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Back into the swing

June 13, 2008 | by Liliana | Tags: addon, druid, horde, raid, wow

So on Sunday night I did the unthinkable.

I re-activated my WoW account. It had been de-activated since November of 2007, holy shit!

I wasn't in any great rush to play, I let the updates run and cleared my Interface folder since i knew the addons were ancient and useless now.

Once it was all done, I logged in, I'd forgotten what server all my characters were on, I remembered Aman'Thul but the queue to get in was too long so I checked Jubei'Thos and was greeted with a queue, I was already getting frustrated and hadn't even started playing yet!

I gave a deep sigh and tried Frostmourne, thank god because I was about ready to throw something at the computer, I logged in to my highest character on that server - a 21 BE Priest which I had left neglected in the middle of Orgrimmar.

I was greeted with the same harsh ugly environment, obscene general chat "OMG SOME1 MOAN FOR ME PLZ?!!" and feeling of 'what now?', it was like I never left.

I decided to pick up where I had left off, if only I can remember what that was...

I checked through the quest log, so many quests, some half finished and I didn't even know where to start, not to mention I’d forgotten all my class skills and abilities and how and when to properly use them.

I decided the best bet was to finish off a grind kill quest to get back into the swing of things and it all came back to me.

This is what makes WoW successful. The ability to pick up things in an instant no matter how long you leave them for.

I completed the quest and logged out; I didn't want to burn myself out immediately.

A few days later on Maintenance night I logged in to play again, (those are the nights Eli has Jiu Jitsu so I get some peace and quiet!) and as did a gathering quest in STV someone asked me to group with them, now in the past I would have rolled my eyes and rejected this fool who invited without asking but I thought, No - accept and go with the flow.

And I had a blast! Myself and another Shaman blitzed easily through the mobs and had a laugh along the way before being kicked off the server when it went down for maintenance.

I logged off feeling like I’d actually achieved something even if it didn't mean leveling up.

So here's where I think I went wrong previously and what I vow to not let ruin my WoW experience this time around.

  • STAY AWAY FROM THE FORUMS! - All the whining and bitching, nerf class X and Class Y is useless and underpowered QQ

Reading the forums daily made me HATE the community, it made me doubt the classes i had chosen to play time and time again and it overall made me hate the game. Eventually you learn that the people posting on the forums are actually the minority, the majority are actually playing the game and enjoying it.

  • STOP LOOKING AT THE XP BAR - I've been playing the game since launch and did not level up my first 60 till just a few days before BC had just been released, I figured I was being left out in all the guild activities because everyone else had rushed to 70 and had multiple 60's at least. This is what burned me out the most! Doing the whole "Just one more level!" every game session got old, fast. This is what drove me to quit. I've decided to go back to my old ways and take my time, so what if I want to explore and have Moonkin dance-offs outside Ironforge? Let ME, I'm paying to play my game, not someone else’s.
  • STAY AWAY FROM GAME GUIDES - same as above, i got caught up on the "quickest" way to get things done in order to catch up with everyone else. This was very draining, looking up strats on youtube, downloading pay guides off torrent sites etc. No More! I'm going to do it my way, so what if i get lost looking for a quest? Its part of the game, exploration is great; you get to see things others have rushed right by.
  • SIMPLIFY ADDONS - Do not spend so much time researching "essential" addons, stick to what you NEED. This also starts to detract from the overall game experience when you become dependant on addons.
  • DONT BE A SNOB! - So what if the guy who is inviting you to run ZF TpES LieK ThIZ, give them a chance! I took a blind invite the other night to help some poor lowbie out like the above and they were ever so grateful, now they make a point of saying Hi to me every time I log on, which I think is nice :)
  • DON'T GET CAUGHT UP TRYING TO GET INTO A GUILD - Don't force myself to meet impossible standards, don't respec my class to fit into a slot and definitely don't become just 'another number' to a guild list. People will see you for the friendly and capable player that you are and spread the word - there will be plenty of invites!
  • STOP CREATING ALTS! - Sometimes alts are a good way to refresh the game, e.g. Creating an Alliance Priest when your Horde Warrior is getting a bit tedious but for the love of god, I need to stop making alts all over the place! This causes serious burn out!
  • HELP OUT LOWBIES - I know we all get tired of the begging for gold, for runs, for mats, well for everything really! But there are some serious requests for help out there that can be fulfilled and in turn will create a good name for you and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

I know that when I reached 70 I did not have the time to raid at all, I train in Capoeira two nights a week and have a lot of other commitments, I managed to see the inside of Kara once! But that doesn't bother me because I know what my limitations are.

