Life After WoW
The first time I understood it for what it was was when I read Phaelia’s goodbye post to the blog and WoW community some weeks ago.
The realisation that I will not be playing this game for ever. That some day I will log out and never log back in.
Ever since I started playing I have of course known that this game won’t be in my life forever, but it has been an abstract knowledge, something remote, unfixed in time and unanchored in reality, like the knowledge that I will die someday. I know I will, but not today and not tomorrow, and, come to think about it, not ever, actually.
But that day I read her post I could almost see the remote, I could almost see that day when I quit before me. For the first time I felt it was not just an abstract thing, it was a certainty.
I have played WoW for three years and I have blogged about it for a year and a half and I have spent countless hours immersed in this fictional fantasy universe.
These are not wasted hours, I have had great fun and I have met great people. I have enjoyed fiddling with macros and spell rotations and writing posts and working on different layouts for my blog. It is not something I wish undone.
But nowadays I sometimes find myself thinking that this game has lost its sparkle. I don’t want to join the QQ’ers who keep whining about the game being dumbed down, and that everything was better in the good old days, when the young people treated their elders with respect and didn’t hang out on the lawn with boomboxes, I think many aspects of the game has been greatly improved over time, but somehow it’s a bit lacklustre.
Maybe it’s just the fact that after three years it is not shiny brand new anymore, no matter how many times we get new varieties of spells and mobs and gear, the underlying game structure is the same. After levelling an alt or two (or three or four) you know the world, the fights, the tricks and the shortcuts. Sure, you find new things and new tricks, but it’s a far cry from that first time you levelled when everything was new and every step you took was a step into the unknown.
And then there’s the social part. I play with my husband a lot, instead of watching a movie or playing Trivial Pursuit we play WoW together. I’m rather shy and not big on going out a lot, so those nights when my husband is working and I am all alone I find comfort in logging in and level an alt and chat a little with my on-line friends, without having to leave the comforts of my own home. Those nights would be pretty lonely if I didn’t have this game and breaking those social ties would be hard.
Or perhaps it’s the warm sunshine on my face when I ride my bike home after a long work day, after a long grey rainy winter, that makes me increasingly reluctant to sit indoors in the darkness and hunt pixels.
Whatever the reason, I know now, really know in my heart and in my mind, that someday, sooner or later, all my accumulated gear and gold will be like dust and all my girls – my little babies! – will be like dolls in a forgotten toy cabinet.
I know now that there is a life after WoW. I wonder what it will be like.
If you enjoyed this post check out these posts as well!
- Looking for Guild!I recently read BigBearButt’s blog post about him and his wife leaving the guild they were in and let me...
- So where are all the new posts?The recent lack of new posts on this blog does not mean that I am out of things to get...
- What A Long Strange Trip It Has BeenToday I celebrate my second blogging anniversary. I have been blogging about WoW for two years! Two years! I can’t...
- Blogging in AzerothA lot of people play WoW, more than 10 million according to Blizz. The WoW-blogger crowd is not quite that...
11 Responses to “Life After WoW”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
-
[...] This post of Tessa’s in particular, along with some of the comments from other notables such as Larissa, really drove the point home for me. World of Warcraft was their first MMO love, the one that they entered into with such wide eyed innocence, and possibly not much of an idea of precisely what they were signing on for. Not everyone out there is a hardened MMO Veteran (read: Cynic). [...]
I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately too, wondering if I’ll pick up another MMO or not. Actually I think I won’t. When the time comes to leave WoW I think I’ll probably pick up another hobby. I’ve always wanted to learn a budo sport for instance.
I hope the day won’t come too quick though. I’m not done with Azeroth yet and like you I’m a bit scared to feel lonely without it.
Larísa’s last blog post..Larísa fixates her eyes on Sartharion
I know that day will come for all of us, Tessy. But, I hope for you, it doesn’t come too soon. We have only recently met, but already I consider you a friend and would feel a sense of loss were your place in the WoW community vacated. *hug*
Aleathea’s last blog post..Welcoming a New Neighbor
I dont really worry about it. They day I put down WoW will be the day I pick up another title where all of my in-game friends have gone. MMOs can make life long friendships. I play with my fiance, so I have my best friend IRL and in WoW with me.
Darraxus’s last blog post..Warrior Tanking 101: Line of Sight
My friend has recently quit WoW after he hit lvl 80, as he he hates endgame, lvling alts and achievements. So basically he only wants to lvl his main char. He’s now gone to join LOTRO, but I say he’ll be back in time for the next expansion.
Drazmor’s last blog post..But I wanna ride the goat thing!
I have quit two MMO:s I’ve played for a fairly long time (at least for a year each). The reason has always been a new game, but every time I have come back to it to play some more, and then quit again (”permanently”). I am still tempted to return to them every now and then and I think it will be even more so when I eventually quit WoW. The next game I will chose (I can see myself not playing even if I’m a few hundreds years old already) will probably compete with WoW initially before WoW is phased out. However it will be interesting to see what game it will be. It wasn’t Warhammer online which was my latest attempt.
Jacx’s last blog post..Mana nerf hope for holy loot?
I’ve gone through sometimes very long periods of not playing WoW, for me it has been a love/hate relationship. I think the day that WoW finally does lose its lustre, it will be because we are all playing the new Blizzard MMO :)
I hope you won’t leave too soon though because I’m enjoying your blog.
Daria’s last blog post..A Different Approach
Eventually it comes to an end and something else takes its place. As a Star Wars Galaxies refugee it came when my friends stopped playing due to changes so you park up on your favourite spot and log out for the last time.
My only concern with WOW and finishing is how many friends will I keep in touch with once the game ends and the ties that bind “i.e. WOW” have gone. I hope quite a few espeically those I have met in RL. But after having worked for the same company for 19 years now “how sad is that!” and seen people who I was good friends with come and go from my life once the common link is gone will people you spend a lot fo time with abet even virtually in WOW become “people I have once met”.
Zetter
I am not yet finished with Azeroth yet, and I’ll hang around for a bit longer. And I really hope I will keep in touch with most of the friends I have made during playing.
I don’t think I will pick up another MMO though, as it feels now I think I’m going to go for some odd sports, like triathlon or paragliding. Or maybe I’ll finally get me that sail boat I’ve been dreaming of for ages and set out on my around-the-world trip!
Just a new reader, stumbled upon your blog when I searched an image for a draenei.
And I, like you, worry about when I’ll realize I can never play World of Warcraft again. I feel like amongst life, it has become a place for me to just detach from the stress of life and just do what I want. Its apart of my life now and it will be hard to wave goodbye to my characters one last time. I feel like my account will just become a vacant thinking place full of memories.
I think that quiting WoW would be devastating to my freedom/health of others. If it did happen the day it did I would murder everybody or convince all the others that can’t handle this for mass suicide.