Why play WOW?

[Servanas]

I've quit WOW recently, and wondered why some people play for as long as they do. This is not a challenge, just an honest question. I'll give a bit of backstory for myself real quick.

A friend of mine, who had played the game a bit in the past, (not much, only got up to a level 36 character) had me try the trial version. I created an Undead Warlock on a PvP server and became fond of the game. It was a new experience for me, I'd never played an MMORPG before. I liked some of the lore and area designs of the game (Tirisfal Glades remains one of my favorite areas in the game, espeicially Brill). Over time, my interest waned. Now, I have a level 70 Warlock, a level 14 Warrior, a level 7 Warrior, and a level 22 Rogue. I just can't play anymore though. I got my Warlock up to 70 a few weeks ago and have been doing two things; dailies and BGs. Dailies suck. I hate repetitiveness. BGs were fun at first but became dull quickly. So I'm farming gold (or was) for my epic flying mount and grinding honor points for gear. Looking at the prices of gear... I'm going to have to spend a lot of time grinding just for a new set of gear I'll replace once I get enough honor points for more gear.

Another problem I have with the game is gear. If players of similar gear and level were fighting, skill would play a large amount in the chances of their winning. However, if you have the right gear, you don't need skill. I have a friend who's never touched WOW before, and if he used a highly geared 70 to fight my Warlock who has crap gear, he'd just have to wipe his face across his keyboard and watch me die.

The questing system also sucks. It was great at first but I soon realized there are only a small variety of quests. There are "Kill x amount of mobs" quests (which Nagrand went overboard on), "protect this person" quests, "collect these items from the shimmering things on the ground (or wherever)" quests, and the worst of all, "Collect x amount of items from these mobs". That last type is absolutely horrible. It should not take me 80 kills just to get 12 wolf pelts. So the quest system turned me off early on. I almost quit before I got to 70. I'd think Blizzard could be a little more imaginative than this.

So those are just some reasons, the big ones, on why I don't find the game fun anymore. Not to mention enemies being able to kill me with a punch from 50 feet away and pvp being unbalanced.

[Trakamoocow]

Endgame progress (a couple of weeks at 70 grinding quests, you didnt want to join a guild?) mostly keeps people going.

Yes, even PvP epics take some time to accumulate. Yes, you'll suck before you get them. Yes, this is intended. All meant to A) Keep you in game/grinding and B) Give you a sense of achievement/accomplishment as your character improves.

The game starts at 70 for most people. Pushing kara/ssc/tk/gruuls/mh/bt/sunwell are the milestones. Well with wotlk coming out, new milestones to be met.

And it's just another pastime. Same as watching tv, shooting some hoops, whatever. Something to do when you're not working/schooling/whatever.

p.s. re reading your message it reads a bit more like : Validate my reasons to quit/Anyone who doesnt find this boring sucks. Levelling is not exciting. Whether it was intended to be or not is the question I guess. I've a number of 70s now and yes, it's **** boring getting there. Quest helper well, helps. Teaming with friends can help a lot too, being competitive, whatever.

So, what do you do besides that is so much more exciting? Because most pastimes really are repetitious as hell, just something else to do between serioustimes.

[Servanas]

I feared my post would sound too much like I'm looking for validation and harping on current players. I'm not at all, I just gave the reasons I no longer found it fun. Oh, and I did join a guild, quite awhile before I hit 70. As for quest helper and friends, yeah, they make the game more fun. Even though I've grown to dislike the game I still like the time I and like, fourteen other people did the Blood Arena (or whatever it's called) questline in Nagrand. What do I do that's more exciting? Read books, play other games, mess around with computers... that's the basics.

[drewid]

Im sure we all get to a point at some stage where we wonder what we are doing, when this happens to me i log off and go do something else.

I think the guild you are in will play a big part of how much enjoyment you will get out of the game. Our guild does everything - pvp - Twink Bg - Prebc raids - TBC raids - RP etc etc ...
All these things offer a change and break from the grind of getting your toon better equipped.

I find that i will play my twinks in the BGs for up to a week at a time then go back to questing etc..
I also roll a new toon when my current one has all epics and try a different class.
Different people will get different things out of the game if you find you cant get anything else out of it then it is probably wise to quit for a while.

It also sounds like you didnt quite manage to grasp how to play a lock. There is no way someone who has never played before can jump on a t6 equipped toon and beat someone who has lvled a toon to 70. Gear is important but class dynamics and understanding how other classes work have a far greater effect on the result of a fight.

[clevins]

So you posted this... why? I mean if you don't find the game fun anymore, fine. Don't play. But... I don't see why the reasons we continue to play will matter to you. We're not you, you're not us.

[dwarfenhelm]

i think clevins has hit the nail squarely on the head

[Mollymog]

I've quit WOW recently, and wondered why some people play for as long as they do. This is not a challenge, just an honest question. .

