Hi, I’m a World of Warcraft player… and I am bored.
Every MMO player at some point experiences burnout. The grind suddenly becomes less fun. The dangly carrot doesn’t look so tasty. It’s inevitable. No matter how much content a developer adds to a game, at some point you will realize that you’re just not interested in it anymore.
I think I’ve reached this point with World of Warcraft.
Right now is a dangerous time for World of Warcraft players. It’s the time inbetween major content patches, when a lot of players have beaten the previous content and are looking around saying, “Well, now what?” Patch 3.2 is on the PTR, and promises new 10 and 25-man raids, a new 5-man dungeon, and a new battleground. But, with no release date in sight, will bored players be willing to wait or will they move on from the 5 year old game?
But, what MMO is there to move on to? Many players, myself included, are still playing WoW simply because they feel there is nothing else in the genre worth playing at the moment. Age of Conan and Warhammer Online both failed to live up to expectations and gamers aren’t known for giving second chances. Once they decide a game is bad, it’s nearly impossible to change their minds. And the only MMO coming out this year that’s generating any buzz, Aion Online, won’t be out until September 22nd.
So, despite it’s age and it’s flaws, WoW is still the best value for my $15/month. It is an incredibly polished game with a well-established community of dedicated players. And yet, it’s a game that I’m just not interested in playing anymore.
It’s going to be a long two months.
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hmm having played WoW and recently quit myself I think the statement
’simply because they feel there is nothing else in the genre worth playing at the moment’ is a tad folly, being an ex WoW player myself I used to dismiss games because they werent WoW enough and I continued to compare new releases with WoW. This always ended with me leaving whatever game and going back to WoW.
This time however Im leaving and will be heading to Champions Online, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun and Im looking forward to actually just playing a game and enjoying myself than, having to grind 80 levels of quests followed by a gear grind which will then be wiped at the next expansion.
Anyway dont want to leave a big wall of text but good luck hope you find what your looking for, keep in mind when you do try other games that alot of them arent ‘WoW clones’ but that doesnt necessarily make them bad
I feel you. I posted 2 recent articles about the same thing you are going through.
http://onelikelystory.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/wow-burnout/
http://onelikelystory.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/52/
I am only logging in every other day because of it.
Twan,
I’ve only been logging in 2-3 times a week for any significant amount of time myself. My friends all seem to be taking breaks as well. And I agree that dailies are a chore! I hate any kind of farming or a grind. I’d rather quest, explore, PvP, etc. So, instead I’ve been keeping busy with the new Monkey Island games and the AoC re-evaluation.
Pitrelli,
Thanks for the comment! I agree with you that comparing every MMO on the market to WoW is a mistake. A lot of gamers seem to have that mindset, though, and I was speaking in general terms.
This past year I tried out Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, then AoC again during the 2-week re-evaluation. I’m also in the Aion beta. AoC and WAR didn’t work out, not because they weren’t as great as WoW (which has it’s flaws!) but because one was horribly broken at release and the other’s PVE I found to be very boring outside of public quests.
I’m hoping Aion at least holds my attention for a while… until The Old Republic comes out anyway.
Hmmm well the first thing I had to question when I had WoW burnout was:
Why am I playing? To have fun!
Was I having fun? No
Why not? Id played for 4 years and had managed to see past the grind, was I willing to grind out those best in slot items that will be vender trash when the new expansion hits? No
Now it sounds like I hate WoW which I dont, on the contrary I loved my time in WoW and the leveling game is fantastic, my problem comes from the lack of character development. Any development will purely be gear and by the end of it all you will look no different than the other paladin/rogue/shaman standing next to you in dalaran…… oh wait thats because he has just grinded the same gear as you….. ah well theres always next expansion
TOR should be a good one, it is going to be story centric so I’ll be giving it a try. If you are looking for a game to check out try Champions Online. Its Open beta is mid August so you can decide whether you will enjoy it or not from there