Breakfast Topic: How about some hot, tasty delayed gratification?
by Thomas J. Herring 
Mar 24th 2011 at 8:00AM
I could not wait. Finally, the item for which I had leveled archaeology and visited so many night elf dig sites was about to be mine. I raced to that last digsite as soon as I saw it pop up on the map and gathered the last fragments that were needed to complete Tyrande's Favorite Doll. But then it hit me -- for some odd reason, I held off on solving the artifact.
It was the same reason that I had held off a bit on killing that last mob that was needed to reach level 85 ... the same reason that I paused before completing the last achievement for the meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been ... the same reason that I hesitated before learning that last pet for Mountain o' Mounts ... and the same reason that I stood for a moment just outside the last zone that was required for the Explorer title.
Satisfaction is the death of desire. Fortunately for us, the good folks at Blizzard continue to add new goals, achievements, and rewards for us to pursue.
Do you find yourself holding back at some milestones in the game? If so, what are those milestones and why? Do you think there is more enjoyment to be had in game when practicing a little delayed gratification?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Billlop Mar 24th 2011 8:07AM
Personally i far prefer the "journey" of WoW to the "Destination". I love getting new abilities and spells. Leveling up and questing in unknown areas of Azeroth. When i hit 85 i usually think..."What now?". Sure i could raid/dungeon but.....for what exactly? I wouldnt be leveling up, i would be gaining any new abilities or new areas to quest in.
Its at this time i usually start a new character of a diffrent class.
Billlop Mar 24th 2011 8:07AM
*i would'nt be gaining any new abilities
WTB edit button -_-
Boz Mar 24th 2011 8:55AM
I just know there a metaphor for life in there somewhere.
cloudhopper013 Mar 24th 2011 9:52AM
Wrong again, it's "wouldn't." :P
And I feel the same way, although for some reason, I have immense trouble sticking to the alts I create even if I'm bored of my main class. D:
Spazmoose Mar 24th 2011 10:59AM
Some people like the joy of leveling, seeing the incremental increases in various stats, improvements in gear, new spells, and the like.
For others, its the satisfaction of getting that sought after piece to round out your gear set, or the min/maxing of competitive progression.
Others yet, are what many call "Achievement Whores", who go out of their way to obtain even the most obscure or difficult to obtain achievements, simply because they have something that few others have.
It's not necessarily an elitist mentality in any of these cases, each person gets satisfaction out of the game in different ways.
Personally, I'm what I call a completionist collector, I have about 110 mounts, 112 companion pets, 38 Titles (mostly non-PvP), almost every recipe for Cooking, Tailoring, Enchanting, 52 Exalted reputations (with more incoming). I also collect various gear, and oddities; for instance, I still have my Linken's Boomerang, full T5, T7, T8, T10 gear sets, tons of items that summon minions or change me into something, and various other items that I just can't seem to let go. But, I can't seem to focus on an alt for more than an hour or two, I just start feeling that I am wasting time that I could be doing something on my main.
Everyone gets their satisfaction in different ways, I collect, you create alts, to each their own, I suppose.
Krytture Mar 24th 2011 3:37PM
@Spazmoose
You nailed it on the head. I have tried to do alts, but, I just feel so bad spending time doing something on a toon I don't care as much about. When I am just grinding levels on an alt, I think, I could be grinding X for Y on my main. (Both X & Y are a million differant things)
I don't know what it is, if achievements were account wide, it wouldn't bother me as much, but I'd rather have 1 complete toon then a dozen toons with various things.
But, I am a raider first and foremost, so once I reach end game, and get everything in order I need too for Raiding, I can choose to grind levels, or grind achievements.
RetPallyJil Mar 24th 2011 8:07AM
Dunno if it counts, but I haven't set foot in either Plagueland since the Shattering. I'm saving my favorite two zones for last.
Roy Mar 24th 2011 8:10AM
I try to, but mostly it's like this:
"Oh neat, only about 7 mobs remaining for the next level! Better savour the last one and make an announcement before the last one!"
*kills a few, gets distracted and pauses*
*goes back to killing, dings unexpectedly*
"FFFFFFF"
razion Mar 24th 2011 8:31AM
I'm scared of completing my gear sets.
I've hit this milestone before in Wrath, where I got all the gear I could possibly want in PvP and in PvE, and it was horrible. I sat around confused for a long time, with kind of a blank expression. I always figured it was this unreachable goal. It was something I never saw myself doing before. And now that I had finally done it, I realized painfully that I had no idea what I had wanted to do in the first place once I got there.
My cure was achievements. Just grinding out more achievement points helped me pass the time until the next expansion, although by the end of it I quickly realized I was running out of doable achievements. My cure for that was starting over with a new class for the new expansion. And so far, all is well, and I don't foresee myself running into that milestone for quite a while.
