In patch 3.0 I decided that I would quit pvp in world of warcraft. The skill didn't matter, the experiences I'd had up to that point didn't matter, all that mattered was the fact that my arms warrior could not defeat any class one vs one consistently and several were virtually impossible. In desperation I put on a shield, my thinking cap, and the rest is history. The way I approached the problem of developing a way to defeat opponents who had it far easier than I did is how I approach my life: go 110% or don't go at all. I did the math for prot pvp, I adapted with patches, I tested my strategies against pro players, and I created a gearset that could get the job done. Prot pvp has changed drastically from season to season, with the adjustment from block value to arms gear with 3.2 and now with the removal of 2v2 I can no longer focus on my favorite pvp bracket.
In patch 3.3 I decided that I would quit pve past 5 mans, old world 10 mans for 5 badges, and wintersgrasp. I have no intention of doing the daily 5 man quest or other methods of getting emblems of frost every single day, and therefore it will probably take me all season to get a mediocre prot pvp set. I'll start looking into gearing out my alts more as it's a joke to do that now and enjoy the game at a much more casual level than what I've been doing already. No more competetive pvp or pve for Markco, just gold. Sure I'll have some fun here and there with prot pvp in bg's and I'll easily get 2k+ in arenas but I'm not going to put the pressure on myself to be the 'best' anymore.
This trend of quiting parts of the game is due to the fact that I've found myself growing less and less interested in the actual gameplay of world of warcraft. That's not to say I find the auction house boring, on the contrary I really enjoy it! What's boring however is getting really good at the game and having to continuously update gear only to compete with those who are not good but have better gear. It doesn't matter that I can reflect death coils consistently on any warlock because I still need to have good enough gear to kill him before his dots kill me. In a game where gear determines your ability to even participate in the first place it is annoying having to spend so much time gearing instead of playing. The fact that you need so much pve gear to make a warrior work is also frustrating because I do not like a system where loot is totally random. Case in point, I have killed grobulus in 10 man nax 17 times but never got my shield to drop. Do you find yourself being pulled away from world of warcraft's gameplay due to gearing? Are you finding that the auction house is far more entertaining than farming for gear or being part of a raid? Personally I would find the game more enjoyable if they allowed people to customize the gear they could get more, such as the reforging ability that has been mentioned for cataclysm.
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24 comments: on "Thoughts on Quiting World of Warcraft"
wow strategy guide said... January 16, 2010 at 9:24 AM
I'm really excited on that reforging ability thing.. is that a skill of new profession? How to do it and what are the things needed? This are the questions bubbling in my mind.. that's why i really want that next patch will be soon.
I want to try it using close beta but i don't have the auth key to play.. sad:(
BIfenaa said... January 16, 2010 at 9:40 AM
I recently completely stopped PvE just because of the drama with loot in this game. A i despise the emblem system they got going, There is no skill to this game anymore, if you have the time to run heroics constantly until you have your full T9 then go hard. But it pisses me off how people are relying solely on peoples gear score as consideration to be invited to a group. If someone who sucks at this game farms heroics for weeks he could have the best gear but no NOTHING about how to play his class properly or even the game at all, where as someone who played this game for a long time and know how their class works and just has an all around knowledge of this game and its content could have no T9 and never even be looked at for a raid. I hate how the playability of this game or anything in this game has come down to a number, if your gear score sucks, you suck. I wish blizzard didnt put out new badges every damn time.
Robutt said... January 16, 2010 at 9:56 AM
I absolutely agree with you Markco.
I've resolved myself to be a pet, gold, and mount collector now. I also help anyone I can whenever possible.
Just bought my travelers mammoth, and gave a RL friend 10k for his birthday.
Still trying to figure out how to solo heroic Magisters Terrace as a feral druid though... KT is tough!
Good luck in your endeavours, and play the game you want to!
Brumble said... January 16, 2010 at 10:15 AM
I agree with what you say here, there often comes a time when certain aspects of WoW just aren't as satisfying as they once were or are intended to be.
