Fighting off the WoW doldrums
by Amanda Miller 
Jul 12th 2008 at 7:05PM
Here's a brief summary of his points, minus the tips, discussion and personal experience in the article:
- Don't treat the game as work.
- Start an alt.
- Make time for other games.
- Take a break from raiding.
- Spend time with friends that doesn't involve a computer.
- Create at least one alt on the opposite faction or a different server. Don't tell anyone about it.
- Turn off guild chat, trade chat, and even general, and stick up a <DND> tag while you farm, fish, or do another relaxing activity. It doesn't hurt to play some tunes either.
- Leave the game for a couple weeks. Call your friends, clean the house, catch up on work, watch TV, and generally don't even think about it. Before you know it, you'll miss some of the WoW activities.
- You might just be lacking some goals. Look up some rare items you haven't acquired for your collections, set your eyes on a piece of gear you want, or vow to level your alt to a certain point so that they can acquire a new talent, mount, or armor piece.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Alts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rugus Jul 12th 2008 7:17PM
"You might just be lacking some goals"
Agreed, this is one of the best ways to get bored of WoW. If you just play the same way every single day, you will be feeling bad about the game. But if you try to find something to "do", it will give a new breath and more interest in general.
When I got bored, I started leveling some factions to get a Netherwing mount, some nice epic stuff from Sha'Tari and Ogri'la and so on. While doing this, I've also found new players and nice quests that I would have never done otherwise.
Travis Green Jul 12th 2008 7:26PM
I recently ran out of goals on my toons; epic flight form for my druid, a netherdrake for my mage, and exalted with various factions... so to cure my boredom, I rerolled on a PvP server, it's a blast so far!
AK Jul 13th 2008 4:58PM
Nice article... I was hoping for some suggestions about this issue of boringness
Ash Jul 12th 2008 7:44PM
Personally, I'm in the middle of it now.. I'm just burned out.
I went back to playing games I bought and never finished or never got around to.. Warcraft 3 (remembering all the history we see when we play), Hellgate, Neverwinter Nights 2, Morrowind, Oblivion, etc.
That's my recommendation. Take a break, and play other games. Remember why we play games in the first play, so when you come back to WoW it won't seem like work (Epic Flight can be grinding ;-) )
Procris Jul 12th 2008 8:02PM
When people tell me they are bored of WoW, the first thing i suggest is to make an alt. Still amazes me how many people play this game and only have 1 character and no alts (or at least no alts over 10).
Also creating an alt on another faction. I myself have Alliance and Horde characters and the experience on both is somewhat different. If you play on a PvE server, you could consider making a character on a PvP server and so on. Its not like WoW doesn't have plenty to do. But its important not to burn yourself out by playing to much.
PimpyMicPimp Jul 12th 2008 8:03PM
Play another game for awhile usually helps me.
Currently, I'm playing a lot of Civ4. It's great!
sephirah Jul 12th 2008 8:08PM
From the original article:
"These tips have helped me prevent burning myself out on the game that I so graciously shell out $15 a month for:"
Are you bored? Stop to graciously shell out $15 a month and come back when WotLK will be out...
Cetha Jul 12th 2008 8:35PM
"...clean the house...."
that's one i need to employ instead of rolling yet another alt ;)
Canta Jul 12th 2008 11:42PM
Giving myself a 3-week break actually convinced me that I should quit. I'm not sure if anyone else has had similar reasons, but, maybe I just wasn't that 'dedicated' in the first place.
Elladin Aug 18th 2008 7:57PM
?
Kraf Jul 13th 2008 12:55AM
It's impossible to go without playing without logging in for a few minutes to talk to friends, but I am really burnt out...and I have one prob
-I usually need someone to talk to
Which is why I suck at re-rolling diff servers xP I always need someone to talk to or something or that makes me more bored. and I've played every class.. and it's just gotten boring. Maybe I'll reroll the same class idk.....the 360 seems to be a good alternate tho, BF Bad Company
Abbadon Jul 13th 2008 2:03AM
Funny, I just rolled another character last week for this very reason. With not much more to do on my lock and sp, I figured I should learn more about melee in preparation for the Death Knight. So I have a lv 37 feral druid now, and I'm loving it. And while part of me wants to be in the /g chat to talk and keep up on things, another part is enjoying the peace and quiet of being unguilded.
spearxxi Jul 14th 2008 7:01AM
My best suggestion is to treat WoW like a vacation resort. If you play it too much, you will become a local, and locals lose sight of the magic in their home, when they have been their too long. Play a couple months, and then quit for however long it takes. Oh, and if you are going to PVP, you must realize that good PVPers have a good knowledge of all the classes, so it would be time consuming for the average PvE player to wrap their finger around right away. The second time I quit, I was doing three things that I sucked at or was really time consuming: Instances, Battlegrounds, and Grinding. Instances are fun, but way too time consuming to level, Battlegrounds are tough cause I only know how to play a couple of classes, and Grinding is the worst thing in the world. Those three things people tend to treat like work. Quests (if you read them) tend to feel like Guides to the Lore, and that is fun in my book.
Nuts Jul 13th 2008 8:20AM
Ive made it a habit to take a break for a few months around the summer every year since I started playing. This years break came a bit late due to bad planning but I usualy try to make it last between june and august, maybee all the way to september. All my chars are at Inn's or in citys so that I can enjoy extended xp when I come back.
Nuts Jul 13th 2008 8:27AM
OK this is weird. Unless Nuts is a person that just happened to type the same thing as me (Tjingtjong) Ive suddenly got a new name...
Kawanda Sep 6th 2009 4:53PM
That started happening to me when I got a bit too into raiding. The only things I did in WoW were focused on getting gold for repairs, consumables, and other miscellaneous costs. I had already gotten the gold for my epic mount, exalted with Netherwing, and most other meaningful factions. So to keep myself entertained, I made a bank alt.
I gave him the full works; A tuxedo, monocle, jewelr, etc. For now, most of the time I spend playing the game I'm logged on this bank alt sitting around Orgrimmar and working the Auction House.
To keep yourself entertained in this game, you just need to find something challenging to do with your time. Farm gold on the AH. Respec to a different tree. Try and do something new in PvE/PvP (I started Totem Twisting). Roll an Alt. Get exalted with Bloodsail Buccaneers for the outfit and work i back up with he Steamwheedle Cartel. Level fishing/cooking. Tons of stuff to do; you just have to look for it.
Solitare-sp Jul 13th 2008 10:35AM
I think my entire guild is suffering from this at the moment, a combination of the summer, completing most of the game which we can (ie completing kara) and just feeling generally burnt out...Our main tank seems to be on the verge of quitting every week...and myself as main preist healer is basically now fully epicced.
So i've started a few alts, a pally tank and a rogue. I'm just taking a step back, and preparing for WOTLK now..
Bynde Jul 14th 2008 2:36PM
I've been bored lately, but since I've experienced some of the rewards of getting rep up with different factions, it's a little better. So, yes, you have to set some sort of realistic goal for yourself. Otherwise, it's work and I don't pay to work.
I do have to laugh at one of the suggestions..."take a break from raiding".
lol. 2 years I've been playing and I've counted the times I've done Instances on one hand. If I could only raid more (with a responsible non-idiot, non- "everyone is gay or a noob or a nub " group) I wouldn't be nearly as bored.