Breakfast Topic: Finding motivation to level or grind
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jun 18th 2008 at 8:00AM
Arrowd of the US Cairne server has a question: How do you keep leveling without getting bored, abandoning a character, or rerolling? She says that she's had around 14 characters, and she's never managed to stick with one past about level 45. She always gets bored, and she wonders if there is a way to avoid it.
Now as I've mentioned before, I've leveled a lot of characters myself, and have a few 70s, but even I can sometimes get a little bit tired of the grind, and sometimes even I need to make up goals to keep myself focused. Sometimes I even need it for my level 70s if I'm running low on gold or raiding supplies. In that way, I can definitely feel where she's coming from, but I do (usually) manage to keep myself motivated.
Sometimes, for me, the Motivation is pretty simple. For example, on that Shaman I'm leveling, what keeps me going is the prospect of getting some sweet Dual Wield action going. I'm actually having a lot of fun with her, so I don't need to focus on it too hard, but the idea of imagining her with 2 axes enchanted with Windfury is a mental picture that is too awesome to put into words. I mean, we're talking cover of a Dragonforce album awesome.
So now I turn the question over to the rest of you. Whether it be leveling on a lowbie or grinding on a 70, how do you keep yourself motivation when the going gets tough and you get tired out? Is it the promise of a new skill? A new piece of gear? What keeps you charged up and logged in?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Leveling, Making money, Alts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Squishy Jun 18th 2008 8:08AM
Three words.
Suck.
It.
Up.
Four word.
No pain, no gain.
I'm tired of reading QQing about the grind. Slow news day?
Lhock Jun 18th 2008 8:10AM
3 letters.
B.
O.
T.
But be prepared to live by the sword and die by the sword.
Hello warden?
Jumpeplowski Jun 18th 2008 8:18AM
"No pain, no gain?"
If you're playing WoW (note, 'playing'), you should be having fun, not enduring pain. Do something else if WoW is painful... that applies to you too, Arrowd.
Matt Jun 18th 2008 8:20AM
When leveling a character, I don't feel a need to only play that character. I play it until I am bored, then play another character for awhile, whether it's one of my two 70's or another character I am leveling. Variety is what staves off boredom.
However, creating fourteen different characters but not leveling them past 45 seems a bit ADHD to me. Surely there is one character out of those 14 that is more interesting than the others.
Dotixi Jun 18th 2008 8:13AM
I try to focus on one character at a time so that I don't get bogged down with 14 alts. However, I think it's okay to make an alt or 2 for those times when your main starts to drag. You just have to keep in mind that they are an alt and should not be the foucs of your attention (unless you decide you like your alt better than your main).
When I do get bored though I set myself a level goal. As in, I'll try to get 2 levels day tha tway I keep moving forward on my main but it gives me time to do other stuff besides quest and grind.
Now, as for the double Windfury action. I don't understand why players put windfury on both weapons. I see that as a loss of extra damage per swing since windfury is a proc...I am sure there's math as to why double windfury is better but I have had times where windfury doesn't proc for several fights. Fire on the slow main hand and windfury on the fast off-hand.
Khanmora Jun 18th 2008 8:34AM
windfury has an internal cooldown of 3 seconds, it will not proc any faster on a fast offhand weapon. In fact, d/w shaman should use as close to a 3.0 speed weapon for both hands in order to not have as many swings between that cd. If you are using a fast OH then put the flametongue on it and keep WF on the slow MH.
There's a ton of info out there on it. Especially at Elitist Jerks, Class Mechanics forums.
Fedya Jun 18th 2008 8:45AM
It's much better to use WF on slow weapon (~3 sec). It has CD and you will also get more "additional" damage if your weapon deals more dmg.
Charlie Jun 19th 2008 12:04AM
I understand that for and endgame min/max yes, dual wind fury might not be the best. I don't know, i don't play shamman endgame.
