Why I Hate... World of Warcraft

By John Bedford Published 13 December, 2010

Elf warning.

There are countless good reasons why I've never crossed the threshold of a bookies. First and foremost is my poor relationship with lady luck. However, it's also about my natural inclination towards chain smoking fistfuls of cigarettes and chewing my fingernails to the bone.

Given my own weaknesses I'd be afraid to throw 20p in a slot machine, let alone risk throwing away my life savings on a four minute horse race. So I should have seen World of Warcraft coming.

My involvement with the game began late in 2005. I'd recently witnessed a friend of mine give his life over to grinding Bog Faeries in EverQuest II. It was my first experience of an MMO, and I was fascinated with the idea that a genre so seemingly dull and pointless could be so compelling.

But WOW was different. My first steps into Azeroth revealed a gaming vista unlike any I'd ever experienced. Even newcomers are presented with a smorgasbord of content, storyline and opportunities to develop their character.

Most of all, I was spellbound by the idea of a world that lived and breathed even after I'd logged off. There aren't enough hours in a lifetime, let alone a day, to take all of it in. The game is a completionist's idea of hell.

As for many people, I'm sure, videogames have long provided me with a means of escapism. But WOW's system of near-limitless character advancement and seemingly infinite content became a convenient vacuum into which I could pour all of my disappointments - dissatisfaction with work, a pervading sense of pointlessness, that creeping sense of thirtysomething dread which suggested the moment to grab life by the horns and achieve something had passed me by.

1

I only logged in to take screenshots, I swear.

I never had any illusions about the carrot-and-stick mechanics underpinning the game, that system of handing out micro rewards with the ultimate pay-off lying just out of reach. But I felt sure that if I just put in enough time and commitment I alone could break the system and retire victorious.

Not long after creating my first WOW character, I cajoled my faerie-grinding friend into playing. I knew exactly what I was doing - to legitimise your addiction by spreading it to your nearest and dearest is the sickening hallmark of the confirmed addict. Given The EverQuest Affair it's safe to say that relations with his wife were frosty. Until she bought an account and started playing herself.

That first year in WOW represented the greatest period of gaming I'd ever experienced. However, I was finding it hard to break away from a system that rewards you for time expended, while promoting the idea that walking away represents time wasted.

I'm not alone in this. We live in a world where there are those who enjoy the odd tipple and those for whom a bucket will never be enough. But I'd never put the case for outright prohibition when responsibility lies with the individual.

All the same, the argument can be made that while I have a fondness for chips I don't feel compelled to eat them every day, given the health risks associated with doing so. To deny that game design plays a significant role in feeding the addiction cheapens the perfectly valid counter-argument that I am easily addicted and have a weak-willed personality.

2

WOW - too good for my own good.

Every reward in WOW is as tangible as it is time-consuming to achieve, and success is designed to be simplicity itself. Give enough of your life and the reward can be yours.

Did I really need to spend dozens of hours becoming a master fisherman? Does the pay-off really justify the commitment? Of course it does. Even if the achievement never served a purpose, it would mark one more step towards making my character complete.

Making progress along gaming's longest road generates a warm, fuzzy feeling and, while it might happen by accident once, a thousand times raises an eyebrow. Even when I was playing, I hated these moments every bit as much as I savoured them.

The cracks began to show with the launch of The Burning Crusade and the introduction of a flood of attunement grinds. With an effective gear reset in place, all players were reborn equal.

This was my chance to take part in the true end-game of WOW - raiding. As my guildmates raced to 70 I felt acutely aware that if I wasn't getting ahead, I'd be getting behind by default.

It wasn't just the serious business of raid preparation that kept me hooked. Though it's laughable in hindsight (and something that would no doubt have horrified me before I began playing), getting up at 4am to grind ogres for a blue goat mount seemed like the most natural thing in the world. With the server quiet and my game time transformed into work it felt like efficiency, rather than the lunacy it was.

Then there's the raiding itself. Imagine any other scenario where you engage in a hobby that consumes around four hours of your evening, several nights a week. One that benefits you enormously and requires 24 other people who just happen to be your best buddies for life. Wouldn't that be incredible?

I think it would, but I also know deep down it would be bullsh**. Allying your own character development to the wants and needs of two-dozen other people merely compounds the compulsion to play and retain your place in the group. As with gambling, the more you put in, the harder it becomes to walk away from the table.

If you feel I'm overly cynical about the social experience, take a break from tanking for a few raid rotations or hang up your healing gloves. Tell the guild that you're burning out and you need a break. Then measure your friendship when you return, having created an obstacle to their next shiny gear upgrade.

All of this nonsense should have come to head at the end of 2007 when I embarked on a year of travelling. Instead, while fellow travellers endured 15-hour coach journeys by necking Zopiclone pills like they were soporific Skittles, I passed the time happily playing mental PVP behind closed eyes. It was uncomfortable madness. Somewhere in the bottom of my subconscious a voice demanded that no matter what, I mustn't think about a pink elephant.

3

'Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go'.

My compulsion to play had not dulled by the time I returned home. However, I was surprised to find myself bored and aimless in Azeroth. So I did what any rational idiot does in this sort of situation and upped the dosage.

Now in possession of five accounts I began multi-boxing and, with a set of characters at max level, spent several months doing nothing but running dungeons by myself and gathering gear. All under the laughable pretence that this would allow me to play without being dependent on others, and therefore better able to manage my playtime.

It was the Achievement system introduced just before the second expansion which finally forced me out of the game. Faced with the deepest grind yet, I had nothing invested and so nothing to lose by walking away. I didn't so much quit as just stop logging in one day.

Almost 12 months after going cold turkey, I must confess I dipped back into the game on a whim. But I was relieved to feel nothing. The magic had vanished from my veins.

Since then I've revisited Azeroth - mainly for professional purposes - and found the well of addiction remains dry. When I play now, I sit in that happy category of player who perceives the game for what it is: an extraordinary accomplishment which should entertain, not enslave.

I hated WOW, but I'm not sure I hate it any more. It's more accurate to say I hate the way I threw myself into the abyss - the one that will only engulf you if you choose to let it. I recognised the moment when I was no longer having fun but I couldn't, wouldn't, walk away.

4

Achievements - it just had to go.

What saddens me most about those years is that, for all of the incredible and memorable times I had in WOW, I missed a hundred other great gaming moments. I wrote countless other, undoubtedly excellent games off because I saw them as being pointless and lacking a persistent purpose. I forgot how to have fun for fun's sake.

Fallout 3 may have been an embarrassment of riches and I'm sure that Super Mario Galaxy was an ecstatic, surreal sugar-high. But, along with so many others, those games sat next to my television gathering dust during the WOW years.

I couldn't tell you a thing about them that wasn't third-hand knowledge. I only remember glancing guiltily at my consoles and seeing piles of games accumulate like the possessions of a spoilt and greedy child, eagerly awaited but discarded after an hour's attention.

I still believe World of Warcraft is the defining title of the MMO genre. In fact, there's an argument to be made for holding it up as the defining game of the last decade. But a game that good holds up a mirror to your life. If you don't like what you see, turn away.

Reflecting on my own experience, today I view WOW as the ex-girlfriend you thought you'd never get over. The one you bump into, years later, and realise you were happier before you'd ever met.

Picture of John.

About John Bedford

John is an MMO specialist with a particular passion for Eve Online. He once nearly went paragliding.

Read more articles from John by visiting the John Bedford archive page.

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Comments (104) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • Cronan #1 1 year ago

    World of Warcraft is a bit addictive in the same way that crack cocaine is a bit moreish. Good article.
    Edited by Cronan at 13/12/10 @ 14:46

  • Kami #2 1 year ago

    It is true, this is a game with a stigma - whether we like it or not. The fact that Blizzard have designed it so bloody well is both a testament to their ability and a stark warning to people.

    I always see WoW in the same way I see Tetris. Don't laugh, there IS a serious comparison to be made here so shut up! It's the kind of game you go back to to "improve" on. Beating a high score. Getting there faster. Going farther than you've gone before. Essentially, it is the same game design concept - keep you going back for more, just one more time and you'll have it right, you'll have that shiny sound playing in your ears and your eyes will be feasted with a hundred "GRATS!".