I've had several breaks from the game; in fact I'm on one at the moment. This has never been with the aim of quitting completely, just ensuring that it still feels fresh when I go back to it. Usually one of the predominant thoughts on my mind when I take a break is "I spent all that time getting gear in the last patch, now its time to do it all again". I've read Blizzard statements many times that say that this is a major mechanic of the game; you gather gear to allow you to progress/you progress to gather gear. I'd say that a fair few subscribers see this as the core of the game. Many people find that fun and rewarding, and all power to them.
I fully expect that when I return to the game in a week or two it will be with the aim of making more gold and playing the auction house, together with catching up with 'friends' who I only know through the game. The appeal with this is that I can play alone when I choose to and still reach my goals. For better or for worse, I think I feel the same satisfaction making 20k in a day (very rare) as a hardcore raider would finally assembling Shadowmourne. Neither of us achieve any real life benefit but we both played the game and reached something that gave us a sense of achievement.
The game is large and diverse enough that there are bound to be people who prefer to focus on one aspect at the expense of others and I feel anyone's choice to do this is perfectly valid. WoW is such a good vehicle for this because yes I could go and play Sim Business or something, but I like to be able to dip into other aspects such as instances and arena without loading an entirely different game.
I've never been a top drawer player in the typical sense - cleared ToGC10 but never 25, highest arena rating around 1800-1900. However, I'd say I'm at least at 'Duelist' level of gold making to use an arena analogy, or the equivalent of 4/5 ToGC25. As long as the gold I make allows me to remain fairly capable in the other aspects of the game I like to dip into - such as keeping my gear gemmed and enchanted to the point that I can compete at 1800 MMR and run 5 man instances - then I'm satisfied and having fun.
Anonymous said... January 16, 2010 at 10:53 AM
To be honest Markco, I have felt like this before. Usually I just go play another game I have such as Left 4 Dead, Counterstrike, Mount and Blade (old unpopular war game)and a few others. But after a while I find myself surfing the forums, checking up on mmochampion and seeing something that piques my interest and I will get right back into WoW.
Unknown said... January 16, 2010 at 11:03 AM
yea parts of the game get boring to me i lvling a horde toon on a differant server than my allience toons just to see the quest lines from the horde side. but i hate pvp im just doing the pvp daily just for honor so i can get epic gems hell i have 2 alchemy transmutes but another way is different. i suck at pvp my main is a ffb mage and rogues always kill me but yesterday in strand of the ancients i finally killed a rogue 1V1 no help whatsoever
YEA me!!
Plasmaniven
Dalaran server
An Indie Publishing Company said... January 16, 2010 at 12:08 PM
I solo'd everything when I started playing and it was fun, but now have real friendships and the game is more about that than anything. Playing AH, 10 man raids, WG and questing with friends is what makes the game great. Gear is just another way to keep score.
Dan said... January 16, 2010 at 1:31 PM
I may start mothballing my accounts and play until their subscriptions run out in late February and March as an ultra casual.
I have never been interested in arena PvP. I have little interest in Warcraft's PvP system. The ONLY reason I participate in PvP is/has been for specific reasons: a tanking mace for my paladin during TBC and for world event titles in the hope of getting a 310% mount. With my waning interest in the game I doubt that will happen. I doubt I'll officially reach the gold cap before my play expires and that's been one of the few things that's kept me going.
I have not raided (participated in progression raiding to be exact) since week 2 of patch 3.3. I simply have had no desire to participate.
I also hate the idiots who believe gear score is the be-all-end-all to get into content. 2600 WoW-Heroes GS to get into Naxx? Give me a break. (2600 WoW-Heroes is T8-T9 level gear) Naxx was cleared in T6! The gear score crap is only going to get worse unless they get broken (unlikely, it is possible to calculate item levels from existing stats) or no longer become necessary (unlikely, loot is a main driving factor in MMORPGs).
I have pre-ordered Star Trek Online and have been participating in the open beta. It is much different than WoW in the tactical sense but little different in the actual gameplay sense. I have not tried the PvP yet but with the tactical challenges inherent in naval battles, I might actually enjoy it. I like tactical challenges, plus being a Star Trek fan helps immensely.
Anonymous said... January 16, 2010 at 2:44 PM
I have the same thoughts. Till recently I still loved playing the AH, but now I'm getting bored with that too. I don't have anything to spend all the gold on anyway, so no real reason to keep on going. Only my strong my dislike for my only remaining competition keeps me going. I can't stand the guy because all he does is camp, and whenever something of mine sold out, he raises prices to insane hights. I'm convinced he's a goldseller, because no sane person would sit the entire day at the AH, switching between 5 banks.
