Breakfast Topic: Why do you keep playing?
by Elizabeth Harper 
Apr 20th 2007 at 8:00AM
Some people call them "nerfs." Some people call them "balance." (And usually this is exactly proportional to how the change impacts your own class.) But however you want to phrase it, gameplay in World of Warcraft changes -- and it doesn't always change for to the benefit of your playstyle. So how do you keep yourself playing when you seem to have hit the bottom of the nerfing/balancing cycle? Reroll? Play alts? Explore areas you've ignored in the past? Tell us, why do you keep playing?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kirby1612 Apr 20th 2007 8:13AM
I play because the game is fun for me. When druids got nerfed a while back, needless to say I was pretty upset. But I didn't hop on the forums and say GG Blizz what a nerf. The patch came out, and I was like hey...this isn't as bad as the forums made it look.
Before BC, druids had to have been at the bottom of the nerf cycle. We never got nerfed, but we never got buffed either. PvP was annoying, because our itemization was crappy (but thats for another topic).
I keep playing my druid because I enjoy him. Raiding Kara, PvP, getting new items (Netherdrake here I come!). This game is still interesting to me, so I continue to play it. Besides, levels 1-58 suck a ton.
Doodzin Apr 20th 2007 8:16AM
Believe me, as a holy priest, there is very little incentive to keep playing, especially after Drysc's most recent posts about being happy with priest healing.
I am just about burnt-out on trying to keep ppl alive in heroics and being blamed for not keeping the tank up when he is one-shotted because his gear sucks.
When I started reading about the Star Trek MMO that is in development I knew my WoW days were numbered, but LOTRO may just suck me away first.
goatboytim Apr 20th 2007 8:23AM
My main is a Resto Shaman... who rarely gets to go along on raids and whatnot... so it's not like I'm playing for the stellar solo enviornment :)
But I play mostly because of the same reasons #1 plays.. for fun.. it's nice to shut my brain off after work and dive into WoW for a couple of hours. I feel this bizzare attachment to my character as I've played very few alts... so I stick with him through the bugs, patches, nerfs and revamps...
emir Apr 20th 2007 8:27AM
i just canseled my account but i got 2 more months left of playtime on it. i had a 70 druid but i just got so sick of him after 1.5 years playing it so i rolled a hunter , shes 53 atm. and am gonna say here what i wrote when blizz aked me why was i quiting:
see u in starcraft 2 or diablo 3 so no worries, your still gonna milk my cash :)
all in all wow just got boring after a year and a half. well prolly not for all but for me :(
DanceMoveDestro Apr 20th 2007 8:31AM
I keep playing because I can only take so much real life. I mean seriously, I can only hang out with my 18 super model girlfriends, drive around in my Enzo, work out to keep my Mr. Universe body, and roll around in my piles of money so much in one day, when I need a break from the real world its WoW all the way. XD
Brim Apr 20th 2007 8:38AM
tbh I have no fucking clue why I keep playing....
Got a lvl 60 warlock I dumped because I got bored and rolled a rogue.
Got a lvl 60 rogue I dumped cause I got bored and rolled a hunter.
Got a lvl 58 hunter I dumped cause I got bored and rolled a druid.
Got a lvl 70 druid I dumped cause I got bored and rolled a mage.
Got a lvl 20 mage.... see a pattern here?
Sarah Apr 20th 2007 8:40AM
Haha, If I can play Animal Crossing for a year when after the first month I've blown through the "game" part and the rest is just fishing and collecting all the bugs then WoW has a million times more things I can do and collect. It's just fun, even mindless repetitive tasks keep me amused hours on end. I don't play everyday, I just take my time and have fun doing it.
Mats Apr 20th 2007 8:42AM
I play a warlock, so nerfs have never effected me....
oh, I kid, I kid.
But yea, even thou I get a nerf here and there, I can still perform decently. I guess I'm just not your average crybaby.
chaz Apr 20th 2007 8:45AM
@2 totally agree.
I dumped the holy priest and went to mage. When droods and pallies started outhealing me I hung up my holy vestaments. Plus, playing whack-a-mole just gets old. They really need to find something else for priests to do, some shorter term buffs or something.
I could have flipped to shadow, but if i wanna do dps I might as well go for an arc/fire mage.
Anyways, enough QQing, the matter at hand: why keep playing? I would say it's the people. Every week i meet someone that I think is cool, and I guess thats why i keep playing.