It's really scary to hit that area of no progression--it's a dark and confusing place, and I would wish it on no-one.
Neyssa Mar 24th 2011 8:47AM
Yeah I have the same feeling - I am almost fully decked with epic PVP gear (I miss about 3 not expensive items), so in 2-3 weeks I will be fully geared and I will have no more excuse of being the worst holy paladin ever :D
Eridian Mar 24th 2011 9:07AM
Exactly this, I didn't start Cata until about a month ago and at the time, getting to 85 geared up from heroics &c seemed like such a distant goal. Now, without really feeling like I've done much work I've got just about the best non-raiding gear available to me (my guild's not a raiding one, + I have limited time per week for uninterrupted playtime so I can't really get into raiding), as a result I hit this kind of gear soft-cap and lose all focus.
The thing that's different this time is that because of Tol Barad, I'm starting to take my first fledgling steps into PvP. I'd never really enjoyed it before playing as an elemental shaman (which has always been my primary PvE spec), but one afternoon I switched out to resto and actually had a blast healing it, who knew?
So now I'm putting together a (very) rudimentary PvP gearset. This may only be delaying the inevitable however...
Krytture Mar 24th 2011 3:47PM
My friend quit WoW in BC for this reason. He went through and figured out the very best PVP and PVE gear he could possibly get on his Warlock pre-sunwell. And, he got it, all of it. He spent a week in Arena after that, then, mailed me everything and canceled his account.
Said, he never thought he would make it, so when he did, it made him mad that a new tier was going to come out, and he was going to have to do it again, even though he already had exactly what he wanted.
Killing people in arena's was too easy to be any fun. And he hated the idea that he was going to vendor that stuff he was drooling over for so long.
If achievements had been in the game, he would still be playing. He is also a completionist, he claims he had done every quest in all of Azeroth and Outlands. Based on flying over and not finding anymore *!*, and he maxed all Rep up until then.
Now he refuses to play because it consumed so much of his life up until then. And he fears getting back into it and seeing a giant list of thing he could do.
imm110 Mar 24th 2011 8:33AM
For me, it was a few years ago, leveling my first toon... I didn't want to hit 40 (even though that would have meant ground mount!) because I was enjoying Arathi Basin in the 30-39 bracket too much.
GrumblyStuff Mar 24th 2011 8:57AM
Heh, the dirty jokes this topic will spawn. Insert euphemisms here.
..er.
Fjaweru Mar 24th 2011 8:58AM
There are plenty of times I get randomly get an achievement and just think "Ooo! Sweet!"
But with things like getting Loremaster in Wrath (before it was cool), before turning in that last quest I sat back and reflected on the trials of finding quests in Kalimdor, trudging through Blade's Edge... I quivered with excitement when I finally clicked "Complete".
Since it was SUCH a journey, I don't look back at it with longing. I look back with satisfaction. Seeing my title makes me /flex irl.
Eridian Mar 24th 2011 9:10AM
I know what you mean, getting those last few quests for Loremaster of Kalimdor almost felt like the victory lap after a loooong race. I have very fond memories of pushing that last 'complete quest' button.
Brunnstag Mar 24th 2011 8:59AM
I've been a collector of things in games, mounts, pets and achievements! Like all mount collectors there's a few harder to get mounts that everyone's after- The Raven Lord, the Swift White Hawkstrider, the Winterspring Frostsaber... All of which I have very recently acquired. Now I find myself almost disappointed I have these rare mounts! I'd wanted them so long, and I am glad I have them, but at the same time it was such a big orientation of my game time that it feels like I've lost something to look forward too. Now I'm working on getting Loremaster and I feel like once I've finished that,l there's very little BIG achievments or drops to get.
... Except that accursed Deathcharger.... Darn you Baron Rivendare! *Shakefist*
Grome Mar 24th 2011 9:04AM
"Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting, it is not logical but it is often true." -Spock
livingmercy Mar 24th 2011 9:05AM
I don't hold out on anything yet unless I just feel too scared to do something. lol.
I'm too new for that, and I have so much to go!
mord Mar 24th 2011 9:34AM
I've got a worgen lock alt right now that's sitting at 60... and collecting Felheart, AQ20 and AQ40 gear instead of moving on into Hellfire. Even considering turning XP off if I get too close to 61, just so I can finish off some of that stuff at an appropriate level. It's not so much that I'm dreading Outlands (I've got a full stable of 70+'s so it's been long enough I don't remember the pain much anymore) -- I'm just... not ready to leave the old world behind yet. With all the changes from Cataclysm, it seems like MC, AQ and Silithus are the only places left where Vanilla still hides 'mostly' intact, and I'm surprised to find myself wishing there was a little more left.
Not sure if that quite qualifies, since it seems almost more like prolonging gratification in that case than delaying it, but if the traditional goal of hitting level cap is the goal, then I guess it fits.