life. I still got things done, but it was a fraction of what I could have gotten done had I not had the temptation to play. I canceled my account back in April, and I attribute this in part to being able to get the ground work laid out for BPD.
Still, I’ve been tempted to get back into it. Part of it is the 60 day game card that’s been sitting unused in my desk drawer for 6 months. Most of it though is the fact that I miss my old guild, I miss being able to run dungeons and PvP with those guys, I miss bullshitting on vent, I miss all of that.
Somehow, I think Blizzard realized my lapse in resolve – and my disappointment in not being able to play Spore – and decided to send me, at 11:11pm est on Sept 10th, a Beta Key for their new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. My brother, Nick, also got one around the same time, and called me almost immediately to, as he put it, “Geek Out.”
At first, I was super excited. Not only was this an in to get back into playing again, but a bunch of my old guildies are ON the beta servers too so I would get to play with them again. Plus, all of the new content looks very exciting in all of the previews and I’m looking forward to see it in practice.
However, there is a trade off. Obviously, I’m not getting back into WoW if I think it will interfere with updates to BPD. This comic comes first. I have told myself before that I will not allow myself to get back into the game until I get a 4-comics-ahead buffer, so if something happens I will not fall behind. Also, part of me wants to wait and experience the content for the first time when it’s brand new and, well, not broken. Though, it will be nice to be able to see some of this stuff early and report on it to you guys.
I’m giving myself a week to decide what I’m gonna do with the key. There’s no expiration date on it, so if it sits in my inbox for a bit it’s no big deal. I will say this much; if I don’t use it, some one else will. But we’ll come to that when the time comes.
For the HORDE!!
I’ll tell you this … I know your “pain” or “frustration” with the game. I’m enlisted in the Army and seemingly enough have nothing BUT time to play the game when I’m done with my days. Thing is though I’m getting out (for medical reasons) and I won’t have as much free time as I’ve had in the past. The game is freakishly addictive. If I was presented with a beta key … to tell the truth I don’t know if I’d use it either. I may freak out … get all geeky and even possibly jump into the game just to look at the new lands. But I doubt I’d actually level or step into dungeons. I recently had my own lapse of “WoW” and quit for a while (for me). It was only a few weeks but in the long run I’m back … and looking to raid and all that jazz already. I guess all I’m trying to say here is that your right to have these thoughts and your not the only one out there. Good luck with your decision.
I feel the pain. I go nuts if I am not online at least once every other day. That spam mail fills up my hotmail fast. ‘Course I started playing WoW when I was stationed in Korea. When those base exercises kick off, you can’t go out to do anything on your time off unless you love to wear a ton of body armor.
If you don’t wanna use your beta key, I gotta lvl 70 fire mage that sets everything/one on fire and watches them buuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnn……
I to am a wow addict. It’s hurt my writing at times when i want to write I’m in wow >_> thankfully though with my guilds recent blow up and now complete lack of ANYTHING to do all I’ve gone back to the real world. Which is just as boring… but I got some writing done at least hah.
Once you take a large break like that you tend to learn a bit more moderation when playing… at least till the expansion comes out and there’s tons of new content to slave yourself too. And I agree it’s a time sink. that’s what all MMO’s are… the only one that wasn’t was Star wars galaxies and Sony online entertainment did everything they could to strangle the fun out of it >_>
NO LIZZIE! Don’t do it! I really feel that it is so much more fun and rewarding to experience the new content when it really comes out (and, as you say, is not broken).
I too quit my account back in May, and I recently started up again because my younger brothers started playing. I’ve discovered that the real draw to WoW is the ability to hang out with good friends (and family too, if they play). Soloing is fun to an extent (and WoW has got to be the most solo-friendly MMO out there), but the game becomes soooo much more fun when you can share it with a group of friends.
Moderation, I say. I am able to log on only during the early mornings before my children get up for school, and friday nights. That’s all the play time I get, and I’m content with that. True, that means I can’t take part in any of the big 20- or 40-man raids, but I’m okay with that.
