I decided today that I’m going to resubscribe to WoW until Aion Online launches in September. I’ve been dangling dangerously at the precipice of resubbing for a while now, especially since MMO-Champion leaked all of the details on the upcoming expansion but what officially made me take the dive was visiting a couple of friends of mine.
You see, when I started college a mere five years ago, I moved a good distance away from my best friends. Like you would expect, we hung out less and less until it became a once every few months kind of thing. Then, on one of those visits, he introduced me to WoW. I’d been skeptical before that but, having never seen a real MMO first hand before, I was blown away. I went home and downloaded the trial that night, even though it was 2AM.
After that, a great thing happened. We started meeting up in-game. We had the opportunity to talk again and hash over everything that’d been going on in our lives. It was an especially turbulent time for my friend, having been trapped in a lease with his roommate and underage, drug addled girl friend. Myself, I was struggling to conquer my own minor substance abuse issue (mission accomplished long ago, in case you were wondering) and living with my own girl friend for the first time ever. Like many people, we used the MMO as a temporary escape and, in doing so, became better friends than we’d been since high school graduation.
So, when I went to visit him and his new roommate yesterday and they regaled me with stories about leveling up their new characters and exploring new classes, that old excitement struck me again. I don’t think there’s a whole lot WoW will offer me that I’ll get excited about like I did in those first few weeks of playing, but it’s not really about that anyways.
This month, I’m working on a new character for two reasons. First, to give the old content a final nod before the expansion demolishes it. And second, to play a good game with good friends. I’ve met a lot of great people through MMOs and within the MMO blogging community but there’s something special about doing something with people you have a real life connection with. Maybe it’s the fact that you know the face behind the name or maybe it’s just that you can talk about your last adventure next time you hang out. Either way, playing with friends makes a game more fun.
When Aion Online comes out, that will be where I go and I’m going to try to pull as many of my MMOite friends with me. Hell, I might even try to convince Ryan (fellow writer here) to join us but I think the MMO ship sailed for him right around the time South Park made love and not warcraft. Until then, it’s the familiar and comfortable, with a little seasoning of LotRO in between for flavor. And yes, Champions if I get around to decide to buy it (Batman: Arkham Asylum just released you understand).
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