Breakfast Topic: What brings people back to WoW?
by Darren Brown 
May 9th 2011 at 8:00AM
My guild, like most, has seen players quit the game for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is another game stealing their gamer hearts, and equally often it can be a real-world time constraint that is given priority. What interests me is how the majority of these players return eventually. Most of the time, this seems to happen when their real-world issues get resolved or when they discover that other MMO just doesn't love them as much as WoW did. Nearly all of our regular guildmates who have "given up WoW," including selling or deleting accounts, have returned.
I had even "quit" WoW for nearly a year and let my subscription go. Just before I came back, I had been playing Fallout 3 and beat it, completing pretty much everything. When it ended, I wanted a game that I could keep playing, a place where my character could keep growing and the world wouldn't end when I beat some random boss. I instantly remembered WoW, bought Wrath of the Lich King, and have been playing strong ever since.
If you or someone you know has ever made the decision to give up the game and move on -- more than just taking a break -- what has brought you or your friend or guildmate back into the world? Is it a realization that WoW just might be the best MMO on the market today? Is it a recreation of spare time for gaming? Or is it something else even more interesting?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
XeroHedgehog May 9th 2011 8:05AM
I had been playing WoW on and off since the release of Naxxramas. Every time I subscribed, I would never find that group of people that could keep me inspired to play past the late-40s. It wasn't until Cataclysm rolled around and I rolled a worgen hunter on Earthen Ring that I finally met the group of people I finally found a connection with. I'm now proud to say I have a growing group of friends and a level 85 character that's gearing up for his first heroic.
The people you meet may not have a real face, but they're still real company. And you know what they say about the company you keep.
Greg May 9th 2011 11:21AM
/agree. It is all about people.
But my current break will last for one year- or until Blizzard changes its mind on issues I'm deeply with which I'm DEEPLY unsatisfied:
1. Full time tree form option for resto druids
2. Frost tank tree for death knights
3. Another 80 zone besides Vashj'Ir or Hyjal
There are other minor annoyances that lead me to quit. But these three are the real deal-breakers. I was VERY sad to leave my friends in game, but they understood. I'm not going to pay Blizzard any more if I disagree. A year off will help me adjust my attitude toward the company. Until then, I'm not in the right frame of mind to accept these changes to the game I love so much.
Bynde May 9th 2011 1:59PM
I agree with all three of your reasons. I haven't stopped playing yet, but those 3 will be part of the reason when I do. Frankly, I'm getting bored as heck with the game.
BB Crisp May 9th 2011 3:49PM
@Greg
All 3 things that you listed are incredibly specific. Numbers 1 and 2 are incredibly unlikely to ever happen and #3 will never happen. How long do you end up being at level 80 anyway? These extremely specific issues you have with the game are not shared by the general WoW population.
In any case, you will be missed. :(
Murmillo May 9th 2011 8:11AM
For me, it's the lore. Every time I quit and come back it's always because I've heard about some new twist added to the story of the series. The depth is enough to keep me involved, and lately I've been surprised at where Blizzard is taking it.
Samutz May 9th 2011 8:15AM
Expansions.
Marcosius May 9th 2011 10:51AM
Your Bankai.
bandrules2006 May 9th 2011 8:16AM
The first time around of me playing was back in vanilla, and it was a couple of months after bc was released I had to quit suddenly because of breaking up with my ex. Thankfully enough my current bf has friends that do play WoW and it took me about 2 1/2 years to be back playing again.
Jay May 9th 2011 8:16AM
Oh! I just returned yesterday from some abscence, and just after finishing off Oblivion :O. I've made this several times. It's always been real life time constraints that kept me away, except this last time.
I made a similar return when Cata was released just to find out that the changes that was made to my class didn't suit my playing style, so I just got him to 85 and more or less quit again. I got sick of the fact that i didn't find my class as fun anymore.
But this time I'm starting over for real, I started a new toon, the same class as before, but on a server where I don't know anyone. I'm going to take it slow leveling with dungeons. Relearn relearn relearn without the pressure from friends to come help on my main.
Worst case scenario: The class changes doesn't work for me, their not as fun for real, hence I'll quit again.
Best case scenario: I was just plain bad and expected to perform as good with the new system. Now, a humbler man, I hope to fall in love with new improved druid.
Zoisite May 9th 2011 10:54AM
Smells like PallyNerf fever, imo.
