Breakfast Topic: When a character just doesn't click
by Ty Briggs 
Jul 22nd 2010 at 8:00AM
Personally, I'm sick of playing my warlock. She's geared to the teeth and, though I'm not the best warlock in the world by any means, she's been known to put up some very competitive numbers. However, it's been a long and frustrating road with her. After switching from my DK to my 'lock at the end of Ulduar for guild needs, it's been a constant struggle for me trying to figure out why she wasn't quite reaching the damage potential I was expecting. I tried respeccing, regemming, changing tactics and techniques, researching and talking to other warlocks, but I never quite hit that mark I was looking for. Even when I thought things we're finally starting to come together and I was starting to give the arcane mages a run for their money, a new warlock joined the guild who regularly humiliates me on the meters. For some reason, I just never found my stride on that character.
Now the guild's need for ranged DPS is long past and I'm looking for any excuse I can find to get away from something that has felt like nine months of trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Just try convincing your raid leader to let you bring your undergeared melee DPSer or healer to 25-man Lich King instead of your 6K GS warlock, though. I'm currently grinding through Outland like crazy in a hope to fill that holy-paladin-shaped hole we currently have in 10-mans before we recruit one. It's a long 19 levels, though, and I probably have two weeks at best to hit level cap and get geared out through heroics. With a full-time job and two kids, that's a fairly tight deadline.
Have you ever been in this position, stuck playing a character/class that you don't enjoy or aren't good at? Was it frustration that pushed you to another role, or boredom and a desire for something new and interesting? How did you get out of it ... or did you?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Paul S Jul 22nd 2010 8:06AM
My main (Resto/Bal Druid) had done okay I guess. Naxx, Ulduar and then ToC but after that point work got in the way I couldn't meet the schedule of our guild for ICC so I sort of got left behind. Took a short break and now back with a levelling priest and an 80 Pally who I mostly PVP with. Logged back into the druid maybe twice and just generally not that interested given all the time i originally invested in it
Tomatketchup Jul 22nd 2010 8:09AM
I'm in the same situation, it was my first character. A rogue. I love that lil' gnome, his attitude, his looks etc. But his DPS? Awful. I also get humiliated by other rogues. They put up 2000 more DPS than me - in ToC25 gear. I got a mix between ICC10/ICC25 gear. I've played this rogue for soon 4 years. I have just never really gotten that DPS I've wanted. So I got tired of him, and decided to just give up on him. I couldn't stand how much every other rogue could do, and how much they'd complain how bad I was.
At the moment I'm leveling my beloved mage. He does as much DPS at level 53 as my level 66 DK frost DPS does. Auch.
Cassie Jul 22nd 2010 10:54AM
Yeah, I had that same problem with my rogue. Warrior, too. For some reason I just can't seem to get into melee classes, except my DK. She's the only one I actually like.
bldavis59 Jul 22nd 2010 8:14AM
i get bored with my toons all the time, in fact that is why i just spent the last 4 hrs getting my warrior to 80 (my 4th).
i actually havent played my warlock in about a week now.
when i get frustrated or bored witgh a toon, i just switch toons. i have one of each class on my main server (US-Drenden-A) as well as on my horde server (US-Teranis)
if i really get bored or pissed i switch classes AND factions lol!
Erzfiend Jul 22nd 2010 8:13AM
Personally, I find that kind of dumb. I wouldn't let anyone dictate how I should play this game, or tell me I need to be a different class for guild needs or whatever. It's my 15 bucks, I'll play however I please.
That being said, if I don't find a class or character fun, I won't play it. That doesn't mean I'll abandon it forever, I just won't touch it for a while and may return later to try it out again to see if I feel any different.
EaterOfBirds Jul 22nd 2010 8:16AM
this. its a game afterall ^ ^ i can see where the guys coming from though, sometimes you have to do what it takes to raid in a decent guild. luckily i dont raid, so if the character isnt fun, ill ditch it for a while.
Paul S Jul 22nd 2010 8:17AM
That's my general intention with the 'abandoned' Druid. I'll return to him once Cataclysm hits. For now the PVP pally is far more interesting
Shadowpriest Jul 22nd 2010 10:42AM
Agree with Erz. The game is actually supposed to be fun, if i'm not having fun I park the character I am currently playing and move to another one.
Moeru Jul 22nd 2010 10:54AM
I'm a guild leader, raid leader and main tank. I'd never force anyone to do what they don't want to do, even if I know we need it for our team. It's just not right. We might lose some people due to it, but I gain trust from people who do what they want to do more than from people who are forced to do what they don't.
Jiffah Jul 22nd 2010 4:00PM
I agree with it being just a game, but I need to say that for some people (like me) the most fun in that game comes from being part of a team and being a valuable and reliable asset to that team is the ultimate goal in itself. Many people have no problem playing multiple characters depending on what their raid needs.
If not being able to support your team like you'd want to is making your rogue not fun to play and you're having fun bringing another up to switch things a bit, I'd say go with it. You'll either a) find a new joy in the game, be motivated to progress and not as ashamed at failure (happens to everyone) or b) come back on the rogue later with a fresh perspective ad a new philosophy.
my two cents.
Claire Jul 22nd 2010 4:39PM
@Jiffah, completely agreed. Some people enjoy making personal sacrifices for team goals. They're not playing the game wrong -- just differently.