    That said, it really is not for everyone - and even me, I've been playing since Vanilla and my relationship with WoW is awkward. I'm back to play with the new toys and check out the plastic surgery, but I dunno... in a years time, when the scars show and the skin has sagged back to a natural position, will I still be interested? Or will I leave waiting for another content patch that tickles my fancy...

    Great game. Just complex - in so many ways...

    edit; As for losing friends, it depends on the person... games are supposed to be enjoyed, but if they consume every waking moment of your life then you've got a problem - an addiction, a reliance... whatever. And yes, a lot of people ARE addicted to WoW. I admit I have been in that camp a fair few times. But it goes both ways - some people get jealous, very jealous, of how easily their friends can contemplate a night in for a raid a couple of times a week. That isn't healthy either, and probably shows the problem is on the other foot... it's a balancing act, on both sides, but isn't that what friendship is all about? We're all here on a gaming website so we all have our gaming vices, after all - be it WoW, Everquest, Grand Theft Auto, Pokémon...

    WoW. It's COMPLEX. But then, isn't everything? Everything in moderation, they say...
    Edited by Kami at 13/12/10 @ 15:00

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #3 1 year ago

    Great article! Let's all help Anonymous WoWaholics and hold hands!

  • mazzl #4 1 year ago

    damn... these comments prove me right for not ever have played wow.
    i had friends who vanished from the face of the earth... just beceause they played wow.
    Edited by mazzl at 13/12/10 @ 14:53

  • knownoversight #5 1 year ago

    Great column, and it's for this very reason I won't even look at the WoW website...I know as soon as I do I'll be sucked in to the game only to be spat out several weeks later wondering what on earth happened!

  • RobTheBuilder #6 1 year ago

    Never played WoW, never felt any desire to. I'll have to take this at face value...

  • berelain #7 1 year ago

    I played WoW for a while, but it never really bit me like it did so many people. I got a character to max level, did a few raids with an active guild... had fun. Then moved on when the fun stopped and the raids became too focussed on nabbing the best loot and not about enjoying the experience.

    I think the reason it never sank its teeth into me is because I'd played quite a few MMO's before, having devoted many long hours to the likes of Everquest, so to me WoW was nothing new. I also think life has an undeniable impact on how 'addicted' you can get to an MMO, and how much time you elect to spend in it. I'm currently loving Lord of the Rings Online, a game I've played, on-and-off, since launch. But as much as I enjoy questing and chatting to my buddies in LOTRO, I won't choose it over other gaming experiences.

  • Eraysor #8 1 year ago

    I've done endgame raiding, killed Algalon and the Lich King, and never really felt "compelled" to do anything. It's just an enjoyable way to spend your time, particularly if you're in the lucky situation of having a lot of real-life friends in your guild. It just depends on your personality really.

    Either way, it's a brilliant game.

  • Skandalle #9 1 year ago

    This wont end well...

  • mowgli #10 1 year ago

    WoW is farmvile for people stupid enough to pay a monthly subscription. Lets not kid ourselves otherwise. They have both been designed to completely take advantage of us, and make us want more. Both can fuck off as afar as I'm concerned.

  • CaptainQuint #11 1 year ago

    The graphics are shite. End of story.

    -23.

    Or an ironic +12. Or failing that, an indifferent 0.

  • FreakyZoid #12 1 year ago

    And people say that games aren't addictive.

  • mathare92 #13 1 year ago

    Ah, Wesley should have written this.

  • actionfitz #14 1 year ago

    Great read hehe.
    so much rings true for me too :/

  • Zephro #15 1 year ago

    " having devoted many long hours to the likes of Everquest, so to me WoW was nothing new"

    I never got past Level 30 in WoW and played Vanilla and the original Beta only. It was just Everquest wearing a Warcraft skin coat to me. It never hooked me at all. I think it'd be more interesting for EG to do a "Why I hate WoW" article which isn't actually a covert compliment.

  • Synthesis #16 1 year ago

    What, no megaton link?

    But I want to see if WoW is suitable for my child!

  • InsoFox #17 1 year ago

    I played WoW when it first game out. It was a bit more of a grind at the time and I had a lot of fun with it, getting to about level 45-ish before burning out. I never got to an obsessive or addicted stage with it, which is tricky now that I've jumped back in for Cataclysm.

    Really, I'm just curious about the changes, and a little nostalgic. WoW fills a neat hole in my gaming life at the moment, but when I tell people that, they assume (or just tease) that I'm in some sort of denial. But really, I figure I'll play it a bit, maybe get 40 hours of enjoyment out of it over the next month or two and then burn out once more. If I get that, I imagine I've already got my money's worth, and we can part once again on good terms.

    I think if you treat WoW like any other game (albeit a huge one - I was again struck by the sheer level of content), one which you'll play for a while, stop, maybe revisit every so often then it's a great diversion. I treat it almost like a below-average single player RPG that makes up for it in sheer breadth of content, and multiplayer that's there if you need it. If you're the sort of person to develop a long term addiction, I understand why you'd want to steer clear.

  • dr_shambles #18 1 year ago

    One benefit is that at least people who play 10 hours of WOW every day are unlikely to breed.

  • Talbot #19 1 year ago

    Liked the premise but the games a pointless time sink. At least in Battlefield I can compete against players who've played 1000 more hours than me.

    The idea of spending night after night raiding the same dungeon for hours upon hours just so you can get lucky in looting a particular piece of kit unnerves me. The combat is horrifically dull and that really doesn't help.

    The world was enticing and addictive but some see through that pretty quick.

  • Zephro #20 1 year ago

    Also I think part of my problem with never getting far is my natural misanthropy, I got chucked out of the guild of my friend's at Uni as I argued with the american guild masters racism about Jews in the guild channel then refused to turn up for guild quests/raids. The whole social bubble of basically putting up with utter arseholes just to get a shiny new bit of inventory was really off putting.

    Actually this is why i never get into Clan play or enable voice chat in any online game. Hmmmm.

  • ZeroAX #21 1 year ago

    This story might as well have been written by me. Too bad it took me 1.5 years more to escape from that hell. Still waiting for an mmo that doesn't require that much of a time investment.

  • cianchristopher #22 1 year ago

    "WOW's system of near-limitless character advancement and seemingly infinite content became a convenient vacuum into which I could pour all of my disappointments - dissatisfaction with work, a pervading sense of pointlessness, that creeping sense of thirtysomething dread which suggested the moment to grab life by the horns and achieve something had passed me by."

    Jesus dude, that's some heavy stuff!

  • FogHeart #23 1 year ago

    I had three great work mates..after work we used to kick back, load up UT, have a bash. Was a quick blast of fun.

    I got into L4D in the evenings, but they got into WoW. I did not want in, for the multifarious reasons of addiction, time-eating, pointless levelling up so you can keep up, everything the article alludes to. I knew that if I went in I wouldn't come out. I saw L4D as a way of playing a co-op game that would just last an hour, then it's done, see you tomorrow at work guys. Never happened.

    Instead the lunch hours became discussions about places and items and plans that sounded like a foreign language spoken in front of me. They kept telling me to come on board and participate. Eventually I found a new job - no, I didn't leave because of that! - and my leaving present from them was....an installation disk for WoW. It felt like an ultimatum - want to stay in touch? Then play with us.

    I was really gutted but didn't show it. So having never played a second of the game, there is why I hate WoW.

  • Bradius #24 1 year ago

    As the aforementioned Bog Faerie grinder, I was very disturbed to see that you had managed to reach level 85 before me.
    Hopefuly this was just for research purposes. It would be nice to go to the pub again sometime :)

  • Zephro #25 1 year ago

    @FogHeart.
    Wow, where did you work?
    Edited by Zephro at 13/12/10 @ 15:29

  • YobRenoops #26 1 year ago

    This is entirely why I have zero interest in MMOs and as little interest in Online MP gaming. Because there are always people 2x crazier than you that will be 2x better and I just don't find that fun. I like my games to have a defined end where I can say "I'm done, you have entertained me" and I like to experience a wide variety of games. Monomania isn't becoming.