But windfury is coooooooool. I mean, it just is. THATS why you use it on both your weapons while leveling, because really, 10 more dps isn't gonna make a difference while leveling =/
CvijaFaQ Jun 18th 2008 8:14AM
I always found leveling as fun as raiding. I like picking a zone and just doing every quest progressing trough the story of each zone, they can strike me as equally epic as some raids.
Calybos Jun 18th 2008 8:43AM
For me, leveling IS the fun. I have no interest in the endgame stuff, or raiding. I level my various characters through their classes and zones, exploring the world and interacting with people--and when I'm strong enough, occasionally helping other low-level folks with THEIR quests.
That's the reason I play this game. "Leveling fatigue" doesn't apply to me.
Worcester Jun 18th 2008 11:45AM
I also find fun in leveling. Recently, I discovered the addon Questhelper which really has been a boost to my leveling. It gives you the best route based on your area and the quests you have, what you need to get, even what people in your party are working on! I tend to have too much going on, so I don't know where to begin. Questhelper really gets me motivated.
Another way to take a break from the grind might be little light RP. You don't have to go overboard, but play up your class or character. Try writing in complete sentences, adopt an accent, create some new outfits, just have fun!
Paymetohealu Jun 18th 2008 8:16AM
I'm also looking for an answer to this question.
I just don't have the motivation anymore to level my 45 priest.
Tran Jun 18th 2008 8:20AM
Priests are pretty tough to level, since they have to rely on PW:S no matter what spec they choose. Try mixing it up a bit and doing some PvP or more instances if you haven't been doing them. Or if you can afford it a little twinking never hurt anyone.
Paymetohealu Jun 18th 2008 8:23AM
It's not that fact, I have no problem leveling. It's the fact that questing is boring and no one is running ANY of the three instances I'm able to do in LFG. Mara/ST/ZF. Even though I'm more inclined to get a group for mara/st over zf.
Right now I have quests in The Hinterlands/Tanaris.. but I have no motivation to do them. I'm the type of player that likes group questing or playing with other people, but my friends are all higher. So in short, I leveled my alt.
superfrank Jun 18th 2008 8:32AM
hmm I levelled my warrior tank earlier this year about 75% through instances.... it was a pain getting pugs and so on but you can do a few quests for an hour or so while you wait for a group to come together and they usually do.
Eternalpayn Jun 18th 2008 12:00PM
Are you on low-pop? Because ST and ZF are always run on my realm. They're personally some of my favorite in-game instances. As for the priest situation, I'd recommend just questing it out for a few levels, then respec shadow for shadowform.
Whenever I get sick of questing, I just run instances until I'm out of my current zone range.
Aislinana Jun 18th 2008 8:16AM
I've been of the "One character at a time, please!" on my ways to 70. I have 2 70s now in the stable and when levelling the newest alt (mah 64 enh shaman) gets a little stale, I just switch it up with some raiding on the main, or some PVP on the other 70 alt. :)
Certain goals (like water shield) or a new prize (mount, instance gear) keeps me chugging when I'm solely on my alt.
There's also really the experience of BEING that character - call me a cheesy RPer but getting to live my character's life out as she learns and grows is pretty fun as I meet people along in my travels.
Tran Jun 18th 2008 8:17AM
Set mini goals for yourself. Don't think "right, I need ALLLL of this to get that item", think "right, today I'll get a quarter of the primals I need" or something. Same goes for levelling. Don't push yourself too hard and just level at the pace you feel comfortable at.
native Jun 18th 2008 8:26AM
if you don't have the motivation to do something in game don't do that particular thing in game.
for crying out loud. this isn't like getting your masters degree or finishing up a big project for your boss. making it to the kids baseball game or helping your elderly neighbor get her grocery shopping done.
its running around as some wacky fanstasy creature on a computer while throwing lightning bolts at shit while your life slips by.
if you don't have the motivation to do that, i wouldn't sweat it too much.
Healovertime Jun 18th 2008 8:24AM
I typically on any mmo will only play one character at a time.
I set goals stuff that happens at max level, therefore every level before hand my goal is to get to max level to actually do what I have intended.