Patch 5.4 patch notes
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The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Do you play other games besides WoW?
by Brandon Cox 
Mar 7th 2011 at 8:00AM
2011 looks to be a great year for gamers. The return of Duke Nukem. Portal 2. BioWare's trifecta of Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3 and The Old Republic. A new Final Fantasy. A new Legend of Zelda (and a remake of the greatest game ever made, Ocarina of Time -- flame on, but you know it's true). The return of Kid Icarus. The already-released Dead Space 2. There is no shortage of great stuff to play. And all the while, sitting smugly on my desktop and the desktop of 12 million others worldwide, is that little golden "W."
When the Steam holiday sales rolled around, I found myself drowning in a sea of backlogged games. The past five years that I've played WoW, I have seen very little of games outside of it. So when I should get sucked into Mass Effect, I realized there was a massive (no pun intended) collection of great games out there I had missed! I must play them all. The challenge then was playing these other games and still playing WoW -- a balancing act I have yet to master.
With the smorgasbord of excellence awaiting gamers in 2011, how will you find yourself sneaking time outside of Azeroth? Will you succumb to the deluge of games and break away from Azeroth entirely for a time, or will you find ways to incorporate WoW and other games into your gaming schedule?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 9)
nataltink Mar 7th 2011 9:10AM
I was a big Xbox, PC and DS gamer when I was a student. I started playing WoW to fill a recession-fuelled, post-uni, jobless depression for six months and when I got a full-time job and started freelance as well, I found myself having to choose a game as I don't have time enough to meaningfully play a variety. I chose WoW.
I wonder if anyone else has found themselves with this kind of ultimatum?
polydorr Mar 7th 2011 10:35AM
I too was unemployed for >6 months this year. I applied for jobs and interviewed for a few hours each day, ran errands, and had probably 7-8 hours of free time a day where I did several things, but oftentimes played video games because they were cheap entertainment. I totally understand where you're coming from.
The crash back down to reality was hard.
nataltink Mar 7th 2011 10:51AM
Apart from the limitation of game-time, I've actually really enjoyed working. I'm lucky enough to be in the field that I studied in, and I'm someone who likes working and being productive. I think that's why WoW was so appealing to me in my months of joblessness - I could get my teeth in to it and feel like it was going somewhere.
However a little more free time to shoo the spiders out of my Xbox would be nice!
shaun.michael.martin Mar 7th 2011 9:15AM
I plan on playing Dragon Age 2 and MLB 2K11 when they both come out tomorrow. I also picked up the Warcraft Battle Chest for $20 and have been thoroughly enjoying the campaign. I never got a chance to play WC3 before playing WOW and watching the events that predated WOW is very enjoyable.
ScorchHellfire Mar 7th 2011 9:15AM
I currently play Black and White 2, Fable: TLC, Sims 3, Unreal Tournament (2k4 and 3), Magicka, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Starcraft 2 and of course WoW... I'm looking to start playing through the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series soon as well as Halo if they ever release the third one to pc...
GrumblyStuff Mar 7th 2011 9:19AM
I stopped playing WoW a while ago because I was spending too much time playing it.
...he says while on a WoW website after perusing the MMO-Champ forums in between Gemcraft levels in a marathon that started Sunday afternoon.
I'm not sure I'm any more productive now than I was.
GrumblyStuff Mar 7th 2011 9:29AM
Okay, that doesn't really answer the question except with the offhanded mention of Gemcraft. Yes, I do play other games. Mostly it's the Comment/Reply game here.
Oooh, three stars! /flex
Well, sometimes but I try.
Twowolves Mar 7th 2011 9:22AM
Loving Fallout: New Vegas
Still working on Starcraft II
Surprised myself by loving Rift
Rocking small scale with Dragonquest IX
Josh Mar 7th 2011 9:24AM
I used to not play any other games but WoW back from BC - WoTLK. But with cata, I don't enjoy WoW like I used to. So I find myself playing Champions Online, and even going back and playing EverQuest 2 again.
shomechely Mar 7th 2011 9:27AM
Angry Birds - curse you smirking piggies! Curse you!
LynMars Mar 7th 2011 9:30AM
I've taken WoW breaks for the Kingdom Hearts series, and now Bioware's snagged me with the Dragon Age games (tomorrow is DA2!), and I finally broke down and got Mass Effect 1 & 2 as well. One of my guildies is a founder of the small company Carpe Fulgar, which translated Recettear and is working on a new project, so I get their games of course. A friend recently gifted me with Portal; puzzle games and FPS-style isn't my thing, but I'll give it a whirl anyway.
I haven't played a lot of console games outside of KH stuff (and some Lego Star Wars for sillies) for several years now. I have a difficult time playing single player games, as gaming's always been a fairly social activity for me; in barracks first and then with roommates later. When living alone, WoW was helpful to giving me people to talk to as I gamed, and a lot of my single-players fell to the wayside. I have roommates again, though, so it's not so bad and when I burnout on WoW, I can play something else like DA or ME and have folks to talk to at the same time.