The aspect of the game I used to like was the social one. I'm mostly a solo player myself, but I liked meeting new people while doing dungeons or raids. The thing is that the amount of interesting, intelligent or fun people v.s. the amount of OMGOMGWTFURNOOOOBWUT!!1! types seems to be at an all time low. If this goes down more I'll need a lobotomy to be able to communicate with these monkeys. It slowly destroys all the fun I once had in this game. I might try a RP server perhaps, but something tells me those won't be much different.
I also play Call of Duty, and a selection of RTS games online. Especially FPS games were usually the place where the idiots used to be, but now the people there seem more relaxed and normal than the morons that walk around in wow.
RJ_Kunz said... January 16, 2010 at 2:48 PM
I Never was into PVP, just never had to coordination for it. Recently I quit Raiding too, don't even do 5 Mans anymore. In order to keep my gear up to date for when Cata Comes up about once a month I pay a guild that I'm friends with to take me through Raids and get me gear.
I raid once a month and have the same kind of gear as people who raid 2-3 times week. I pay 500g for each piece of gear that I take in the raids.
Author Wendy May said... January 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Been there and experienced quite a bit of that as well. Despite the gimmicks WoW is still a grindfest. If it's not gear, it's rep, and all over again. As the others say, just take a break and play the AH. Something is bound to pique your interest back into PVP/PVE but until then might as well profit from thy boredom <3
Anonymous said... January 16, 2010 at 6:21 PM
I'm a relatively new WoW player having started in September 2009, PVE for the most part, got my Pally to lvl 80 and I'm already at a point where I'm not seeing much point in playing that character any more.
You have to do the same dungeons over and over to get badges to buy gear, then deal with gear snobs or worse, skill snobs who think you should be able to perfectly play your class after only a few months at lvl 80. Some of us don't figure it out that fast.
I'll probably never have decent gear, because I'll probably not do raids enough to get the tokens or drops to get the gear. And because I don't have the gear, it'll probably be after Cat when I'm lvl 85 before I see the Lich King content that's coming out now, which is a shame. I know they want it to be challenging to the serious players, but they put it out of reach of the rest of us which is too bad.
Anonymous said... January 16, 2010 at 10:28 PM
@ pally anon;
Why do you think you deserve to be able to see the full ICC raid if you are unwilling (or unable) to put in the effort to learn how to play your class?
In addition, gearing up is fairly quick since even with time constraints you can do the 3 new Icecrown heroics for ilvl232 gear, with which you can fill almost every slot and any missing pieces you can buy with badges or with gold. Which means that you'd be around as geared as someone who raided 10-ToC, which is what I'd consider the minimum standard for tanks to enter icc (heals and dps can go in with lower gear provided they have the skill to make up for the geargap).
To say that the ICC raid is only for the 'serious' players is just a cop-out for your own lack of willingness to improve whatever aspects of your game that may be lacking.
Vlakarados said... January 17, 2010 at 3:53 AM
I've had something similar, one day I stopped pve, the other day pvp, but now I'm back.
Maybe that was just to much for me and for you?
Goth said... January 17, 2010 at 5:14 AM
The nice thing about being a successful auctioneer is that gear really doesn't matter. If I don't get the drops, so what, I'll either craft the latest ilevel or buy it. Everything else in the game is a grind, gold makes WoW so much easier.
Satyr said... January 17, 2010 at 6:36 AM
I too have thought about quiting WoW a lot.
I don't have time to raid or do arenas, so my gear hardly improves at all! It even got SO bad, that I'd ask friends to do some PvE and stuff FOR me, because they had more time and because they were allowed to actually play World of Warcraft (I'm not...), just so I could get some gear.
And now, with all the "/w me your GS and Achies" it's really impossible for me to PUG anything.
I just play WoW my way.
Gear > Skill these days, something that I really don't like.
Ilikegold said... January 17, 2010 at 10:21 AM
If you quit what will i read everyday? :(
Sure as hell isn't gonna be Greedy Goblin
jimmyolsenblues said... January 17, 2010 at 2:12 PM
I wish I could quit, I would lose 40 pounds in a year not playing and my life would be better...but I am not stopping playing.
