Quickest Burn Yet?

That WoW-kinda feeling is setting in again. It’s that nagging “ugh, there’s something better I could be doing — I don’t know what it is, but it’s there, even if it’s just staring off and thinking of something else I could be doing” kinda feeling. Know what I mean? Where logging in becomes something you do because you feel like you need to? The proverbial chore list has one more item that needs ticking before you can get into what you really want to do, which is more than likely waiting around for hours, or days, or weeks until that thing becomes available? That’s where I’m at and where I’ve been at for about a week. This officially the quickest it’s ever happened anytime I’ve returned to WoW — and that’s a lot of times. Here’s the thing: I’m actively fighting it and I might just succeed this time.

I finally have a great group of players I legitimately want to play with, not out of loot or opportunity, but because they’re fun to talk to and hang out with… and don’t give me that, hanging out in a MMO is the same thing as hanging out at Six Flags! Kind of. I don’t want to take a break because that would mean missing out on the potential for a lot of fun. Like last Friday. We did some old Wrath achievements. No good reason other than to dick around and grab a bracketed shiny no one will ever see. But, when you’re with people you like, that’s enough. We also hit AQs of the 20 and 40 variety, which was neat just to see. That’s the kind of stuff I enjoy the hell out of.

But, I think the thing that really got me here was pushing, pushing, pushing to that 329 iLvL. Whoever had the bright idea to item-gate stuff paid far too much attention to the mouth-breathers who bowed before the Great Throne of Gearscore. Someone missed the memo that smart people hated that add-on. Those of us who used it did so because those same people outnumbered us 4-to-1 and pretty much demanded it. Now it’s the game that demands it and it may as wall have a big sign that says “GEAR GRIND BEGINS IN 1.2 MILES! TAKE NEXT EXIT TO CONTINUE PLAYING. GEAR GRIND BEGINS NOW!” And that’s retarded because, in this bloggers humble opinion, as much as people like getting shiny upgrades, they don’t want to HAVE to get shiny upgrades. I would have been much better off slamming my face against the wall at the 325 iLvL I dinged with. Why? Because I slammed my face on the wall at 329 and ground my teeth even more because I worked for the privledge. Sometimes a game is just a game. Other times it’s a poorly veiled IV drip.

See, but we’re beyond that. Now most of us are doing well enough in heroics (guild groups) to hold our own without much trouble and enjoy our time there. Just like I hypothesized while the game is in beta, however, throwing people back into the grind so quick was a poor move.  Who wanted to get back into the ultra-repetition so quick, anyways? The designers, one and only, because that’s where their money comes from.

Back to the point: I’m fighting it.

Attempt the first: PvP. I used to love battlegrounds playing my warrior. Then I rolled a mage and that passion died away like a flower fertilized with anthrax. On my Death Knight, however, I’ve been having a blast. I finally tackled that resilience hurdle, so I can actually be somewhat competitive. It’s fun, dynamic, and ultimately rewards my PvE with a good DPS offset to boot.

Attempt the second: My first raid team. I even cleared Friday and Saturday nights to devote to it, when we’re not out on the town clicking our merry heels — hah, like married people do THAT. Okay, it’s not so boring as lacking all heel-clicking, but, honestly, I don’t drink and we’re not clubbers, so Fridays are often spent relaxing after a long week at work.  I set this up with a buddy of mine and we’re having a little trouble getting it off the ground. We’re the second raid team in our guild and run pretty late (9:45PM CST). We’re going to try again for a while and stir up interest — which has been on the uptick — but this is really one of the things I’m putting my hope into. I’ve never been a raider and always wanted to be. The opportunity is here and, as a tank, I might even be able to land a PUG spot if all else fails. We’ll see.

Attempt the final: Embracing guild achievements. You know how big of a deal it is that I give two towel-snaps about achievements? I never cared. Ever. On any system. In WoW, they make an excellent reason to do things without a gear incentive. A lot of these things are about the most pure and unadulterated MMO content WoW has to offer.

So, we’ll see. I guess my main reason for writing this is to chronicle the Chronicle: My MMO Life. At the very least, I’ll put in another month. I owe it to myself and thanks to a contest I won at MMO Voices, I’m paid up until then anyways. I really believe that my future in WoW depends on my ability to connect and take part in my guild. That’s a first and I believe in it more than I’ve believed it for any redeeming part of the game in the past. As much as I like WoW — I’ll never say it’s a bad game or become one of these jaded, bitter vets — Cataclysm has only shown me how much more important people are over quests and dungeons. It’s not about the “what” it’s about the “who.”

That’s noteworthy, isn’t it?