The Egotistical Priest
An irreverent and opinionated discussion of the many classes
in the World of Warcraft gaming universe.
Why Do You Play?
by Vonya
Why do you play the game?
Is it for loot? For fame? For the joy of learning new things, experiencing new content?
All of us can identify with each of those new goals. We all get excited when new gear drops, or when we finally manage to up our dps or take down that boss that’s been taunting us. We all like moving forward and seeing content that we’ve never seen before, of facing bosses we never thought we’d reach.
But all of those are fleeting pleasures. You get the gear, and as soon as you come down from your burst of adrenaline and glee – almost immediately you find yourself dreaming of the next boss, the next big item.
You can actually play the game for a long time with nothing but loot as your goal. Unfortunately, that’s a not a motivation that can last for very long. The gear ladder of this game has many rungs, but it also has an end, a point where there simply are no more upgrades.
Then what do you do? Reroll and play the game again? Wait for the expansion to come out? Dream about new content, new goals, new bosses?
Most often you do none of those things (or you do them until they too grow lackluster and stale). You burn out. The game loses its sparkle, its draw. You don’t spend all day thinking about the next time you can log in anymore. Instead you log in only when you have to, for raids that you’re only paying halfhearted attention to.
Before long, everyone can see that you’re moving on. Whether to a bigger guild that can offer you more excitement, or you’ll drop the game. The only question is whether you’ll tell anyone, or if you’ll just…disappear.
Is there anything wrong with that philosophy? Goodness no. I think it’s a terribly sad one, to never really take the time to enjoy the things you have, to always be yearning for the future, to get new things.
It’s not such an uncommon view of the game, nor of the world, for that matter.
Blizzard knows that most of its money comes from players like these. They cater to it, adding new gear and content at an incredible rate. You’ve got to keep those fish on the line, they could just as easily change their minds and go after one of the other shiny lures in that big sea.
Blizzard isn’t just competing with MMORPGs, although I’d be surprised to find that at least a few of the higher ups in the game didn’t wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare about Age of Conan or Warhammer Online. Blizzard is also competing with console games, computer games, heck, even board games! (You know that somewhere, on someone’s desk, is a pie chart that shows just how much of Blizzard’s market share is playing Monopoly).
The devs know what side their bread is buttered on, and they do a great job and offer a great product. That’s why we’re here.
The thing is, the game is more than just that, for hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people.
As Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick noted in a recent blog entry – being a WoW player can bring strangers together. It unites people.
More than that, it teaches people.
Teamwork, leadership, social skills, reward for effort – all of these things are built into the game by default. I’ve learned more about human nature from the guilds I’ve joined than I would have learned in decades of life in the real world. How petty, how cruel, how vicious – how kind, how funny, how remarkably and wonderfully generous people can be.
World of Warcraft is a game, yes. But it’s more than a game, too. I can play Super Mario Brothers all day long and never learn a fraction of the things I learn in WoW.
People may think it’s odd or nerdy to liken real life things to WoW terminology…I think it’s grand. You can learn so much about the people hiding behind the pixels in this game. Have you ever walked past someone in the store and privately scoffed and labeled them a loot whore? Ever watched a parent giving in to a child and allowing them whatever toy or candy they were begging for, and get reminded of a raid leader awarding their favorite raider? Ever had a friend come to you with relationship troubles and got a strong sense of unreality when you realize that the druid and paladin guild leaders that broke up and took their guild with them were in the exact same situation?
The question isn’t “why do you play WoW?”
The question is “why do you STILL play WoW?”
Some of you have been in WoW longer than me, I’d imagine. Why do you stay? You know those lowbie levels like the back of your hand. If this was a normal RPG, you’d have already pawned the game off and moved on to the next one.
The answer is simple.
It’s the people. We stay for the people, for the friendships, and (despite what so many would say) because this really is life. A part of it, at least. It’s more than just a game, more than some silly way to waste time. The primary difference is the interaction we have on a consistent basis with one another. And -for me- the friendships that interaction creates.
April 29th, 2008
Wow, now I am thinking…. Yep, you are absolutely right. If it wasn’t for the people I would have ling since moved on. Never saw it laid out quite that well though.
April 29th, 2008
Excactly! I was once, a long time ago in a memory far far away, heavily into D&D. I still have almost 100 books and all my gear. People would call me a geek/nerd whatever, saying I waste my time playing some stupid dice game. I asked them if they play any nintendo/Playstation games. They usually said “yes” or “No!” But there was always something, movies or whatever. So I would say to them: “Hey, you spend X amount of time alone in your house playing a game/watching T.V, I am out with my friends meeting new people engaging my mind not a potato chip.”
Games aren’t fun without people, alot of times I may not like the ones I find in WoW, but I have a fantastic guild and I can stay in touch with friends accross the country, that is esspecially important to me as I am in the military and movement is unavoidable.
April 29th, 2008
/cheer
Awesome and couldn’t have said it better myself
April 29th, 2008
Handy career tip: if you’re interviewing for anything which will see you working in a team environment, reference your experience in WoW often. You don’t need to say it’s a video game or anything like that (depending on where you’re interviewing the response could get frosty) but if you want to drive home the point that you can set and meet goals, have the ability to work as part of a small or large team, evaluate the relative importance of multiple objectives, etc., You can mention that you work on these skills in not only your professional life, but your personal life as well, as your hobby gives you ample opportunity to do so.
For bonus points, you can even reference your good work ethic by highlighting that you’re never late for a raid. Having been on both sides of the interview desk and both giving and hearing those answers, I can tell you that very few potential employers wouldn’t be impressed to see someone who goes after such valuable professional skills with such zeal.