    That's why it's only those games I really like that I spend the time getting a Platinum trophy on PS3.

  • YobRenoops #27 1 year ago

    Also the sad point for me is when you hear about people racing to a new level cap, or having 5 or 6 maxxed out characters. I just want to shake them and say "There is so much more out there you're missing!"

  • Darkedge #28 1 year ago

    I'd say it's more Heroin than Cocaine: - to me it looks rubbish, screws you over and ruins your life, so I've never wanted to try it (like Heroin). Cocaine in some ways does have a bit of an upside - at least it makes you feed good for a bit and you don't vomit after doing it.

  • Pwnsweet #29 1 year ago

    I had the exact same experience as the author back in 2002 with a game called Anarchy Online. Back then MMORPG's weren't mainstream and Anarchy Online was the new big thing in the relatively new genre. Unfortunately it took me 6 years before I finally realized how much of my life I was wasting. Worse still, during those 6 years I did permanent damage to my spine because I was literally sitting down too much and will live out the rest of my life with constant nagging lower back pain.

    I can fully identify with the author when he talks about missing big release games. Whilst playing AO, other games basically didn't exist for me. Everything else 'paled' in comparison and unless it was an exceptionally good game, it was neglected.

  • Hunam #30 1 year ago

    Why did the picture change from a knight, to night elf boobs?

  • Trendyninja #31 1 year ago

    Is there a link anywhere on this site that takes me to all of these "Why I hate/love..." opinions? I found this to be a really good read!

  • King_of_Hyrule #32 1 year ago

    I don't like subscription fees, for the same reason I don't like renting videogames. It's not about the price per se, but they make me feel like I HAVE to play all the time to get my money's worth and that makes it impossible for me to enjoy the game.

    I personally always preferred Guild Wars over WOW (just a personal preference, not saying GW is better) because they don't need subscriptions they can do things like having a player reach a maxed out character just a couple of hours into the game, you already payed for the game and you playing every month doesn't make a difference for them.

  • SAMagic #33 1 year ago

    Imagine any other scenario where you engage in a hobby that consumes around four hours of your evening, several nights a week. One that benefits you enormously and requires 24 other people who just happen to be your best buddies for life. Wouldn't that be incredible?

    I think it would, but I also know deep down it would be bullsh**. Allying your own character development to the wants and needs of two-dozen other people merely compounds the compulsion to play and retain your place in the group.

    Football.

    People get together (with almost that number of players) and play a few games a week. They spend money on strips, shinpads and other kit, as well as on fuel to travel to the pitch. People often play it with their friends. People obsess over it, with football becoming a defining aspect of their lives. You could even argue that "Allying your own character development to the wants and needs of two-dozen other people merely compounds the compulsion to play and retain your place in the group" applies too!

    I think there's a rough parallel there. I'd at least imagine that other footie players would more easily welcome a former player back than hardcore gear-obsessed raiders though.
    Edited by SAMagic at 13/12/10 @ 16:14

  • Spuzzell #34 1 year ago

    @hunam

    You never need a reason to change to a picture of boobs.

  • spekkeh #35 1 year ago

    Extremely well written article. All your arguments as to why the game is so addicting make sense, yet all the while I find it impossible to believe anybody would fall for that and do those acts of lunacy without grasping that they are in fact that: lunatic. But then, that's probably the reason why people get addicted in the first place.

    Maybe I should just try it and get myself addicted.... For Science!
    Edited by spekkeh at 13/12/10 @ 16:10

  • SClaw #36 1 year ago

    From the outside looking in WoW looks pretty bad. From the inside looking out it's rose tinted glass all around. It's very hard to be objective when it comes to this game.

    I'm not sure why WoW is everybody whipping boy really (even I've done it). As a technical, social and marketing achievement it is a masterpiece no one can argue against. As an unpleasant time-sink I would compare it with booze or fags; some people can have one drink, or smoke every once in a while, others just have to have one more... one more... one more. WoW is like that. If you are a "normal" person I don't think it's much of a timesink at all. If you are an addictive sort, like John here, I can't personally blame WoW. I mean, if not WoW then CoD or MW2 right? Or something else entirely? Addiction, as any addiction support thing will tell you, is more to do with you than what your addicted to.

    Anyway, WoW is a great game and has a great sense of humour and fun if you approach it in a sensible way. Now I'm back into it myself I see that if you are capable of setting your own goals, rather than being some sort of mad achievement whore, it's not much more than a mild distraction from the other gaming awesome out there.

    Although, I will say having a short attention span (like me) probably helps keep you from getting addic... oh look a shiney. Wait, what was I writing about?
    Edited by SClaw at 13/12/10 @ 16:13

  • Eraserhead #37 1 year ago

    I'm beginning to think this article series should be renamed:

    "Why I Hate xxx" = "How I became addicted to xxx and had to stop playing it"
    "Why I Love xxx" = "How I became addicted to xxx and am still playing it"

    Couldn't we actually have some, y'know, proper hate? Especially for games like WOW which some people (like me, I admit) find extraordinarily overrated.

  • Xboxfanuk #38 1 year ago

    The original Everqust is and always will be the best MMO and most addictive. Sadly SOE can't seem to make a good game anymore. Everquest II did get my wife into gaming proper (now she is addicted to Fable III). WoW always seemed dumbed down then EQ. But I think in the end people want dumbed down.

  • Xboxfanuk #39 1 year ago

    "What saddens me most about those years is that, for all of the incredible and memorable times I had in WOW, I missed a hundred other great gaming moments. I wrote countless other, undoubtedly excellent games off because I saw them as being pointless and lacking a persistent purpose. I forgot how to have fun for fun's sake."

    -- I was grinding quests on Everquest 2 trying to play catch up to the higher levels when it dawned on me. Why I am paying Ł9.99 a month to solo the same fetch quest over and over. Wouldn't it be MUCH better to play Oblivion where the quests are interesting. So I quit EQ2, got a Xbox 360 and never looked back.

    With the release of Sims 3 my Xbox 360 provides all the games I ever wanted on PC.

  • Fillem #40 1 year ago

    Very nicely written article and voiced my "problems" with the game much better than I ever could.

    I have to admit, I still feel a little Azeroth tingle once in a while (and now a whole lot, with the whole cataclysm thing) but thinking back and just that feeling of "I NEED to play when I have free time", I don't want that anymore. The feeling of the game being 'stronger' than me, and me not able to resist: no, no more.

  • drhickman1983 #41 1 year ago

    I play WoW yet I've never really had the same "addiction" problem at all. Despite doing my share of end game raiding on each expansion, I still found ample time to play other games and maintain as much of a social life as I want. So I don't think I've really missed anything by playing this game at all.

    Guess I'm one of the fortunate ones. On the other hand, I seem incapable of getting really engrossed by anything these days. It's be nice to find something to getting really obssessed by.

  • johnlenham #42 1 year ago

    Thank fuck I pulled the plug this year. God If only I could get back the horrific amount of time I spent on FF online and WoW. One tiny upside is you save money not buying console stuff, somthing I discovered when I quit then went out and bought a hd tv,360 and gears of war way back when.

  • AOFanboi #43 1 year ago

    Should be retitled "Why I hate... raiding"

    I am enjoying WoW by NOT joining any waids, and only doing dungeons when I can solo them. It's not a game when it turns into a group "job". Quest lines are entertaining for the most part, and exploring the changed landscapes - especially by flight - is entertaining in itself.

  • DyingAtheist #44 1 year ago

    An exceptional article and extremely enlightening to those of us who've managed to avoid the gorgeous but grind-ridden time-vacuum.

  • Tio #45 1 year ago

    Was tempted to revisit the new expansion , but this article reminded me of many of the things I did.

    Thanks to the author I wont return.

    Funnily enough , for me I had the same feelings for 4 years I missed 100's of great other games :(

  • Toothball #46 1 year ago

    I used to live in a house with about eight other people. We had plenty of regular guests around a few times a week to watch movies, play games and that. When World of Warcraft launched I was top of the list of people most likely to get involved. I have to admit, it crossed my mind while standing in Gamestation looking at the box. But everywhere was sold out, so it was not to be that day.

