| I played WoW from its inception. From the standpoint of sheer addictive gameplay it has achieved sheer brilliance. When WoW was originally challenging and relied heavily on skill and cooperation of a well ran raid and guild there was nothing better. I didn't care if I was spending ungodly amounts of time playing, not talking to my friends, not talking to my girlfriend, family, going outside, etc. The game just had a major hold on me. After our guild smashed MC (one of the first on our server), I put this thing down, left WoW. In 2 months I came back. Even more addicted than before. It wasn't until my girlfriend at a firm function told people that I was playing the game in front of co-workers, that I felt ashamed and embarrassed from the sheer sadness of my life over the passed two years since WoW's launch. I quit this time for a long period of time. However, when Blizzard launched WotLK, I had to play again! I missed all of the previous expansion content, so I did not realize how incredibly hamstringed WoW had become. No challenge, no in-game sense of accomplishment. I think this design change aided in my final decision to completely delete and D/E everything on all my characters and quit. Its sad in many ways: sad that I lost so much time playing a computer game, sad that I left some pretty cool, albeit seriously addicted WoW players in my guild, and just sad that WoW isn't the same as it use to be. I guess this post is weird for me - as it reflects on how addictive and destructive WoW is to one's own personal social well being, but also laments the design changes which crippled a unique and compelling game. Torn between appreciation and regret. |