I have a confession. Of late, I’ve had a crazy desire to log back in to World of Warcraft. Nevermind the fact that I just cancelled my subscriptions to two other games and can’t really afford it. I’ve caught myself thinking of the early days of play, when the universe seemed to slip over me like a long lost glove. I never put the game above real life but I can say that I worked it into my real life. When I wasn’t playing, I’d read WoW.com instead of my ever growing pile of books. My friends and I would talk about it when we hung out. I even dabbled in fan fiction.
Syp posted an article this morning that’s eerily similar to how I’ve been feeling. It’s a conflict between, as he puts it, head and heart, and I think that’s a pretty fair estimation of what’s going on.
I left WoW for a reason. I ran out of things to do without resorting to doing the same quests over and over again. To me, dailies didn’t equal content. I ran every high-end five man dozens of times, got everything I needed and, since I can’t raid, looked at the horizon and saw bleak possibilities. So, I left, so much like Frodo, looking for brighter shores. Ironically, I found myself with LotRO as my main game.
I became a nomad, of sorts, after I left. I’ve played almost every big release that’s come out in the last two years with the exception of Age of Conan and Champions. Some of these games are very different but what remains the same is I find myself moving almost within 3-4 months. Or less.
And, from time to time, I catch myself thinking back to WoW and the almost 3 years I spent playing it to the exclusion of almost all else. This isn’t the first time I’ve felt nostalgic. And, it’s no coincidence that when I think back to my favorite times in the game, I’m imagining my first character, in my first real guild. That was when I was learning the game and building the strongest relationships. So much was new then that just isn’t now.
So, even though the roaming nomad in my gets a little homesick, I’m not going to make the mistake of believing I can go home again. I can’t, at least not yet. And, if I do, all I’ll find is the world I know so well, too well, exactly same as I left it: full of memories and lacking the promise of anything new and exciting. That’s how it was the last two times I went back. And, if you’ll indulge my openness for another moment, I found the MMO landscape that much more depressing because of it. When you turn to the game you found so much fun in, years worth, and then look out across the wider span and see games that weren’t able to hold you nearly as much… well, it kind of makes you wonder if you’re wasting your time.
I think the better bet is not to try to go home again but to make a new home elsewhere. I have a troubled relationship with LotRO but, for the moment, it’s all I have and I intend to put my head down and barrel in as deep as I can make it. By the time I’m done, hopefully I’ll have a whole new set of experiences and memories behind me to give LotRO a special place. At the very least, what I’m playing will be new and fresh.
Ferrel asked yesterday whether your first MMO is your favorite. For me, I’d say that WoW used to be my favorite. Part of me wants to say it still is because I got so much fun out of it. But, how can I call a game I can’t bring myself to subscribe to my favorite in anything? What will bring me back to WoW and restore its place is cross server raids. Or Cataclysm, whichever comes first. Each represents the promise of lots of new content and, really, a whole new way to play the game. That’s the only way to breathe new life into a dead pony.
Anyways, that’s what’s on my mind today. Nostalgia. Been there, done that, and have the blog post to prove it.
a lot of people I know quit WoW, Yet can talk about it so vividly.
Some people argue World of Warcraft is only so popular because its managed to keep on its throne of popularity and media- but its not that. Alot of people who have known nothing but other games can suddenly play Wow and become in love with it, so whats that about?
To me, World of Warcraft feels like an Experience, not a game. When I’m on Team Fortress 2 i’ll occasionaly be like “yeah I did pretty good as a Spy yesterday–” but on World of Warcraft, you can often just sit and talk to people, and you can discuss with friends “Oh god it was hilarious when we went all the way to Ironforge and found out we didn’t pick up the quest.” its a pain at first but, its an experience, just like life.
Also, I think World of Warcraft has such a in-depth story, and a lot of “history” even if some is repeative, you feel like your small in the world of warcraft, rather then king of the game- and its often when people become king of the game, like you said- you couldn’t raid so you were as good as you could possibily do, thus making you less inclined to play.
If I ever quit WoW; likely not, I’d still laugh about the experiences I had, and the bad. Because I started WoW at an early age, I learnt alot about human psycology and learnt a lot of big words like “FFS” and “EPIXX” lmao.
:d Yeah, I love WoW. I also love Team Fortress 2….
..and my Amiga /hug Amiga– Alien Breed ftw!
The tragedy of finite content and a subscription-based game. You bring up an interesting point that I’ve never quite considered, having experienced the first infatuation-burnout cycle on a MUD which is free to log in, revisit and still sorta/kinda going but not really.
Anytime I get nostalgic, I can just pop back on in to see if anything’s changed. The running joke (and main reason I left) is that nothing ever does… the demands of profit-driven ventures having its good points.
That’s going to be emotionally a lot harder for folks who have to pay up for a month in order to revisit old characters or the old world, and who still see a thriving world where other people are still enjoying themselves over one that has faded and is in a distinct decline or low plateau.
Personally, I’d keep at it and not give up hope of finding a new home elsewhere. It may never quite attain the same level of intensity and connection as the very first one, but there are always new stories and new memories to forge on top of the old ones to make your entire gaming experience tapestry that much richer.
Nostalgia is on my mind too, in particular Everquest. I guess the past memories are always the best huh? Plus it sounds like you’re in a similar situation to me in which you circumstances are changing and you use the old memories as anchors to hang onto. Nothing wrong with that
Yeah, definitely. I remember getting out of work early and heading right to college so I could use their wireless internet to run my first instance. Then being amazed at how awesome the Deadmines were. Those are experiences that are special because they were firsts and I don’t think anything will bring that about again. It’s a good reminded of what we really like about the genre though. That type of nostalgic, emotional anchoring isn’t anything I’ve found in single player games.
[...] last few days here in the blog-sphere. With recent posts like this one from Syp @bio break, and then from Game by Night, and Kill Ten Rats even having chimed in on this topic. So many of us gamers; especially the MMO [...]
[...] last few days here in the blog-sphere. With recent posts like this one from Syp @bio break, and then from Game by Night, and Kill Ten Rats even having chimed in on this topic. So many of us gamers; especially the MMO [...]