Aaeen Apr 20th 2007 8:45AM
The giant nerf bat has never really affected me, as you can't really change what a hunter fundamentally does. Send in pet, go pew pew, loot, rinse, repeat. Even if they figured out some way to completely screw the hunter class, I would still play. Content alone is reason enough, but there are many great things about WoW that I can't honestly say hold true to other MMOs. I can see hardcore raiders being affected the most by that soft (not always) foam bat, as they HAVE to play a certain way in order to do what they do. I guess we'll all do what we do; adapt and overcome, and keep on chugging; it's the meaning of life, at least, virtually.
Luclan Apr 20th 2007 8:47AM
I am a mage, full frost, so this last instant break on crit for frostnova set me back. and all these little nerfs that go slightly unnoticed build up and get on my nerves. but all in all i think mage still does damn well. just wish you locks would get a beating of the nerf stick :P
Twinny Apr 20th 2007 8:55AM
@11
/offtopic.
locks have been nerfed plenty, i suggest you read our patch notes for the last few content patches.
nerfed felguard.
nerfed dot damage.
nerfed imp's DPS.
nerfed IMP IMP.
Impeding Nerfing of our only crutch (fear)
impeding nerfing of shadow priests because gay mages/rogues complained about our dps...
The problem with you warlock haters is easily explained. we have 3 very viable tree's that you cant differenciate between and end up with a stigma of a warlock that has 51/51/51 talent points.
so you can cry nerf locks all you want, if you knew anything about us you would know where our weaknesses lie.
priest Apr 20th 2007 8:55AM
my main is a 70 holy priest... i just keep playing, sometimes I do wonder why. But, I just kinda like "being in there" even though at the moment I moved to a new server, know noone, have no guild. I just levelled cooking and fishing 375 (yes, really) while getting a feel for my new home. It's fun. My other half is a 70 mage and she feels the same. It's just somewhere else to "be", and there's things you can do there, simple.
Twinny Apr 20th 2007 8:57AM
back on topic.
I play because i raid with my friends. Its fun and it fills my evenings while im trying to save for my wedding.
Shiro Apr 20th 2007 9:01AM
Alts and crafting here.
I got hooked on WoW because of the crafting game. I ended up making a whole lot of alts so that I could have one person doing each of the major professions. Then I found that I liked a lot of the classes.
My first 70 was my "gatherer" mining/skinning so I could get everyone elses crafting bumped up a bit.
As a secondary part, I really enjoy PvP, but I rolled alliance in the beginning. I got tired of the queues so I'm in the process of re-rolling all of my characters horde now. Starting with the 3 classes I never took to over 60 (shaman, mage, warlock).
nubular Apr 20th 2007 9:02AM
I was having fun up until Blizzard kept nerfing the hell out of things, all in the name of 'balance' which really means PvP. But since I don't PvP much my mage has to suffer because some warrior got 2-shot by someone decked out in epic gear and decided to cry about it on the forums.
Roic Apr 20th 2007 9:44AM
My reason for staying on is the people I play with. Take my guild away from me and I'd be gone within a week. Yes, we're a social guild, I don't really care much for equipment and gear. It's fun to get something new every once in a while, but what really counts is doing something fun with friends. Chat and interaction with people is just as (or more) important as the goals in-game.
Wargo Apr 21st 2007 6:55PM
BTW, I play a 70 warrior. We've been gimped pretty bad, at least as far as pvp goes. The only reason wars started owning in arenas is because they always teamed up with a healer. I love my warrior. I'm prot and I can still hold my own in pvp. As long as wars remain the top class to tank raids, I don't mind the changes, as long as it balances things out. Just keep in mind when there's a nerf/buff, there's a reason for it. It takes time to see the effects of a change as well. Blizz has done a good job for the most part, which is more than I can say for other companies (I'm looking at YOU, SOE).
Kirby1612 Apr 20th 2007 9:05AM
@16
Off topic, but that warrior should have used spell reflect, what a noob.
souljar Apr 21st 2007 12:41PM
Unfortunately, I don't continue playing. Real world circumstances keep me from playing WoW for any lengthy period of time. Stationed over here in Iraq, I occasionally read WOWinsider, and read my guilds forums just to keep up on whats going on. I will tell you this. I've been an avid Fantasy gamer for years, and there's nothing I've experienced that comes close to World of Warcraft. Change sucks, but you always have the option to change as well. Now step on up! Maybe your next in line for batting practice.