Crimson Jul 23rd 2010 1:18AM
As an altoholic, I find it hard to stick to one character for extended periods of time, I get bored and feel the need to switch and play something else, so not so long ago i hit the level cap on my last alt on a horde server. With 10 80s I can choose who I want to play and which class I feel like playing every evening. Of course this comes with downsides, but since I cannot raid because of my work schedule, I can do heroics with friends on a different toon every night. It keeps the game fresh and keeps me from burning out. That being said, I do have my very first 80 who also happens to be my favorite alt, and I guess I could say my main. My enhance shammy has the highest gear score out of all of the other alts and he is my main. Also he is the only one who has epic flying xD
As far as guilds go, I think the guilds can always recruit a class that they are missing, but considering blizzard's policy "bring the player, not the class" you should stick to what you like to play and not what your guild needs.
Sarabande Jul 23rd 2010 9:45AM
If you are paying $15 to do something you don't want to do (and I don't mean as a means to meeting your goal, like doing boring dailies to get gold to get the cool items you want) , something is wrong.
There are a lot of people out there who can and LOVE to play anything - any class, any role, any spec. But not everyone is like that. And most often, you don't do so well when you're doing something you don't want to do, and not having any fun.
I know I give people here grief when trying to give up classes they don't like for Choose My Adventure but that's because the whole point of that, I think is the audience participation - and allowing us to see how they do playing a class they normally would not, not something they know like the back of their hand. Besides, I don't think anyone expect them to excel at it . . . but just give it a shot and let us know of their experiences. Kind of like "walk ten miles (or 80 levels) in someone else's shoes . . ."
Let your guild recruit a person who would love nothing more than to have a demon beside him or her, casting curses, throwing out shadow and fire, and causing all kinds of dark mayhem from afar. And let you play in the style you enjoy. And yes, there are plenty of people who LOVE playing a warlock. Or a mage. Or a Paladin. Or an Elemental Shaman . . .In other words, you are NOT the only one capable of filling a role, whatever that may be.
Using your leisure time to do something you don't enjoy, day after day (or even just on raid days) and trying to be competitive with it is, frankly, kind of silly, and will probably make you NOT want to do it much anymore. Unless you love everything else in your life - your job, household chores, errands, etc., and are willing to treat your hobby like a job, I'd say either find a new guild or talk some logic into them. Maybe you can help recruit a lock that will fit well into your guild culture.
EaterOfBirds Jul 22nd 2010 8:13AM
ive had my druid since vanilla, my first ever character, still only in the level 50's. just cant get really into him. maybe when balance gets cataclysm overhauled ^ ^ luckily i havnt ever been in this kind of position where i was forced to play a certain character.
Andrew Jul 22nd 2010 8:14AM
I moved my hunter to a different server last year as a guild needed ranged dps. After I move I raid once on my hunter with the alt group and we don't make it past Marrowgar. They start talking about how they need a healer so I decide to level a paladin so I have a tank and a healer as needed.
I busted my arse to get him to 80 as fast as I could only to have some childish drama erupt over the GL having to take a leave of absence because she had finally snagged her dream job. People started leaving left and right and the raid group fell apart. I was left on a foreign server with my hunter, lock, bank alt and paladin.
I haven't set foot in ICC since because the server I'm on is full of people that want you to have a high GS and the achievement or you aren't "good" enough. I've been bitter for quite a while now because I'm stranded on this server without any friends and I'm not able to transfer everyone back to my friends server for a few more months. I learned my lesson after that experience.
Gamer am I Jul 22nd 2010 8:14AM
I tried every class in the game before I settled on my druid, so he has never felt like a bad fit, and with him, I can fill any role that's needed of me with a simple re-gearing and re-spec. As such, the only thing that has ever pushed me away from my druid is just boredom with the level-cap content. Doing the same dailies over and over and over and the same heroics over and over and over gets to be quite grating. Heroics didn't get boring until after patch 3.3, when I overdosed on instant (I'm a tank) heroic runs and when they were no longer a challenge, but dailies got old fast. The only thing that kept me doing them was my desire for the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. Once I got that, dailies lost their appeal very quickly, and I was quite happy to be loose from their grasp.
Then I discovered I could make a killing by fishing in the right places and I felt like an idiot.
Dragonrose Jul 22nd 2010 8:45AM
Same for me on my hunter, except that i'm STILL doing Argent Tournament dailies. Can't get those mounts without the tokens, can't get the tokens without the dailies. : (
Bronwyn Jul 22nd 2010 10:51AM
After getting ALL the mounts and ALL the tabards with my main.. I stopped doing AT regularly. I just need to do it, like, 9 more days to get my damned pony. There's not much appeal -_-
Jamie Jul 22nd 2010 8:15AM
As most people know by now I love making paladins, and I also love duoing with my gf.
So once upon a time we rerolled alts to get away from it all - I have moments like this a lot - I rolled a priest thinking "hey, it's just a paladin who wears cloth, has more healing skills, and can't do melee - I could enjoy this, after all they love the light too.", my GF rolled a human paladin and after 10 lvls I just couldn't get into it, I needed to roll Paladin.
In general, I have a hard time getting along with casters, melee is where it's at for me.
Rogues, Warriors, Paladins & Hunters are all tremendous fun, I just leave the casting to my gf.
Lokanaya Jul 22nd 2010 8:08PM
I agree with your thing for non-casters. My first, second, and third mains were all hunters (Even though they were 27, 29, and 55), but I just could never get them to "click" with me. When Wrath came out I decided I had to try one of these fancy "Death Knights" that were all the rage, so I grinded like crazy to get to 55... And once I got there, I found out that, hey, melee classes are much cooler than hunters and that warlock I once tried out!
Now, my main is a druid, since my DK's an 80, and she's much easier to play than those hunters!
However, any total ranged class? I just can't stand it. (I was able to do Druid first 20 levels because of the promise of cat form)