So another good way to give back is to GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO HELP OUT. I was going through STV the other night when a lowbie asked for page 11, which I happened to have, since he was at the top of the map and I was near Booty Bay, I took the pages over to him (I'd get there quicker since I had a mount anyway) because I didn't want him to get ganked coming to me either.

This guy was so grateful that he could now finish his chapters and level up, he was astounded that I’d gone out of my way for him like that. It pays to be nice, especially seeing as it's not the norm these days with all the higher levels too busy with raids or arena.

So following the above, the past few days I've really enjoyed playing again, I've leveled my Druid alt from 45-47 and had some fun along the way and hopefully if I can stick to my new 'rules' I'll be around for a lot longer!

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amandaconduh
1 month, 3 weeks ago

I couldn't agree more. Well said and very nice blog.

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ezX
2 months ago

Ive gone through 2 Horde Characters and 1 Alliance Character at 70, and the main and the most important thing I see people losing along the way is how to have Fun. People take this game far too seriously a majority of them being first timers who are hooked, or people rolling "alts" etc.

Most of the time they just have a certain goal to reach, and by doing so they forget to have fun.

Also, when people play at their own pace, its a helluva lot more fun :) - and nice blog, this is the first one i read on curse.com.

Keep doing what you do, its good stuff.
Cheers EzX.

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Roninzee
2 months ago

totally agree with your points on how to make the game more enjoyable :D

i'll admit tho, ive gone pretty alt crazy and am currently working on my 5th (yes, 5th) 70 o.o
i just dont like playing one class all the time haha

also i noticed u had/hav an FFXI character :O its so odd to find someone else who played that game haha

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rvalarian
2 months ago

this is also a great way to pick up leeches, which happened to me so much that i have had to hide my main behind my alts which i purposefully have not revealed to anyone, so be VERY careful with your boundaries (which leeches do not see or understand even when you hit them in the face with them) if you are going to put yourself out for people.

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Liliana
2 months ago

I understand where you are coming from, people are always going to take advantage of others who are generous, it's just a matter of being assertive and as you said, have your boundaries set in place.

Am i going to run Joe Blow through Deadmines 20 times until X weapon drops or he gets to Y level? No.
Am i going to advise him that in the early levels he should be grouping to learn his class a group dynamic? Yes.

There are lots of different ways to help than 'giving' someone what they want, but i do understand what you're saying.

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dave_maltby
2 months, 1 week ago

Nice Blog,

Me & my girlfriend actually play together, she started playing when we started dating over a year ago. I play for advancement she just plays for fun.

Embaressingly she actually got to 70 quicker than me, & she and I put it down to the fact that she doesn't spend her time staring at the XP bar. each quest is "just another quest" where as to me it's "the quest thats gonna make me ding" or "gonna give me that blue item I need".

We are both in a respectable guild on Neptulon EU but she preferes to go off doing her trade skills & etc & helping people setup for raids where as I prefer going on the raids & seing the end game stuff.

I fully agree with your blog, but some people have different wants & ambitions. I know mine are different, & I don't feel burnt out because I ignore the idiots in trade, or reject blind invites.

I do how ever I do feel the need to help people who I feel genuinly need help, I have no problems with giving soemone a couple of G if I happen to know they are struggling for money.

Again nice blog as a personaly experiance, how ever I don't feel it's all relivent to me

Dave

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Keith1983
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Just want to say...thanks for your blog.

I've played WoW on and off since 2004. I've had 2 70s, 2 60s. I always played ...for "achievement" getting the next level as fast as possible...

I've also been away since Nov'07

Now I'm 25 ..a husband, and a graduate student. I'm not going to have time to play that way. I really do need to chill out, treat it like a game and have fun. I hope to rejoin WoW and play this way.

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Liliana
2 months, 2 weeks ago

I hope you find new enjoyment in the game!

I've been playing for a few weeks now and i must say, it's been a hell of a lot of fun! I picked up my Druid alt at 45 and am now only a bar shy of dinging 50, which is a great achievement for me considering I'm not rushing (the rested XP was a nice bonus.)

Some nights I've been logging into my main to grind Kurenai rep - but i keep the grind short nowadays, in my previous playtime i would've tried to grind for 80 necklaces in one sitting but now i aim for a very easy and doable 10, before it gets mind numbing and log out to either my Druid or to do other things.

I find that keeping my grinding to a shorter target has definately helped out.

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opcodevoid
2 months, 2 weeks ago

"downloading pay guides off torrent sites etc"....

Perhaps try buying a guide,you will have a much better experience.

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Liliana
2 months, 1 week ago

<i>Perhaps try buying a guide,you will have a much better experience.</i>

Whether it was pirated or legally bought it, it's still the same guide, i fail to see how it changes the experience?