    A couple of months later someone ordered a copy. Not sure if they'd planned ahead, but soon nearly everyone else had started. It sounded like fun to begin with, but soon it was all they were talking about. I wasn't able to follow conversations around the dinner table, and it was starting to get harder to get them to do anything on Sunday nights. Most of the house regulars had also started. There would still be nights of movies or other gaming, but the conversation would frequently drift gamewards. I found myself tuning out of conversations entirely, only coming too when someone mentioned a noun I recognised.

    Out of spite I refused to join in. I mostly played RPGs anyway, so my tolerance for repetitive grinding was already through the roof. They saw that and didn't understand why I wasn't playing with them already. I imagine I would have enjoyed it, but for all the wrong reasons.

    I eventually started playing Phantasy Star on the Xbox. It was also a huge time sink, but at the same time if I wanted to I could leave my friends to it for an evening without ruining their plans. Joke is on me though, as last I checked everyone had quit, but I'm still stuck on my one.

  • NorfolkNClue #47 1 year ago

    WoW did have a hypnotic hold over me twice - once for 3 weeks, then I realised it was taking over my life so I quit, and I had a second go where I was more controlled about my play. The tug was still there to level, but I was more mature about it - hence when it came to needing to get good at fishing in order to make potions, that's when I threw the towel in properly. No way was I going to waste hours virtual fishing, watching a bar fill. That said, WoW has given me some of those magical gaming moments - such as battering myself at hard mobs and losing repeatedly, and then being joined by a random player, him sitting in front of me absorbing punishment, me casting damage spells and protection spells... There was just somethign so right about the experience. We were levelling at the same rate, so it continued to be fun for some days and weeks...and then I hit the aforesaid fishing wall. Screw that. Great game, but screw that :)

  • thomaspower0 #48 1 year ago

    Played it for about 2 months and it bored the shit out of me. Doing quests, killing monsters and going in instances bored the shit out of me.

  • RedSparrows #49 1 year ago

    I disagree with the raid/social/fake friend thing. My guild was fine with people disappearing for months after burn-out. They'd come back later and be welcomed like the old comrades they were. Naturally, some people were dicks, but most were very pleasant.

    Vanilla WoW is the best gaming experience I've ever had. But it's gone, and that's probably a good thing.

  • DrStrangelove #50 1 year ago

    I never really understood it. The guy who first told me about WOW said he feels bad because he doesn't want to be responsible for me getting seriously addicted. I liked the idea very much, and I liked real time RPGs. All the time I wished that my beloved Daggerfall, or something similar, would become an MMO. So when I heard of WOW, I thought "oh great, that's finally it".

    Then I downloaded the test version, and I was quite surprised. The gameplay was so dull and boring that I never managed to play it for more than 20 minutes. Everywhere I went the place was crowded with other players, a bit too many for my taste. But I never got how you could get addicted to a game with such a stupid fight mechanic. It seemed to me like some social game that tried to include some sort of classic gameplay, but failed.

    I think I'll download the trial again to revisit. To see if I was wrong somehow or if I was perfectly right.

  • DaveLev #51 1 year ago

    The first page and a half remind me so much of myself playing WoW ... Really good article and sums up exactly how I feel about it too.

  • MrChuckles #52 1 year ago

    Running to next mission - Dull.
    Pressing the same key combinations over and over again to max DPS - Dull.
    Having to kill the same creature over and over again to collect enough items to finish a quest - Boring
    Having to organise your real life around when you guildmates are online and want to raid - Annoying

    I want to play an MMO, but with decent combat, no pointless running and no grinding... I'm very happy for you guys who love WoW, but i think i'm half glad and half jealous i don't.

  • Averice #53 1 year ago

    I think your title should be more "Why I hate myself"... or maybe the more optimistic "how I learned to love myself more". I really was expecting some wow hate in your article, cause you know, the title lol, but I didn't read any, just a lot of self loathing.

    I agree that when you look at time spent on something, and you think about what you could have spent your time on, it's always kind of sickening. I spent 24 hours on Twilight Princess over the past 5 days, just imagine what I could have accomplished with those 24 hours if I'd set myself to something meaningful for that amount of time.

    I believe in a middle ground that many players can find. Your raid friends don't have to hate you just because you miss a few raids, it depends on your guild and who you're playing with and why. I definitely feel you on the "desire to do it all yourself" mentality you ended up with. Been there with WoW.
    Edited by Averice at 13/12/10 @ 17:46

  • Svecke #54 1 year ago

    Great article. Makes me happy I don't have an addictive personality. I can only play WoW for about a month at a time, then I get bored with it and stay away for three or four months.

  • Averice #55 1 year ago

    Also, kinda sick of RIFT's constant "register for beta" junk when you can't even actually register for beta without first getting a key from them. If that's how they're going to play their system, with the constant promise followed by switching and giving you nothing, then the games already looking terrible. I'm still looking forward to it, but a lot less after I see how they run their promotions.

  • Nephirion #56 1 year ago

    I think most people play wow while watching daytime tv, waiting for their benefit cheque to arrive so they can go out and get some fags and cheap vodka.

  • Remy #57 1 year ago

    heh, I hate WoW a lot more than you.. in fact I hate some of the core concepts that WoW is based on!

    Jonathan Blow also had an even harsher take on it than me.

    Personally I think anyone who plays any "grind" game ought to think about these mechanics and listen to what Blow is saying. Not saying you shouldn't play them.. just know what you're getting into.

  • dsmx #58 1 year ago

    I played it, I gave it a fair crack, I got a character to level 80, I tried the top level raids. I don't think I've ever been more bored in my entire life, looking back the only thing that kept me going was the leveling up bit once I hit the old level cap I simply didn't care any more. Tried the small raids, I tried the big raids both were equally boring to me. Then I slowly came to the realisation I would have to grind these raids for hours to some decent equipment and that was it for me I just couldn't be arsed anymore.

    I quit shortly afterwards it was 4 months of my life and looking back the only reason I could see that it was popular was because everyone else played it and people were playing it for the interaction with other people not because anything within the game was that interesting.

    At least that's how I felt about it.

    Strange thing is though I've also given Star Trek Online a whirl for 4 months as well, from that 4 months I actually will go back probably when they fix the ground combat, the space combat is simply fantastic and when your in a battle against the borg with 20 other ships all firing around you it does indeed feel rather epic and fun. Rest of the game does still need some polish but at least I had fun with 1 aspect of the game which is more than I can say for the entire time I was playing WoW.

  • rodpad #59 1 year ago

    So the writer created 5 seperate accounts, had 5 level 70 characters, and multiboxed them all just to do a few dungeons? Aspergus much?

  • Shadman #60 1 year ago

    You stole these words out of my head, didn't you? Get out of my head!
    This story almost exacly mimics my own. Awesome game, but curse it for ruining my enjoyment of so many other games...

  • adamantium #61 1 year ago

    @SAmagic

    I love your football analogy. You could say the same for other intramural sports. However, i think there is a strong parallel between Wow and fantasy football.

    I assume most ppl are from Europe on this website and not sure if it has the popularity there, but ppl in the US go absolutely crazy over fantasy football. I have friends who are in several different leagues, it is all they talk about and they spend many hours a day making changes to their team.

    I absolutely love video game and play a wide variety of genres but have never tried WoW. The gameplay just does not look fun to me. It seems that its much more about spending time to level up your character than being "skill based" .. Please correct me if im wrong as ive never played to confirm

  • CaLeDee #62 1 year ago

    Like many others, I too have played and quit WoW multiple times. I don't think I ever let it take over my life but I certainly had those days were I felt like I probably could have put my time to better use. My last few reasons for quitting have been a little strange maybe, I've completely stopped playing now because I just can't get a UI setup that I like or feels comfortable to me. I detest (not exaggerating) the default WoW UI and each time I've tried to get back into the game I spent more time trying to get my UI perfect and comfortable than I do playing the actual game. Eventually I just get tired of it all and stop playing and haven't gone back since.

