Joey thinks about an old girlfriend

     So recently I met up with an old girlfriend I hadn't seen in a while.  She's one of those girls you know are bad for you, but you just can't say no to.  She took all my time with the promise of  excitement and adventure.  And boy did we have adventures.  We got into all kinds of scrapes together.  We met new people and made new friends.  She took me places.  Places I could never go on my own.  The wonder of seeing the world through her eyes is indescribable.  But eventually it got old.  There's only so much you can see through one person's eyes before it gets dull.  She wanted to keep doing what we were doing, but I broke it off.  It was unhealthy.

     Then I saw her again this past month.  It was a chance meeting.  When I saw her I couldn't help but remember all the good times we had.  All the adventures we went on.  All the fun times we spent walking for hours at a time, looking for other people to hang out with.  All the people we met together.  All the quests we did.  All the monsters we killed.  Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier.  My old girlfriend's name is World of Warcraft.

The drums of war thunder once again...

     Once you're hooked to World of Warcraft, you're hooked for life.  You can leave for a time.  You can say "I'm done.  You're no good for me, and you're not a person, so who cares what you think", but one of these days you'll run into her again, and you'll remember the amazing times you've had, and you'll just want to try it out for a little while.  Maybe play for an hour or two.  Check and see if your old friends still play, and what they're up to...

     ...And you're hooked all over again.  You play for an hour.  Just to check out your old character's stats and equipment.  You look at his gear.  Then you go through your inventory.  You can't help but remember the plans you'd had for those items before you quit.  "Oh yeah.  I promised Steamroller I'd enchant his gloves with +30 agility once I got the materials.  Sorry Steamroller."

Looks like you landed on your feet though.

    Then you think, "Well, maybe I'll just run one instance (a dungeon where you fight monsters and defeat bosses)."  You run that instance, but you see something new from a player.  "Wait, you're saying hunters can fire into melee now!?"  Then you look at your character and realize that he's different too.  New talents, new glyphs, new abilities.  Everything's changed.  This old girlfriend is different.  She's not a person but she changes and evolves like one.

     Then you're really screwed.  Because you remember what you really loved about that game.  The discovery.  The adventure of going to new places.  Abandoned mines, caverns under a city being controlled by evil cultists, a stockades been overrun by prisoners, a subterranean jungle filled with heathens worshiping a dead god.  You remember those old times, the wonder of exploration, and you think "What else can I see? I thought I'd discovered everything in this old game, but now there's more."  And you pack up your saddlebags, jump on your trusty steed and ride off into the unknown.

     You ride over the next hill to see what's there.  And you keep riding.  The wonder of discovering a new world isn't as great as the early days, but its pretty damn good.  You ride until you get lost in a new world again.  Your old friends are mostly gone.  Either they've moved on or they're playing as new characters now. It doesn't matter though.  You make new friends.  You meet an honorable warlock a mile under the ocean. he saves your life, and in return you help him complete a tough quest.  Later you ask him to run a dungeon with you and he goes.  Then he contacts you about an opportunity to kill a world boss. A great friendship has been born.

     But, alas, eventually you explore this new world too.  You reach a new limit, hit a new ceiling.  And after a while it starts to feel like a job.  You've already done all this, and you're doing it again just to get another character to level 85, and for what?  So they can do the same end game content that you've already done with a different character.  You turn the game off, planning to play again when you feel like it.  Only you never do.  Weeks go by and you don't think of it.  Maybe you have a new job, a new hobby, new friends, or, god forbid, a new girlfriend (or boyfriend, plenty of girls/gay guys play World of Warcraft), and in a month you get a bill for $15 and remember her.

     You think, "Well, I'll keep paying, I'm going to play again, just taking a break."  Another month goes by, still no playing.  Another.  After three months and $45 you realize this is getting silly.  You cancel your subscription.  After all, your characters are still waiting for you.  You can play again, just as soon as you feel like it.  No point in paying until then.

     Time passes and you realize you're better off without her.  $15 a month isn't outrageous, but you don't need the charge.  And you've got better things to do with your time.  You could focus on your work or your education.  Spend time with your family.  Get a real girlfriend.  Get married.  A plethora of better things to do with your time stretches ahead of you.  You don't need WOW: you never did.  You walk away.  Happy to be free of her clutches once and for all.

     Does this sound familiar?  You've done it before.  You'll do it again.  She's a lady you can't ever forget, and you can't say no to her forever.  One yes is all it takes, and the cycle will repeat.

Next week I'll talk about WOW again.  I'll describe how it was in the old days, and how its changed, for better and for worse.