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2rbear
2 months, 1 week ago

What if you buy the guide then, and discover (after the payment's been made, with no possibility to undo the purchase, of course) that it was all really crappy; you already knew the tips or could've easily figured them out in a matter of hours...

Then I bet you'd feel pretty ripped off ;-)

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Harmil
2 months, 2 weeks ago

How to solve the alt problem.

I'm an altaholic. I'm working on my third 70 and I have many characters in the mid-levels. After a while, I got frustrated and looked for a way to build an alt that I would play through to the end and enjoy even when I got there. My solution was instancing. I got a group of players together and we agreed to level purely by doing instances from level 15 to 70. So far, it's been a blast!

To follow our exploits, see: http://www.ajs.com/ajswiki/Saturnalia

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Liliana
2 months, 2 weeks ago

I used to have a static party back in FFXI and it was awesome!

I'd love to be able to do it in WoW however due to the nature of the game being extremely solo friendly i've found it really hard to find people who are interested in forming a static.

All my old friends have cancelled their accounts a while ago or have moved on to other servers.

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BreakTime
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Great attitude and way to play, your way as it is! I play my way which is also at my own pace, slow & steady but I am enjoying every moment I get to play this game that I pay for. I am in a rather high level guild who raids everyday but not I ( which they don't mind one bit, great guild!), I still have not seen the inside of a raid dungeon and I am working on getting a 3rd toon to lvl 70. =) I play for a couple hours almost everyday.

I used to play FFXI, took nearly 4 years to get my first maxed blm/whm but I had fun doing it. =) Thats what ultimately matters, as you hit the nail squarely on the head, you having fun for something you pay for.

Have fun & keep up the awesome atttude! :-)

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Liliana
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Thank you! FFXI was an awesome game until it got too elitist and the economy went haywire.
I loved loved loved my TaruTaru BST/WHM :)

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bluedarksun
2 months, 2 weeks ago

DON'T GET CAUGHT UP TRYING TO GET INTO A GUILD - Don't force myself to meet impossible standards, don't respec my class to fit into a slot and definitely don't become just 'another number' to a guild list. People will see you for the friendly and capable player that you are and spread the word - there will be plenty of invites.

Amen!

Don't you just hate when you see spam after spam of people looking for guild sigs, and after they get their magic number 5, 10, 25, etc...then everyone else is put by the wayside. Then there are those that say you MUST have this gear and this epic or you can't raid with us. I say screw guilds like this. It is clear these people live to play, and have no sense of what real life is anymore, and this is my point. "Casual blog for the casual player, its nice."

I simply love the one thing you stated that makes you and I a dying breed. I pay my monthly fee to play the way I want to. With the way Blizzard is adding content there is always something new to do, unless you are L33T and hardcore, then you can't get enough LOL. Great post, and I hope you enjoy the game with renewed vigor. God Bless!

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Liliana
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Thank you so much for the comment!

Completely agree with you, i think casual players are trying to all fit into the raiding playstyle so they can be considered "hardcore" gamers in this game but fail to realise that time does not equal skill in a game like WoW.
Time will only equal "l33t" gear and in the end, is it really worth it if you're always pushing yourself to fit into playstyle which burns you out and degrades your enjoyment of the game?

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CraigB
2 months, 2 weeks ago

I picked up my druid after 2 years of hiatus. It was pretty quick re-learning the game. I agree about the alts -- I barely have enough time to play all of my games (including WoW), so I'm sticking with my one character.

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Berethor
2 months, 3 weeks ago

As the main parts of wow players I also have my duties to finish off in rl, but in spite of this Im able to find a couple of evenings per week to go raiding with my guild. Im not an hardcore player or a casual player I only found the right compromise between rl and game life. My guild is a medium-high level guild and the leaders organize 5 raids per week but we are not forced at all to partecipate to all of them. We are absolutely free not to join to any raid for a period of time as joining to all in a week. This is the best way to lead a guild obtaining a nice progress towards the end game leaving us our space for private life at the same time.
PvP is pretty good as aspect of this game, but the emotions you could feel killing a boss for the first time with your guild after many tries is another thing... not comparable to completing an arena set armor doing pvp for example.
Im sure you already know these sensations having done all the pre BC raids. Probably when you reach level 70 with your character your playstyle change. Leveling is different, you are much more limited compared with a 70 level character.
Anyway the important thing is that you enjoy playing this game whether the time you can dedicate to it.
Cheers! :-)

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Liliana
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Thanks :)

Finding the right guild plays a major part in having an enjoyable time in end-game, no doubt abou that!

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