    Another complaint I would have is that the game is just too easy. Even the highest level raid content is only interesting the first few attempts but quickly becomes pattern recognition and mindless execution. I have little patience for repetitiveness in games which isn't a good trait to have when trying to enjoy an MMO I guess.

  • mrStones #63 1 year ago

    Moved into a shared house a couple of years ago and this was all anyone in the house ever did so i got set up with a trial account just to join in the buzz and see what it was all about, that weekend i managed to bring a bunch of girls back from the pub and sat mortified as my house mates basicly hid in a corner and talked about warcraft untill they eventually slinked back off to their game. That was my first encounter with (mole)people who are undoubtably addicted to MMO's and it scared me off them in general. Love the concept of them but they sap your life away and most the comments here will back that up.

    I love games and RPGs, maybe a little bit too much, but i've got better things to be doing with my penis than using it to prop up a laptop.

  • cnlfailure #64 1 year ago

    Right then, here's why I hate World of Warcraft.

    My first experience of MMOs was a game called Ultima Online which I started playing in 1998. Ultima Online was a game that, at the time, was a living world that you took a role in when you joined. There were no quests, no missions, no NPCs with pieces of punctuation over their head, you were free to explore the world and define your own objectives. As part of this there was also no level or experience system to speak of - if you wanted to become more proficient at sword fighting you could do so by going out and fighting with swords. If you wanted to be a better tailor, you'd make clothes.

    An early objective for many players, myself included, was to acquire funds enough to place a house and therefore completely change the makeup of the world and make it unique from every other Ultima shard. This was easier said than done however because outside of towns this was the wild west - murderers lay in wait near the most lucrative areas of the game and were more than willing to kill you, dry loot and behead your corpse then do so again if you were foolish enough to try and retrieve your possessions. The world was a harsh place, but it was yours. The nature of each shard was particular to its players.

    I could tell you stories about being scammed out of a house for 100k gold, or getting drunk with my guild and evicted from a local player run town, or the invasions of Britain, ,the siege of Trinsic, or the bank-bombing terrorism campaign we conducted - all of which were famous to all other players on the shard, and we were the stars. But I have no need to.

    A good friend of mine started playing another game called Everquest, and it just seemed wrong to me; instead of tailoring your skills by using them, instead you were given quests to do which gained you experience, which lead to levels. It seemed alien to me, and inferior in many ways. Instead of individual players achieving fame through what they brought to the game, this simply rewarded anyone who would put in enough time. Before too long everyone had hit the ceiling for their player level, making them more famous than anyone else.

    When it launched I moved onto a game called Star Wars Galaxies which, in the same way as Ultima Online before it allowed players to shape the world and their characters as they wished. There were no levels to speak of, only skills that you chose in order to be representative of the person you wanted to be in the mythos of Star Wars. Again, there were no quests to speak of, and you were left to set your own objectives. I could tell you about the religious cult I was part of, and how the forums would ripple with news of our activities, or the talent show we entered, or about the city we built on Lok, but I'm not going to.

    Ultima Online (before it was broken), Star Wars Galaxies (before it was broken) and a little game called EVE reward players who bring their personality to the game, and out of that involvement they create stories and adventures that simply weren't imagined by the developers - they took the time to deliver us a world and some rules within which we could create our own narrative. They reward smart players, creative players and really foster a sense of belonging that ties entire shards of players together.

    I hate World of Warcraft because it uses the Everquest model. Get mission, finish mission, level. Your existence in the game is dictated to you by the designers - I could tell you about the time I woke up 10 sleeping goblins but I don't need to because you did it too. It's an experience that's dumbed down, spoon fed and entirely lacking in the requirement for players to have an imagination of their own.

    I don't hate Warcraft because it follows this model (although that is the reason I'll never go back to it), or because it pulls this off with exceptional polish and expertise. I hate it because every new MMO that comes out apes this style of gameplay, where designers believe that a good game is made by having a constant drip feed of narrative to keep the attention deficit players hooked, where the next level, the next loot drop, the next DING is your objective. They ape this style, not because it's better, but because it's believed to be the only way to be successful.

    I've got a collection of 20 MMOs that I've played since some moron raped all that was holy and pure in SWG, and all of them, without exception have been hollow, repetitive and dull experiences.

    TLDR? I hate WoW because it's effectively killed the chances of the kind of game I'd throw myself into stone dead.

  • Bartacus #65 1 year ago

    My decision never to get involved in this game is one of my best ever, I have a friend who plays this & he is addicted, it's really a never ending time sink of a game.

    If you like it carry on, if you can avoid it just leave it alone.

  • 43n1m4 #66 1 year ago

    Tried WoW a few times for a few hours, but really didn't find it that captivating. In fact, I disliked it for the obvious game mechanics, including the boring combat system and repetitive grind quests. A bit funny, really, as I'm an old Diablo 2 fan - but WoW felt like the cumbersome money cow that it really is. At least to me.
    And the big pile of games I have bought since 2004 - well, I'm actually playing them :)

  • Greggywocky... #67 1 year ago

    Played in 2005 for around 4 months. One day I thought: 'Hmm, I'm doing exactly the same thing now at level 45 as I was at level 1', logged out, and never played it again.

  • RedSparrows #68 1 year ago

    Just to defend WoW, a second:

    Yes, it's built on time sinks, grinds and XP hunts. Yes, it requires a lot of 'work' as well as play.

    But show me another game that gave me such an absolutely enthralling environment to explore, such a fun group of people to play with, such an obscenely large play area, such loving detail and grand sweep, such fantastic music, effects and ambience, and I'll be surprised. Yes, I know it's rather subjective in many respects (the social aspect is key, and can be awful), but I loved WoW when I was really into it.

    It doesn't mean it's perfect, nor do I like the mechanics it runs on (in all honesty), but some people here are being unfair.

  • Zamn10210 #69 1 year ago

    Good article. Without meaning to sound like an arse, it sounds like your fault rather than the game's. I've been in and out of WoW for years. I play it when it's fun, when I'm not enjoying it, I stop.

    I hear so much bloody talk about being addicted to World of Warcraft but most people are well able to drop it and do something else when they feel like it. That said, if you are the sort of person not able to that, then WoW isn't for you. For most people though, no problem.
    Edited by Zamn10210 at 13/12/10 @ 20:46

  • swisstony #70 1 year ago

    an article that rings true with me and my mmo addiction. I'm on the outward curve now, but the article downplays the fact that there is a strong social element possible. I'm in a guild, but most evenings you find yourself doing some quests for sure, but you're also hanging out, finding out how college is going, how's the job, how's your son doing now is he better, did you see the footie last night, oh, do you want to do this 6 man instance for Dave, sure thing, it'll only take about 45 minutes.

    It can be good. It's why I'm not schizophrenically loving and hating it. It had me addicted though. Not WoW though, other MMOs. I never played WoW. I ought to see what the fuss is like now, like John, my head's in the right place.

    Great read.

  • Atropos #71 1 year ago

    My own experience was pretty much the same as Mr Bedford's. For me, I finally got the impetus to leave after going on a holiday for a month, and forgetting that I had several 1000 hours worth of loot and potions circulating through the in-game postal system, as my own version a free, unlimited bank. Yep, I lost it all, and instead of tearing my hair I just kinda went 'oh' and suddenly realised that I had lost several 1000 hours of...well... nothing. And I quit.

    I'll always remember WoW with fondness, and every so often I feel the pull of WoW or some other newfangled MMORPG. But I resist that pull. I will never play another MMO again. At least until I'm a pensioner, and they'll hook me up to a virtual reality pod for my remaining days.

  • BlinkeredAxis #72 1 year ago

    I played for 2 years, but have left in order to play 20+ other games on console, and read, and look at videos, and go out.

    To be fair, playing WoW was completely excellent and very addictive, but my objective was just to get my
    main character to L70. Done it now (Female Gnome engineer, name Falyaqarya on Moonglade since you ask)

    While playing, I would switch off the music and listen to BBC 6 music, so I got to hear a lot of new music while
    playing. I left sound effects on though.