I feel the conflict. I’ve still got my account and play now and then, but I cut back drastically so I could do my own webcomic. Playing every night didn’t allow anything to get done!
So, while I’m drawing and inking away, my wife is at the desk next to me, yelling at the Allies trying to turtle their way through a battleground. I still get in there once or twice a week though.
Still workin’ on that purple gear!
Why relapse into WoW when you can get addicted to a whole new kind of game instead? (i.e. an interesting one.) I recommend TF2.
While I used to play WoW, I got fed up of being ganked for much of my on line time (Started off on Bloodfeather) so I transfered to Moonglade and while the gankings not such a problem anymore the people on there are poo heads.
In the end its up to you lizz, just please don’t short BPD. Its awsome
Used to play WoW with my boyfriend (Blackwolf) A LOT!! And we had fun, unless we were getting repeatedly murdered by idiots and we played BOTH sides. But with Burning Crusade, the fun subsided a bit and even though I managed to check out and do a bit in Outlands, I found myself getting bored with it. Now Blizzard in their infinite “wisdom” plans on adding hero classes, the first being the DEATH KNIGHT, Arthas’ Generals of the Scourge… Shouldn’t they be hated by both Horde and Alliance, but they won’t.
Lis, if you do lapse back into WoW, I’d wait three months AFTER Wrath of the Lich King comes out, as EVERYONE will be piling into Northrend and I saw servers crash when Burning Crusade came out.
And Teric, MMORPGing with friends is the way to play, not Screw you, MUST GET PURPLEZ!!
RJ-Pilot, what’s TF2? Me intrigued…
Warhammer Online.
I’m an avid WoW player, as is probably evidenced by my blog.
I also understand the addiction. I’ve been playing since Dec ‘05, and I took a 3 month break right before BC came out.
It was such a strange feeling to actually be able to go out and do things, without constantly looking at the clock to make sure I was back in time for the raid.
I got /gkicked for taking too long off, too, and decided that I wasn’t going to get into the whole raiding thing again.
These days, I play for fun, raiding random Horde towns and ganking anything that decides to be flagged where I can get at them.
Playing like this has allowed me to actually have a life again, because it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, if I need to log out, I can hearth and log without pissing anyone off.
Okay, now I know I am addicted to WoW…. just witnessed something crazy. A raid kited Anacronos, a big 73 elite, from the caverns of time to all the way to Orgimar. Every time an alliance guy attacked the raid or some hordie asked what is going on, they shouted TAKE A DRINK! They called it the “Dragon Drinking Quest” …. and i got screen shots of the dragon going to org too…. thats bad…. and funny too.
DOOOOOO EEEET Ive been farting about on the beta its a whole lotta sex I know this is a late reply, but hell at least it’s being stated ^.^
To those that play and the card you have, auction it off for a commission? (or cameo in the comic now and then?) If of course, you wanted to play again. (I never liked wow, though i do play Warhammer Online due to easy PuG’s in public quests and no pvp ganking!) *tosses change into the pile already there*
I never understood the intense fascination myself. I had a character, I played. I got bored out of my skull with “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” grinding to gain levels for a character without a soul, and without any attachment to any sort of plot or story in which I could feel I had an active part, or some type of Influence. I know it’s like a drug to some.
But I have my own drug, you see. I animate and write fiction. I was “drugged” long before WOW came along, and decided that I’d rather do my first and best drug of choice. Hope this helps-Roci
You get the feeling of having an active part in a story in the later levels. It also helps if you read the books and played the Warcraft games, since a lot of the things in WoW refer to those. For example, almost every boss in all of Outland now has a backstory, and most of them are described in the books.
And this means what? You have to read external content to get an “in-game” story?? Sorry, that doesn’t work for me. If they wanna make monsters into dimensional characters, (why not NPC’s or players?) let them spend some of the CPU time putting extra art and content into the game itself. Roci