For the weekend and the last few days I've mostly been playing EVE Online to get some things done because that's my main mmo for just about a year now even though I just also started playing some RIFT. I have some game projects I had been working on and just spend most the time working on those in EVE. I regularly cruise the mmo blogosphere and read a variety of opinions on other blogs, some more than others.
Their has been allot of tension in the WoW blogosphere community about players bored with WoW, people leaving WoW for RIFT, WoW players playing other mmo games and the rebound of many those players back to WoW when their gaming honeymoon is over. Earlier as well I was reading a blogpost which lead to reading a blogpost at Larisa's and Gevlon's blog as well as reading all the various comments on both. At that point I just had allot of conflicting thoughts and emotions about other mmo's, game community, why I play games and why I left WoW.
In 5 years of playing WoW I've never ever been a highly opinionated member of the WoW blogging community and thats just fine by me. As well I'm sure never been thought of as such. Usually I've blogged about my game experience in-game or in any other game as I've experienced it and about things that have affected WoW game wise. As well I've always expressed on the blog when its time to quit WoW it will be fast in decision. I will have no need to rant about it like some people often do. I'll just quit, move on and that be the end of it!
So why did I really quit WoW
When someone I know as a player or a blogger quit playing WoW and move on to playing other games that interest them or to do other things Its sad to always see them leave the game you also play. They may have made some difference while they were here. But for me personally I just simply wish them well in whatever they do, real life and whatever game they move on to. I'll still play the same game i enjoy playing, because I play the game for me and not for how you may feel about it. Yet people always wonder why some others are leaving WoW and when they will come back after maybe a month.
Just about one of the few comment I can really agree with to Larisa's blog post was by Nils and Spinks to the post. Its too long to quote them here. While allot of players likes to play mmo's, allot less of those players are really even open minded about playing other games or trying other games for fun or to expand their gaming horizons. One the best things in my opinion that can happen in the mmo industry is for good games to be made that are healthy competition to the ones that are already there to help make them better or spur some form of innovation vs just more of the same always. So I'm not afraid to try other mmo games besides WoW or even quit WoW. In the year I spend away from WoW on total hiatus I realized I can absolutely live without WoW and felt better when I wasn't playing it.
For me, I've been playing WoW since right before Burning Crusade expansion launched which is over 5 years of WoW. That's 5 years of my life daily having been invested in playing WoW which is the longest I've committed to playing any game in my life. I've loved and enjoyed playing WoW and the game is still a great mmo game. Over that time I guess you can say one has matured playing and learning WoW as a mmo. The first few years was an experience playing and learning the game and quite addicting to play and had a great community. As more expansions occurred, years and times changed the in-game the community also changed not for the better but for worst in my opinion. Eventually I also got more burned out on the game just too much WoW and blogging as well about WoW.
Over the years I've taken breaks away from WoW being burned out on the game and time away from blogging about WoW as well. So I took time away from the game to do other things, play other MMO games to find other interest, get different game perspective and broaden my mmo horizons. The more I got burned out the more time I went on game hiatus. A bit after WotLK I got burned out on WoW and just wasn't really enjoying the game. Nor did I like the in-game community of totally rude players I had often deal with and tank dungeons and raids with. With 5 years of WoW and a changing community I just got tired of all of it. And I just easily took a long break from WoW, blogging and the community as a whole.
In the time away from WoW I decided one the things I wanted to do was experience other mmo games and in the future play a variety of games vs just one game. So in 2010 I played STO at launch, enjoyed the game and leveled to the max but wasn't much to do at the time. Cryptic has since improved the game much since. I loved Sci-Fi and space games and wanted to try something much more complicated and complex to wrap my mind around so I picked up playing EVE Online some time after.
I truly enjoyed playing EVE Online and for all its complexity and huge learning curve as a mmo. Being so much different to WoW was a complete plus. I really didn't care if you didn't play EVE, didn't like the game or don't play EVE Online. I enjoyed it so I played it. The point was I enjoyed the damn game. That is why I play the game and any other mmo game to have have a enjoyable time. It was a good distraction from the world of WoW trying out other games.
Over the last year the more I played EVE Online the less I had thought about WoW, the community and blogging about it. And I did realize that. So for most of 2010 I mostly played EVE Online even though I had decided to also try other mmo games to broaden my mmo gaming vs just WoW. Some players are just totally stuck on WoW. Even though I do really like WoW, I'm not simple stuck on WoW either. I'm simply willing to try other games that's of interest to me.
So when Cataclysm launched I bought the game and see how things were. After years playing WoW I still did enjoy the game. So i played through Cataclysm going from 80-85 as that was the main part of the game that was of interest to me. Leveling up alts has always been something I've never been a fan of, its just not my style. But I did level up 4 my other 80's to 85 for Cataclysm all the while in the back of my mind thinking of the game overall and if I wanted to dedicate to keep playing WoW.
After transferring back to an old server 4 characters, leveling up my characters to 85, reflecting on my WoW guild, reflecting on the game community 5 man dungeons and raiding, reflecting on playing EVE Online and my future to that game as well as also reflecting on other new games I wanted to also play. I simply made a decision as to I wasn't going to do. Right around that exact time RIFT appeared out of no where and sounded interesting.
However after 5 years of WoW even though I liked and enjoyed the game I was just DONE! I had no interest continue to play the game for another year. The love affair was over! The love was gone! I can call it whatever I want, I was simply done as the more I played WoW the more I kept thinking I should rather invest that time in EVE Online. I'm far more than just the average WoW player skill wise and in learning. But for me its just time to quit WoW.
I also was going to also try out RIFT as a new game also, so good timing quitting WoW after 2 months of Cataclysm. Some people just won't get that decision as a WoW player walking away from WoW, its no more different that when I had decided to just walk away from WoW to take a break going on hiatus. But in the end I decided this was game over for me. So before I left WoW I sold everything on all my characters and gave away all the gold which was a heck of allot on my account to seal the nail in the coffin of my decision walking away. I would of deleted my characters If i had time to, but the time that i decided to quit and the time my subscription expired was maybe just 24hrs to have thought of it.
In the big debate of things I can give a rats ass if a game or a new game is better than WoW in all the ways one can compare it to WoW. After 5 years of WoW the game i'm just simply done and don't care to continue playing.
There is no coming back to WoW for me. While some players do raise from the dead in WoW this one player aren't coming back! WoW, the in-game community and the WoW blogosphere community has changed allot over the 5 years that I have played WoW. I do still like WoW but I'm going to be honest to say that after 5 years I just know when to call it quits and leave this WoW community. I'll continue to play the other games I play and move on and try any new MMO games I want to play. I'm just not that stuck on WoW that I can't enjoy trying playing other games for fun even as a above average WoW player. I realized before I could live without playing WoW, did so just fine last year and at this point its now permanent.
Everyone decides to leave WoW for their own reasons and it won't be the same reason for everyone. Currently I play 2 games. EVE Online which I very much enjoy that many WoW players won't touch with a ten foot pole and probably is my main mmo and RIFT which recently launched. There are other mmo's on the horizon that I will probably try but make no mistake when i do play a game its for my own reasons and not for anyone else's.
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