    Playing RDR now, and glad to have left WoW behind (for now) - but everyone returns to WoW you
    know...everyone...returns...soon...to...WoW...soon..Wow...soon...WoW...

  • Canyarion #73 1 year ago

    Wow, what an incredibly well written article.

    Reading it almost feels like I wrote it. Only I never really found the words that you did.

    I spent 2 years on WoW. I was one of the first ones to play, I took a break of a few months and I quit before TBC.
    I loved the game, absolutely loved it. Raiding is among my best gaming moments. I remember how we took down Vael for the first time, how I Warlock-tanked the Twin Emperors and how I even led some 20man raids. But in AQ40 and Naxxramas I just got so incredibly tired of the same old thing. Our guild was falling apart in the last month before TBC and we had to fill the raid gaps with unexperienced and unmotivated players. We were wiping on stuff we had been farming for a year. Raid nights became annoying and dull, but still I didn't want to miss them. I needed the dkp, I needed the chance for something good to drop. The game became work.

    When I realized that, I grabbed the opportunity of the expansion to quit. It was a great moment to stop: my tier 2(.5) gear was suddenly useless, the guild had fallen apart, the server was dying. I realized the in-game friends weren't of any real value (although I still chat with a few now and then).
    Half a year after that I was curious of the new world I was missing out on, so I tried the free trial. Half a year after that, I borrowed someone's account to see most of the lands. Even though I enjoyed that, it reminded me how the game is just more of the same. I quit (I accidentily deleted a character of the friend... suddenly he changed the password, can you understand that?). I never played it again.

    For me WoW is not the girlfriend I never wished I met, but the one who I wish I could have just been good friends with. But I couldn't and I still can't. Now when I see her, I know I shouldn't get too friendly, because we'll get together again and we both know that won't end well.

  • HeroJez #74 1 year ago

    WoW is just as bad as it is good. The bad is that it's so competitive at the end game (guilds like Ensidia, Paragon, Exodus, etc) that the average person who plays feels crap because they're so off the pace of those no-lifers. WoW is STUNNING, if you can limit yourself to one character, a few hours a day and not get dragged into the whole "That druid is amazing! I'm going to make a Druid too and he will be amazing!" It's such a shame to sink SO MUCH TIME into a character you don't even own... and come across the 3rd expansion and you have a new mechanic or resource you dont' like...

    I couldn't recommend it to anyone.. it's just too much work in return for so little fun. Just simply not worth it if you're the person who sinks everything into one thing at a time. you can't complete it.. you'll go from HALOs to MGSs to Marios and then dead-end at WoW because there's ALWAYS something to do.. rep to grind, a profession to level, a friend to help, a raid to complete. It just isn't worth it. IMAGINE how great you'd be at a musical instrument if you put the WoW hours that some people have into Grade 8 and beyond!

    It's the best quest MMO out there, it hit right after Lord of the Rings and filled the niche perfectly... unfortunately it just doesn't stop. I have over 100 days (100 x 24hrs) played on my primary character and almost double that on alts. It's physically revolting to know just how easy it is to get swept up in it. Worst of all, I hated it for the first 3 times I played it... but I wanted to play with my friends.. and well, you make the effort... I kind of wish I hadn't. But oh well.. I've finished all the Cataclysm quests to 85 (one quest off Loremaster of Cataclysm) and when I kill those 10 rats, I'm done.

    I hope,

  • disappointed #75 1 year ago

    People don't play football every night. They don't play for six hours straight. It involves physical exercise. It involves face-to-face contact with other human beings. It isn't perfect and people can become obsessed by it in a way that is detrimental but it's nothing like WoW. Fantasy football, on the other hand, is basically gambling and has all the same problems as WoW, though perhaps not quite the same level of time commitment.

    Game addiction is not a new thing. It's the same as gambling addiction, it's just more accessible. With gambling, you have many small losses and a few big wins but with an overall loss of money, long term. WoW cuts to the chase by just taking your money up front. It may have some merits as a game but there are many, many superior games that deserve your attention and a life without variety is a terrible waste.

  • Scopeh #76 1 year ago

    So basically this article is about how you have 0% Self control...

  • Kerome #77 1 year ago

    I think there is a curve that every MMO player goes through, from initial enthusiasm, to growing fascination, to semi-addicted hardcore end-game raiding, to burn-out, to casual. Some people never make it beyond burn-out, and some people get so scared by the semi-addicted stage that they leave. Certainly I went through all of those.

    But ultimately it is possible to play these games in slices. It may take you a couple of years to get to the casual point, and you may lose 20-30 days of your life to the semi-addicted level, but it really is an experience that will change the way you relate to games. Certainly progression mechanics in non-multiplayer games largely lose their shine, and I play them more for the story content than anything else.

    I'm still enjoying cataclysm's content, now lvl 83 ;) A lot of the new uses of phasing are very cool, the quests are second to none, and the new dungeons are interesting and fun. Also great to catch up with old friends. But, I am not planning to stick around, ultimately no virtual experience is worth spending that much time on, and I will re-cancel my subscription in a few months. Although I may level a new alt to 50-60, just to see how the world has changed...

  • jimr9999us #78 1 year ago

    A brutally honest and introspective account of a gamer and a game. Thanks.

  • butler` #79 1 year ago

    I hated WOW, but I'm not sure I hate it any more.

    Amen.

    I too am finally at peace with it. I'd like to say it feels great... but it doesn't. Now I just feel like I'm missing out on something and I'm jelous of people that can enjoy it as fresh, or are elsewhere on their own WoW curve.

  • butler` #80 1 year ago

    also, unlucky for playing pre-tbc and not doing 40 man raids John -- they really were something special (though obviously had their own set of problems)

  • ciril #81 1 year ago

    "What saddens me most about those years is that, for all of the incredible and memorable times I had in WOW, I missed a hundred other great gaming moments."

    Yeah, spent a year playing WoW and later the burning crusade, missed so many great games because of it. Great article, nails it perfectly. Switched WoW for real life instead, don't see a point in coming back :).

  • Sildur #82 1 year ago

    I have two friends who always mocked me in a friendly way for playing WoW and said they would never play a game so addictive and life-sucking. When Starcraft II came out we all got it. I played it for a while, made it into the diamond leagues and decided that was great for me. SCII is incredible - it's the ultimate form of interactive chess IMO. So I stopped and both of them became absolutely obsessed and are still playing it every single night in the bronze and silver leagues till 3am.

    So I do think it's funny that WoW is labeled as this evil game when some people will simply get addicted to anything. Everyone posting comments here should think: you're posting comments on a computer game review website about a game you don't even play or have any intention of playing clearly. But I'd be willing to bet that most of you have become obsessed/addicted with one game or another at some point. :)

    If you're afraid that you'll get addicted to WoW then please do not play it. But the rest of us who have some self control will be enjoying one of the best computer games ever made.

    thx!

  • PlugMonkey #83 1 year ago

    @cnlfailure

    That fantastically well written post of yours pretty much sums up my feelings towards WoW, even though I completely missed the boat and never played U:o or SW:G.

    I was one of those people who steered clear of WoW initially because I thought I would be a prime candidate for the irresistable, life destroying addictiveness of it. When I finally gave it ago, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

    I just couldn't see how it was anything other than a 10 year out of date single player RPG, just with a bunch of other players in there, getting in the way of the quest I was trying to do, or repeating the quest I'd just done and robbing me of any feeling of closure or achievement or satisfaction.

    To me, it simply wasn't "massively multiplayer", because nothing I did had any effect on anyone else, and nothing anyone else did had any effect on me, and nobody had any effect on the world. I couldn't get over that total disconnect of action vs. consequence.

    I managed about an hour of laundry list "Now go kill 12 of these." quests before I gave up. Everyone had been telling me that games like this were The Future. I can't remember having played a more ass-backward game. It was like going through a time warp to 1995.

    So that's why I hate WoW. Because I thought I would find it irresistable, and then for me it turned out to not remotely live up to 1/8th of its billing.

    (That said, if I had tried this game in 1995, it would have swallowed me whole...)

  • CatWeazle #84 1 year ago

    Never got into WOW or any other MMO, although I've tried several.. It just seems like a huge waste of time.