And if they do ask what your hobby is, play up the multiplayer aspect of it while playing down the “geek in the basement” factor.
April 30th, 2008
Just to throw a very small, delicate spanner into the works, I think I keep playing because I haven’t “mastered” WoW yet. The social aspect isn’t really as pronounced for me, because I tend to play very late when most of the server is asleep. I don’t think I’ve seen more than two people online in my guild (including myself) in over a week. This is probably why I also have enormous trouble gearing up at end-game because I can never find groups.
I get quite a bit of satisfaction from learning the technical aspects of the classes I play. Often, once I’ve done all I can with a particular class, I’ll level a new one for a challenge. Which is why I suspect I went to all the trouble of levelling a pally up (only 2/3rds of a level left ’till 70!) not to mention my mage and even my hunter (which is now my current main.)
That said, I’m thinking about moving servers soon, having been offered an invite to a raiding guild. Hopefully, I’ll get to put all that chain-trapping and MQoSRDPS (as well as SQoSMDPSaOOHaOT – Significant quantities of sustained melee DPS and occasional off-healing and off-tanking from my Pally
) to good use. Oh, and the phat lewts, etc.
But it will also be nice to maybe find somewhere to fit in and make a contribution, as well as people to chat to. Curses, I’ve just proven your point, haven’t I? Next time Vonya, next time! *cat screech*
April 30th, 2008
You’ve hit the nail on the head.
Why do I keep playing?
It’s the best way I know to hang out with the people I care about, many of whom are far, far away from me. Even if all we do is spend an hour in WC fishing for those ninja-pirate deviates, it’s the people that keep me playing when my loot options have run dry.
April 30th, 2008
When my first guild disbanded, I ran battlegrounds until it got old (which was about two weeks) and then dropped off the face of the World of Warcraft. With my social ties to the game gone, there was no real reason to play, and there really wasn’t much new content at the time (this was Pre-BC). So I simply didn’t play for two months. If Burning Crusade didn’t get released, I would have stopped playing altogether, forever. With the new expansion came all the new content, and once again I began to play WoW, and as I leveled from 60-70, I recruited people from work to join me in the new areas. Eventually though, their goals were not mine, and some xferred with their guild, others stopped playing for valid Real Life reasons, and I found myself alone, at level 70, unattuned to Kara and without a guild, because the major guilds at that time weren’t looking for new healers. So I once again dropped off the face of the server, only to reappear as a fresh hunter. As my hunter neared lvl 70 along with the rest of my hunter’s guild, I ran dungeons on my priest when healing was required and eventually reattained the only real reason to keep playing…a very social guild. After my second guild disbanded three weeks ago, the only reason I keep playing is because I’ve still got friends that play. And for those of you saying “Blizzard just released new content on QD island, that’s worth playing for!”
No.
It’s not.
Not on a PvP server, anyway.
And as long as I’m commenting here, do any other healers find Magister’s Terrace a supreme nightmare to heal? Maybe Vonya could give some tips on healing that particular dungeon…
April 30th, 2008
Ran that one once, and only once on my priest (imp divine spirit raid spec) and never will I go back. That place was annoying and I can farm all the rep I want doing dailies.
April 30th, 2008
@strayfe
MgT had 1 or 2 lean spots for my priest, however with a proper tank and some decent DPS I found it wasn’t too bad. I am 31/30 with 1200 +heal but I was able to keep everyone up, less myself on the last boss. Actually I died twice on that dude, first time I used my soulstone, second time I got a battle rez, if it werent for improved death I would have been hurting. The greater portion of my heals went out as Renew, shields, and prayers of mending on the trash pulls. On the bosses I only dropped Greaters on the tank everyone else got renews and shields. only the one boss who does that huge AOE sucked as I used chain Prayer of healing spells lol. It was fun though.
Before anyone here says holy crap 1200+heal thats crap, I have been through Gruuls as raid healer and earned the respect of my Class lead as well as my Raid Leader. A lot of people say my build isn’t any good for endgame healing but I can and will prove them wrong =). Healers FTW!
May 1st, 2008
True. The reason I keep playing is also the reason I clear my schedule 3 nights a week for raiding. I am glad to know the people I’ve met here. Heck, I even met my fiance through WoW
It definitely is the people.
May 1st, 2008
I play for R&R (rest and realxation). I don’t like TV, so WoW is the best and cheapest form of intertainment for me. For $16 a month it is cheaper then to go to the movies, order cable, go to a club or a bar. I do all the other things, but not as much. And I did re-roll a new toon to level of a different class. It’s just fun and relaxing to take a few hours a day just go grind the lowly mobs, and see that experience bar move forward, and not to feel rushed about it.
Also, now that I am part of a good guild it’s just fun to run an instance with my guildies. I think I get tired or bored from WoW when I try to push it. Like when I level too fast, or farm too much, or PVP too much. I like the fact that I can do a bit of everything or anything.
Plus, I always play video games. And it is so disappointing to finish a game, now you got to select and buy a new one. WoW just keep going on and on and on …
May 1st, 2008
Absolutely the people. In fact, that’s why I started playing WoW: The people. And it’s the people–specifically, a couple of folks in my guild–who are the reason I haven’t moved to another server, or guild, or quit entirely.
Remember, PEOPLE are the “MM” in MMORPG
May 11th, 2008
Nice. You really nailed all of the reasons I have never left, but continue to play WOW…from level to level….character to character.