Jez said... January 17, 2010 at 4:40 PM
Hi Markco,
I have been reading you blog since about post 25, It's really great I hope you don't stop it, your posts have helped me a lot, thanks.
I do get annoyed however when people rattle on about how they don't like the game, this sucks.. that sucks.. ect. I enjoy wow and have done for 3 years, I'm not into pvp but that's purely as I plain fail at it. I enjoy pve and being the best I can in all my specs.
I hear people in game all the time saying the game sucks and how Blizz has ruined it.
If people don't like it then don't play or read wow sites, simple answer
Kichebo said... January 17, 2010 at 5:59 PM
Thoughts on quitting have definitely run through my mind from time to time. 5 years of the same game (5 years of one character at that) is a lot... though it still doesn't come close to my the last game which WoW ended up displacing... which I played for... yikes, 8 years. What keeps me in though, tends to be the community. Also sort of an 'explorer' type player... always looking for something new to try, though typically within a specific framework (eg. last game, spent many years exploring the different aspects in which one given class could be played; WoW, very much a feral specialist). I guess I haven't quite run out of things to do yet...
Yep, I like my PvP, and having to stay near the top of the curve gearwise to compete does annoy me some (coming from a heavy FPS background here). Not a top ranked player by any means, but having decent enough gear to compete and pushing my play as best I can within the envelope that I play within (whether it be gear, teammate ability/availability, etc.) is pretty much what matters to me the most.
PvE I still do, again, mainly for the community aspect. The teamwork. I had taken a year off from raiding back in TBC after clearing TK, missing out on Hyjal/BT/Sunwell... which I still sorta wish I'd had a chance to see, so there's also the 'explorer' aspect kicking in again. Raid group dynamics can both be thrilling (when you get everything to click together in a fight) as well as frustrating (drama). And while PvE doesn't have the same unpredictability aspect as PvP (*insert complaint about arena PvP vs open world PvP here*), they're still fun enough.
I guess what it comes down to is... the way I view it, within a given structure, you find your own fun inside it. Whether it be in WoW, another game, or what you do at work. The latter is vitally important to me... finding enjoyment in whatever way while doing your job makes a world of difference. In the realm of games, WoW still gives me a fair number of ways to have fun; other games do as well, though it seems not to the same degree.
Dahkeus said... January 17, 2010 at 8:41 PM
In short, yes, but at the same time, I've played games where gear was equal for all, and there were other problems that cropped up making me want to quit, just the same.
Anonymous said... January 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM
"In a game where gear determines your ability to even participate in the first place it is annoying having to spend so much time gearing instead of playing."
"Do you find yourself being pulled away from world of warcraft's gameplay due to gearing? Are you finding that the auction house is far more entertaining than farming for gear or being part of a raid?"
No need to say more.
Wiggin said... January 19, 2010 at 1:12 PM
I feel bad saying this, but I got the Skull of Ruin on my first Naxx 10 run...and I actually want to replace it bad. It is one of my last 3 remaning iLVL 200 items.
It all comes down to how much content you have experienced. I think the more of the end-game you experience, the closer you get to feeling burnt out. I totally understand where you are coming from Markco. Why should I have to prove myself yet again (in whatever area) when I was on top at one point or another.
It is this constant dethroning from ones perch that keeps some people playing, and turns other people off.
For me, I am content to helping new guildie alts run 5 man heroics and running my small AH business. It is all the time I have for wow now really.
A full time job, a GF and other games warrant attention (damn you Modern Warfare 2, you are too much fun).
I think that "new" feeling will come around when Cataclysm drops. When, who knows.
Rob Dejournett said... January 21, 2010 at 10:19 PM
Yeah i'm pretty bored right now. I've been playing mass effect and that's tons of fun. I may go play single player games for a while. I'm pretty much in the same boat as Markco, got a ton of 80s, don't do PVP, stopped PVE for the most part. I may try to get my dps toons geared up in full EoT.
Any way i think its fine that people get bored and take a break. I recently stepped down as a officer in my best friends guild, now I have no such duties and it's greatly freeing. Anyway time will tell, I am interested in STO but heard from people who did the open beta that it's not that good. Its still young though.
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