    I love gaming, but I struggle to justify putting in that much time into something which is essentially non-productive entertainment. The very act of subscribing to something on monthly basic implies a certain level of commitment, right?..

  • FortysixterUK #85 1 year ago

    Many a true word in this article. And Everquest was also my first MMO addiction, supplanted a few years later by Wow, and the occasional dance with a month or two in Age of Conan.
    I both love and hate Wow.

    I LOVE the social aspect, the constant character improvement, the trade skills, frankly, just about everything. The books have drawn me in , as have the comics, and the collecting of much Wow memorabilia. I love its world, copied as it may be from every element of popular fantasy from the last 50 years, it is well executed and produced. I love the music, which if goes unheard for a while, sends a chill through me when I hear it again. ( example, flying into Stormwind for the first time in a few weeks, the music that greets you never fails to impress). I love the fact you can treat it as a single player game or be a sociable as you like.
    I love the fact that Wow can transport me away from the humdrum of daily life ( I'm sure many people reading EG work long and hard like I do ). Wow for me is , to give it a lofty description, a form of transcendental meditation. It takes you from this reality in your waking hours and allows you to live elsewhere. I suppose the same can be said of ANY good game/book /comic or film as well.


    I HATE the fact that the game appears to have a drug like effect on me, in that if I don't do it for a while I start to yearn for it.
    I feel like I'm missing out. I hate the fact it keeps me from my vast library of games that have been stockpiling for years, and that I still haven't got round to completing and in many cases, even starting ! I hate the fact that I don't do anything else with my life and am never likely to achieve anything ( not that I was ever going to, Wow is just the latest crutch to support this fact about me ). I hate the fact that I could go on and on about this love/hate relationship with Wow and write for ages. I hate the fact it costs so much to play.

    However, one day I will simply walk away from it and never look back, as I did with Everquest in 2003, a few month after Planes of Power ( an EQ expansion was launched ). I was nearly at that point a few months back, but then those bastids gave me a date to look at...December 7th 2010. My passion for Wow renewed itself and is now, as strong as it ever was.

    Still, one day, one day, I'll got back to my super nintendo and sega megadrive and start completing all those wonderful RPGs that came out, and slowly work my way back up to date and complete all the games in my vast, vast games library. Vast.

  • skoypidia #86 1 year ago

    @mowgli Man I think you are actually right!!!!!

  • DrStrangelove #87 1 year ago

    Alright, as promised. I downloaded the Trial.

    After installing, it thought it needed updates. But everytime I tried, I got a connection timeout.

    So I looked up the troubleshooting, turned off my firewall and started ....../World of Warcraft/Launcher.exe as admin.

    10 GB of updates at 1.3 MB/s. With firewall off for the whole time. Not exactly what I like to do, but well.

    So, the next day the download was complete. It said it was "applying non-critical updates", so I waited. And waited.

    A few hours later, it was still "applying non-critical updates", but I decided to give it a try and just click "Play". The "Play" button is available for some time now and the updates are "non-critical", so I guess I can start the game.

    Start screen, Login. E-Mail and password, ok. Select language, ok. Choose realm style, ok. Suggest realm, click. I get a list of realms (all types and languages), but can't select any. They're all grey. I can browse them, but not select. The only option they give me is to press "Cancel". No matter what I do, no connect. Cancel. Start screen. "Log in, enter password". I just did a minute ago. But well ok. Same procedure. All the same. No option to enter any realm or start any game in any way. wtf? Restart, as admin. Without firewall. All the same. No entering. All I am allowed to do is "Cancel". I... oh just forget it for God's sake.

    I didn't have high hopes, but I expected to be at least able to play the fucking game. I haven't seen such an amount of fail since the days of Windows 98. If they fail so bad before the game even starts, then how can they possibly make a game that is relevant in any sense?

    Last week I asked a relative to give me Starcraft 2 for Christmas. I will now tell her to cancel that, because I lost faith that Blizzard could even create a text file.

  • stan_dman #88 1 year ago

    Nice story, i have a few work friends that are into this and i always wondered what the appeal was...the image of the fat man from the famous south park episode was enough to put me off tho.

  • HistoryTeller #89 1 year ago

    While you can enjoy WoW without multiboxing - probably the saddest thing in gaming history - you hit some sweet spots. I did the exact same thing to my friend: "join WoW - its fun". Man, he got it bad. Was fun for two whole years sitting in the same couch playing the same game. Thinking back, its exactly as the article states in the last sentence. Good read!

  • sirtacos #90 1 year ago

    Good article, but these "I hate" pieces have been anything but. "I hate WoW because it's such an amazing game that it's a black hole for my social/work life" is another way of heaping praise upon the thing. Which is fair enough - I wouldn't expect a site such as this to actually pan a monstrously successful franchise, - being the recipient of so much advertising and all (not a criticism, just an observation) - but I'm still left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. That being said, it would be naive of me to expect Eurogamer to run opinion pieces on why this or that game (or in this case, gaming monolith) is shit. But meh.

    edit: although I do commend EG for actually saying some pertinent things about the crack addicted 'hamster in a wheel'/'carrot always out of reach' mechanics of WoW (and pretty much every other MMO, if not every videogame out there).

    Edit: I had WoW and played it for a few months but it bored me senseless so I never levelled my character beyond level 14 or so.
    Edited by sirtacos at 17/12/10 @ 14:03

  • Joco84 #91 1 year ago

    My names John and I'm a WoW-aholic. I've been clean for over 4 years now, but not a day goes by that I don't think about my Elf and mount.

    The game is highly addictive and I'm so glad I stopped playing when I did. I'm now engaged and own my own place, and I honestly think I wouldn't be as happy as I am Today if I continued on the WoW path.

  • tekert #92 1 year ago

    This is very generic, it happends with everything that gets you addicted. Talking about games, especially mmos, is common recomendation to stop and play some single,multiplyer games. We hardcore gamers understand that especially wow, doesn't have a political system o war or real competence open to everyone, so in the end you fell empty or worn out quicker than other games, don't know comparing to lineage 2 etc. So, I mean, for what I have readed here, the title should be, "why I hate mmos".

  • Moz #93 1 year ago

    I think one of the big things with WOW is it doesn't just appeal to one compulsion it appeals to several, completionists, collectors, escapists.

    One of the big draws for me is the character development. When I'm playing I am the character my gear and career choices are based of what I want to do, not what makes the best raider. I escape completely into the world and it's my connection to my toons that keeps me going back.

    However this isn't something that just applies to WOW I also play old school pen and paper RPGs and have had times in my life when changes in Job etc have prevented me from going to group that i've part of for a while and it's been disturbingly upsetting that I would be able to go back to that fantasy world, that my character would just disappear into obsurity.

    But despite all that I could never be one of those people who spend every spare minute playing their MMO of choice, i just don't see the point, as mentioned in the article there are just too many other great games out there to play for starters. But more importantly there's a real world with real friends (to go play games with *cough* ).

    Though I do get annoyed at the people who blame the game, personally I blame the world we live in, it's just too drab and that which is left which does get the blood pumping to give you that thrill just cost too much. For the average person escapism is the best way to get that bit of excitement in their lives be that from MMOs, computer games, TV, Films, Book, supporting a sports team, RPGs etc. I don't see the difference we all escape in our spare time some of us vary our outlets some escape to the same place all the time. And I think how much people escape is more a reflection on how much they like their "real" life, how valued they feel in the "real" world. Unless society finds a way to bring some excitement, some adrenalin back to day to day life, we'll one day be living in jars hooked up to a virtual world or we'll descend into anarchy as people restlessness leads to more and more out breaks in violence.

  • charming_fox #94 1 year ago

    The chap about 20 posts up talking about Ultima hit it right on the f*cking head. WOW has never been of any interest to me, Ultima was a dangerous place the felt completely alive and totally brimming with atmosphere and I can't imagine from what i've seen of WOW that it comes close, in fact it looks like the games have very little in common. Is Ultima still going in any meaningful way?