We play, my partner and I, as a sort of hobby. We're not totally immersed in it; sometimes a week or more goes by when we're occupied with real life things that take up our free time. We like playing it. It's amusing and interesting and rewarding and often quite challenging. It's relatively cheap. The cost of the equipment (computers and whatnot) to play isn't that expensive over the time we'll be able to use them, and it's something you can pick up when you have a short period of free time and then put away.

Yes, there are things we dislike or wish would change, but isn't that the case with a lot of activities?

[Lothaer]

I've quit WOW recently, and wondered why some people play for as long as they do.

because we choose to.

[TPMdm]

because we choose to.

Well there is this guy with a knife in my closet. He keeps telling me to play another alt. I've thrown water at him, but he still sits there.... grinning..... I think he works for blizzard.

[Maticus]

I've been playing WoW for 3 years. During that time, I've hit the wall you're talking about a couple of times, usually the same time that you mention, a couple of weeks after reaching level 70. I think the reason it always happens to me then is because up until 70, you can more or less solo the game.

After 70 you can either PvP, which soon becomes boring unless you really enjoy it (I don't because I'm terrible at it, I just do it for the gear), you can do dailies and grind for your epic mount, then grind for the Netherdrake, or you can raid. What keeps most people in the game at level 70 is PvP or raiding. If, like me, you don't really enjoy PvP that much, then raiding should keep you coming back, but for people who lean towards the solo play aspect of WoW such as ourselves, being in a guild and signing up for regular raids just isn't our thing.

For most people, the social part of the game is what makes it fun. You mentioned the Ring of Blood quest as a memorable time, with 14 of you working together to complete it. That's an example of the game being more fun because a few of you have to work together to complete it, because I think WoW is really meant for groups, not solo play - it's an MMORPG after all. Even PvP requires some cooperation with other players if you are to be successful in the objective.

How do I get past that 2-weeks-into-70 wall? I roll another alt. I happen to love levelling, it suits my style of play (solo apart from the odd instance and group quest if forced), I'm not tied to logging on at a certain time or date, and I don't have to rely on others to help me succeed. I have 5 level 70s and one of every other class over level 30, and I love them all, although I have my favorites. Only one of them is in epics, and they are from PvP. Some players would consider that a failure, but I have had so much enjoyment out of WoW over the years, met so many cool people, how could that count as failure? :)

In short, if you don't like raiding, PvP or levelling, then WoW isn't for you. You don't need to like all of them, just one!

[Clavina]

It doesn't matter what I'm doing really. Its the people and server community that keeps me playing. If you are only soloing dailies and grinding BG's then I can imagine it getting dull very quickly.

[semiiramiis]

Besides using wow as a place to find fairly like minded people (I live in a rural area, filled with small minded people who think bar hopping and cows are the end all, be all to life....) I play Wow to raid. I love raiding. I put up with all the bs I have to to keep raiding.

[elsegundo]

im still hooked. it gives me a sense of accomplishment, especially when i've gained rep, or gained a level, or gained... whatever else there is to gain in this game. lol

[Servanas]

It also sounds like you didnt quite manage to grasp how to play a lock. There is no way someone who has never played before can jump on a t6 equipped toon and beat someone who has lvled a toon to 70.

I may have been exaggerating a bit there, I know how to play a Warlock damn well. The point still is, gear is far more important than it should be.

So you posted this... why? I mean if you don't find the game fun anymore, fine. Don't play. But... I don't see why the reasons we continue to play will matter to you. We're not you, you're not us.

Just interested is all.

because we choose to.

What an astounding revelation.

[tigermeat]

I play because my cable tv sucks here. Honestly I dont have much spare time when my little gf isnt pestering me to do stuff, so its not like Im logged on all the time. Also, i am an adventurer at heart, and I cant wait to go tooling around northrend.

ive never raided so cant speak on that, but yes the dailies get sickening. I am just getting exalted on 2 toons (already revered), and the money is nice. I do bg's once in a while, i find when the teams are evenly matched it can be really excited. I really dont talk much to other people while Im playing. I find pugs can be awesome when the people are mature and decent, but can be horrible when you get the L337 people on your team. So I basically just do my own thing and Im still really enjoying it. I used to go to the bar and booze at least 2 times a week. Total cost usually around 150$. Now, I have a great gf, I am saving for a house, and my hobbies only cost me 15$ a month. not too bad IMO

[clevins]

Still don't see it. I understand you're curious, but... isn't it obvious? You don't like the game anymore. We do. We find something in it that we enjoy. You didn't.

And, honestly, you didn't really give it a chance at 70 as noted by your gear complaints. Gear is like levels. I could take all of your complaints about it, sub in levels, and there you go. "Levels are more important thank skill - if someone has more levels than I do, they'll always win." At 70 you raid or do instances to experience new content and get better gear... which equips you do do yet more content. It's really no different than leveling. except that at 70 you mostly need to group up.