A Casual Gamer’s Despair / Addiction
January 4, 2008 – 7:46 pm
I really enjoy reading Tobold’s blog because he has an interesting perspective on things. Recently, he wrote about his current situation in WoW, similar to that of MANY people who play(ed) the game, myself included. WoW has been so immensely successful because it appeals to the casual gamer… that is, until you reach the top level. By far, WoW had the most enjoyable 1-XX grind of any game I’ve played to date. Where it lost the magic for me, is exactly where Tobold is at…
You hit the level cap but you can’t invest a “hardcore” amount of time, which slows your progress to what seems like a screeching halt compared to what you’ve become accustomed to. You can take the blue pill or the red pill, PvP or PvE respectively, but without a good guild or team to back you up or the time to invest, your gaming experience is on a diminishing path. I got to this point and decided I’d had enough and eBayed my account.
Unfortunately, Tobold and many commenters on his blog, seem so hopelessly addicted to the grind that they can’t seem to give it up. Far be it from me to tell anyone what to do with their time. It’s your life—have at ‘er, but when you seem so unhappy in your current situation and you’re looking for alternative ways to pass your time in game (level yet another alt, take up some gathering crafts, farm more gold, cap your fishing… EEK), why not give it up, or at least, take a break?
You have your core game and your supplemental game. If you’re so dissatisfied with the core that you’ve started to concentrate on the supplementals JUST TO PASS THE TIME, then something is wrong. No, that something isn’t wrong with you, it’s wrong with the game. The game can’t adapt to your needs and if you’re bending your play style just to fit it’s mold, you have your priorities backwards. I will admit it freely—when it comes to gaming, I’m a sucker! I’m a sucker for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat (cliche, but true). I’m a sucker for challenge and I’m a sucker for watching that little blue bar progress along the bottom of my screen until it resets itself to zero.
What I’m not, is a sucker for punishment and it’s disheartening to see other gamers punish themselves by playing an unsuitable game for their playstyle. Why would game developers change their policies, fix bugs, or add new features if we accepted all their offerings as the status quo? Subscriber dissent speaks volumes and subscriber fees speak loudest of all. The only vehicle for change and improvement in a game is for the gamers to show a little backbone and implement the old adage: “Money talks!”
If you’re unhappy with something, please don’t be a sucker and waste your time. Time is valuable and time is precious. The hours you waste in a game bending over for “the man” are hours you’ll truly never get back in this life. Progress doesn’t happen on it’s own. You have to make it happen.
Damn… that sounds like an advertisement for Amnesty International… but still, it rings true in my life at least.
Side note: I’m not saying WoW is a terrible game or that it needs to change because of one person’s dissatisfaction, however, if more dissatisfied people would find something better to do, rather than keep on playing due to a gaming addiction, you might see that 9.3M subscriber number drop quite a bit.
2 Responses to “A Casual Gamer’s Despair / Addiction”
Getting the bigger item, at least for me back when the cap was 60, was the hook in WoW that kept me going. I don’t even want to recount the hours spent in Molten Core just to get a bigger 2h sword (probably 40+, my guild had issues).
Progress definitely comes to a near screeching halt, and I wonder what WAR has in store for the level cap, progression wise. I’m assuming it won’t be heavily item based like WoW (I keep hearing something about item decay, although I haven’t heard specifics).
By Knash on Jan 5, 2008
Aye, I wonder myself.
Apparently the ultimate goal is to sack your enemy’s city and that’s where the best gear comes from. In DAOC the endgame was RvR and I imagine it will be the same in WAR.
There was a CRAPLOAD of PvE added to DAOC but that was just a means to a better end… PvP. I hope Mythic learned from the mistakes of Trials of Atlantis because that expansion was the worst thing to ever happen to the game.
By Snafzg on Jan 5, 2008