The actual big block to my game time right now, though, is graduate school. Oh research papers!
Bologa Mar 7th 2011 9:33AM
I'm playing World of tanks to cover my need for speed, not as a substitute to wow, but a supplement
Sergel Mar 7th 2011 9:43AM
I couldn't live just playing WoW. I gave a shot to other mmos now and then, and there are console games I like. I don't play many games at all tho, mainly RPG ones. I have Magicka from Steam, and i'm waiting for Skyrim and FFXIII-2
DarkWalker Mar 7th 2011 9:42AM
Lots of non-MMO PC games (and a few DS ones) - I have amassed a hefty library of PC games, I simply love some of the old ones, and a few of the sales on Steam and other digital distribution services are simply too good. The DS games don't compete with MMOs or other PC games, I play them when on the move or, occasionally, if I don't have enough time to fire up a PC game but can squeeze a minute or two of DS play (love how it suspends games to continue later). The PC games are what I turn to if I ever feel like I might be burning out in the MMO I'm playing - having this happen to me twice already in my 5 years of WoW, I can notice burn out creeping on me before it really hits and I need to completely leave the game.
Quite a few MMOs - I keep accounts on any free MMO I can stand, occasionally participate in betas, actively use trials to scout other paid MMOs I might be interested in, and have bought GW due to it not having a subscription (plus, the way that game handles server transfers, respeccing, and instant travel - i,e, all of them readily available for free in all senses - does a lot to draw me to that game; I've never had the bad experience of logging and finding me almost alone on the server, even during the quieter hours of the week, something I can't say about WoW).
Even for games that require a subscription and don't have free trials available, I keep tabs on the news about them.
How much I do this depends on how much I'm liking the MMO I'm currently playing and if it can provide me with entertainment every time I want to play. Which is why I'm not playing WoW for the time being - Cataclysm's heroics (and, perhaps more so, the groups the LFD assembled to run them) meant I could not just log in the game and do a quick heroic in a 30 minutes gaming window, the way I could in WotLK, killing most, if not all, my opportunities of playing outside weekends (since I quickly became bored with about any other activity WoW offers that can be done in a 30 minutes gaming span), thus drastically reducing WoW's value for me.
Which is why the time I would have spent playing WoW, instead, was spent looking at other MMOs, and about two months ago I let my WoW subscription lapse. I'm still looking at WoW to see if what drove me off is changed/fixed, but unless either Heroics get back to be doable in a 30 minutes gaming window through LFD with a LFD-assembled group - which much include the queue time plus the time to run the heroic - or Blizzard adds some other kind of challenging content that can be done in less than 30 minutes and helps players get geared for raids (emphasis on "challenging", current dailies are a snooze), I won't return.
Chetti Mar 7th 2011 9:46AM
WoW is the only game I play, and even after almost 3 years it's still surprising that I play. I was never really good at video games of any kind. I watched my boyfriend play final fantasy, and other console games, but never really understood them. About the only ones I could make work were the kiddie games (Spyro the dragon and the Mario games). But another friend of mine convinced me to download the trial, and I've been hooked ever since.
I keep thinking about trying other games, I've looked online and thought about grabbing free trials, but there is so much I haven't done in WoW.. probably so much I'll never get to. That, and with no one (that I know personally) to ask questions ('uhm.. how do I swim?'), it'd be harder to adapt.. I think. That doesn't mean I'll never try another game, but for now.. WoW is it for me.
micol13 Mar 7th 2011 9:50AM
I play a litte with my Psp beside Wow, I love the "lego" series (star wars, indiana jones etc.) and games like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. They're extremely fun XD
Augustulus219 Mar 7th 2011 9:59AM
Actually, I've completely stopped playing WoW. Unless you're a hardcore raider, or you particularly love the frustration of LFG randoms, nail-gunning your cheek to a board seems more fun right about now.
SpaceGoatPriest Mar 7th 2011 10:01AM
I mainly play WoW or Starcraft 2.
When I don't feel like playing those, I play old school games on my 13" TV. :D Lately it's been Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic Adventure, and I am about to start Secret of Mana or FF:Mystic Quest (which I picked up for $3/each :D).
Naryn Mar 7th 2011 10:08AM
I'm finding it difficult to manage gaming and work but I've cut down on my WoW time, now all I do is log on 10 mins before raid time, as I've picked up Rift, when Mass Effect 3 comes out you can bet I won't be playing WoW that week.
But usually I only have enough time to play WoW during the week, I then catch up on different games either at the weekends or during holidays, which I get a lot of as I'm a student.
ThunderMonkey Mar 7th 2011 10:11AM
Sid Meier's Pirates and Civilization IV.