    I remember the first time i realised how awesome UO was, I sold a lame horse to some noob for 100 gold and as soon as he took ownership of it the thing ran off and died, then all the people who witnessed this around me were telling me to give him his money back so I dropped a load of severed arms and legs on the floor and ran around them for 3 minutes exactly.... or something like that.

  • Kostas #95 1 year ago

    Very good article. I too was indeed one of the Vanila guys back in the early 2005. Though i never really was addicted (my one and only character being a druid with a total of 76 days /played in 3.5 years) never playing more than 3 hours at any given time and being a PvP freak i never really got into raiding and thus had no obligation to anybody. Work shifts prevented me from ever really getting into the game but more of that was the truth that i never really felt i had too or even achieve anything by doing so. I never needed to prove to myself (or anyone else for that matter) anything so i found all this "virtual dick exibition" quite pointless.

    I never "hated" the game, i just hated the way it was designed and of course i never really could understand what was so special about it. Of course now you will ask "then why the fuck were you playing the damn thing for 3.5 years?" well i am going to have to answer from a line from the article itself: "when you leave the game it represents time wasted". Leaving a game (even a game that you are not fond as much) just because you did so much work previously is a powerful tool to keep people going.

    At any rate, the article is spot on about everything. I still see people that do not understand the illusion they are caught in, i still see people who like to wave their virtual dicks in front of one antother (i do not know what WoW girl gamers want to show off) and i still see people that clearly do NOT like the game any more yet unable to leave it for the above reason. Oh well, life goes on.

  • Marshall2008 #96 1 year ago

    @dr_shambles


    Could be worse, they could be the fucktards playing black ops

  • Marshall2008 #97 1 year ago

    OK, does anyone else want to spout paragraphs of shite as to why they won't play WoW? Seriously, I want to read your pish as to why you are so self important that you won't play WoW or as to why you are so elitist as to play it. Thing is, its the same little sad ass no lifers that post that pish. You know, the acne covered no pussy gettin black ops playing hoody brigade.

  • Stompy #98 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • Kostas #99 1 year ago

    Marshall its an article. Sites and magazines tend to do that and such articles often portray the journalists/ gamers experience and observations. Not all things are "opinions" though, there are some -facts- that do need to be taken into consideration. WoW is a drug (of a sort). Drugs cause addiction and dependence. It is very difficult to understand at first when you start playing with the notion "its just a game" because it really is NOT a game any longer if you are to take it seriously and "achieve" something through it because in order to do so you are not "achieving" it alone.

    Why does someone need to be either an elitist or self important in order to see or not see what the fuss is all about with this "game"? Is it really so hard for -anybody- to see what it really is and what the recipe for success is?

  • NorfolkNClue #100 1 year ago

    @Remy Normally I don't read people linking to their blogs, but it's an interesting subject. I liked the post, plus all the linkages from it. Excellent.

  • Sildur #101 1 year ago

    Marshall is right though. Every single World of Warcraft article on Eurogamer has more comments from people saying how they'll never play the game. Which is fine! It's interesting. You guys seem pretty obsessed with posting comments and mocking a game that you're saying you'll never play. That does seem very strange indeed.

    Using your spare time to post comments on a video game website shows that you're probably more into computer games than the average gamer, but furthermore, repeatedly and in some cases obsessively posting comments and replies to comments on an article about a game you say you would never touch with a twenty foot barge pole is quite weird.

    If you really don't want to play this game, and have no interest in doing so in the future, why are you wasting your spare time posting comments about it?

    As I've said before, I've played WoW for four years with my brother, girlfriend and a few friends. This year my brother was made one of the youngest partners at the eighth largest law firm in the world, my girlfriend is a key employee at a company that was bought out by major games publisher last year, and I'm the co-director and co-founder of a very small but successful company here in London. We all love WoW, play when we can, but yes there are periods of weeks and months where we stop playing to focus on work/life/our families. But WoW is so brilliant now that you really can dive in and out when you want to.

    Too much is made of what anti-social freaks WoW players are by the media, panorama, and even by other gamers. We're used to it now and can laugh about it. But quite frankly if you become addicted to WoW and replace your real life and social experiences with it then you should not only not play World of Warcraft, but you shouldn't be allowed anywhere near other computer games, alcohol, the lottery, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Porn (that encapsulates the perfect Friday night for me) or anything else that is remotely addictive.

    I have to believe that the people so interested in telling everyone how they're never going to play WoW on an article about WoW are just conceited contrarians who take great self satisfaction out of telling everyone else their opinions on subjects of which they have zero knowledge or experience.

    Well kudos to you my friends, you win at life! :)

  • Kostas #102 1 year ago

    @Sildur. A few points. First the author did play the game for 3 years before making this article, it is not as if he was talking out of an observers perspective. Second he is not talking about just any game, its WoW, the phenomenon of the decade very much like Pokemom was in the mid 90's. Third congratulations on your life success and whatnot but this is not what most people do who play this game (or most other MMO's for that matter) now do they?

    On the part you say that you do play WoW with your brother and wife well you did not take the game seriously, very much like myself. I hoped in and out any time i wanted (almost). How many times do you see people cancel other plans because of "raid night"? How many players do you see that can live without it (assuming they are active and serious players) and for how long? Just a few days within the games servers and you can see the overall "level" (and i am not talking gaming wise) of the players is.

    At any rate the author does not say he "hates" WoW in a litteral manner. That and that is just my own two cents.

  • Sildur #103 1 year ago

    @Kostas I don't think I once mentioned the author of this article, did I? :) I think it was pretty clear that I was purely addressing the people who actively comment on every single WoW related article glibly declaring that they will never play the game. You see the same usernames pop up every time.

    To say that we don't take the game seriously is also incorrect - I didn't say that did I? We've all raided end-game content and really love WoW. I was there on launch night in Leicester Square although luckily I was already inside while everyone else was cuing outside cold and all the Eurogamer guys were also happily telling everyone how they don't play WoW at a World of Warcraft launch event. The Eurogamer guys are so hip and contrarian: "Yeah, we're at a WoW launch but we don't play because we have real lives!" [may not have been what they actually said].

    To categorise twelve (or thirteen million if you believe the hype) people in one group of ugly, sad, unemployed (or in menial employment) no-life-having freaks is pretty ignorant, don't you think? How many people have commented 'The fat bald guy in the South Park episode put me off playing WoW'? Do people not realise how ridiculous that sounds? I started playing WoW because of that episode - it was hilarious! If you saw the launch event you'd have met plenty of people from all walks of life, many of whom have successful careers her in London.

    I picked up the collector's edition and have been thoroughly enjoying Cataclysm. Am I already level 85 like most of the server? Nope. I started a new goblin shaman for fun and am taking my time. Do I intend to raid end-game content when I do get to 85 in the not-too-distant future? Absolutely! I'm a bit busy this month so I'm not sure when that will be but hey.

    People have this irrational fear of MMOs when they have zero experience of them, but if you are afraid, that's fine, don't play it. However for people to mock others for having more self-control than them seems pretty... I don't know... I just feel bad for them and I think it makes them look stupid.

    I'm being a bit harsh to be fair - I don't have any issue with anyone who hates WoW. I just find this fear that so many people have similar to all irrational mass fears in history. It often revolves around complete ignorance and lack of experience.

    If you can't have fun in a computer game without it taking over your life then there is something missing - go find it buddy! Then come play games for funzies in your spare time.

    As for my success - I am not the most successful man with the most successful family in the world - I've been a bit lucky, I work hard, focus on the things that matter and then I delve into an awesome fantasy world for a bit of light-hearted escapism. Your 'epeen' shouldn't come into your WoW experience if you have half any clue about the game - everyone has the latest and greatest gear by a certain stage so no one should feel all that special for getting a rare drop - just play WoW or games like WoW to experience the content and have fun with others.

    As for the author of this post... This article makes some great points. Maybe he's right about the way the majority of players feel and I'm wrong. But he's a computer games journalist... He's made a career out of something he loves. It seems to me he is pre-disposed to be obsessed with a computer game, right?

  • Talbot #104 1 year ago

    To be honest I'd much rather be grinding XP in WoW than writing about the American Civil War's cavalry which is currently destroying my will to live, hence why I've come here... again.