At least, that's what happened with my main alt (Main alt...? srsly? Who does that!?) Pally tank. They changed just enough that I struggled for weeks trying to re-learn my abilities with all these missing abilities and longer CDs. Finally got so fed up I didn't touch her for months, though I've finally gotten the hang of playing her again, I still feel like the cooldowns make playing her rather awkward.
blitzcrank1997 May 9th 2011 8:21AM
I stopped for about a year and a half before coming back to play WoW, during the time I was playing Starcraft A LOT, but came back because it stared to get boring and missed the good times I had with my guild.
I started around the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, and came back around the beginning of cataclysm. When I first started I thought it was the greatest thing ever, and pretty much gave up my Xbox.
TheBearMonk May 9th 2011 8:22AM
I've just recently come back from a break myself. I was playing DCUO, which I really liked, but it just doesn't have the same community. It's difficult to find groups as all the servers are basically low population and there doesn't seem to be any real middle ground for people like myself that like raiding, but in a much more relaxed environment.
Anyway...with WoW being as huge as it is, it's always been easier to find groups and pug raids/heroics so that I can get my bite sized fix.
DarkWalker May 9th 2011 11:55AM
Two musings:
- Just before the outage, DCUO was in the process of preparing to a move to "superservers". Precise information was somewhat scarce, but my guess is that they would be moving towards a single server design, akin to CO, STO, RoM, GW, etc. If this was the case, the problems with finding groups should mostly be a thing of the past, as long as DCUO can keep enough players to at least maintain one healthy server.
- WoW gives up most of it's player base advantage by having over 200 separate realms, coupled with two factions; the actual part of the player base available to group with you is to the tune of 0.25% of WoW's US (or Europe) population. To put this into perspective, a single-server, single-faction game with 10K players would have close to the same kind of player availability to form groups as WoW.
Queues, of course, are another matter due to being cross-realm.
As a matter of fact, I actually find it easier to find groups in a medium population LotRO server than I ever found in a high population WoW realm.
Sinthar May 9th 2011 11:03AM
TO continue your comments about server types
You mention STO as a single 'superserver' model (quite correctly ofc) however this introduced HUGE problems for a worldwide mmo. I did indeed play STO (being a long term ST fan), and stuck it out until I had 2 federation and one Klingon max lvl toon.
But it was dire. The so called 'rubberband' effect killed any sort of enjoyment for me. Imagine - there I was, I cruised over a complete sector, to land on a planet I had a quest on. After 5 mins waiting for me to beam down, the game finally decided to catch up with me. I was moved at a stately pace BACKWARDS accross the whole sector. Yep I ended up after 15mins of play EXACTLY where I started from when I left the earth base. As the only european playing in my fleet, i then asked around. Finally I found another european player. To find he also had the same problems.
If I find a MMO with a 'superserver' rather than locally based servers - I for one will NOT bother with it at all.
(As an aside I felt that STO was NOT upto scratch even without the lag effects - the graphics were cheesy - and the model one where you had to pay real money for in game benefits (although most were just graphical))
Finally on topic - I am currently on a break - possibly perminent - depending on rl issues etc. Suprisingly enough, I too have played Fallout 3 (with nearly all achievements done - curse those 'get to lvl 20 as evil/balance/good' ones), I then did Oblivion (plus expansions), and im even resurrecting my Diablo 2+LOD, and warcraft3+ Frozen Throne on an old PC my work threw out and I repaired n reinstalled XP on.
What will bring me back to WOW? - Only the people (Kit, Shen, Erik n Kattie particularly - many others also). The game is to be honest, a little tired, in spite of many shakeups (or more probably Im tired of the style of the game), but the people can be gold!
DarkWalker May 9th 2011 1:14PM
@Sinthar:
What you described is more a result from bad decisions and incompetency in implementing the game, together with network issues, than a direct result of the single shard design.
Single world/shard/realm/whatever games don't need to have all servers in the same physical location. Take GW, for example; they have a single world, with different "districts" (instances of the shared world) the character can be, and servers spread out around the world, in different continents even.
Even WoW is dabbling with this kind of single shard concept. The cross-realm queue (and, more so, the cross-battlegroup queue) is an example of bridging the gap across different realms and putting the players together, which is a core capability of any instanced single-shard design. And, while I've heard some players complaining about expecting worse play experiences after cross-battlegroup queues, I didn't experience any problem, nor have I seen any believable proof of said quality degradation.
Craig May 9th 2011 8:38AM
I played pretty heavy until my first daughter was born then backed down a lot. After my wife just had enough I quit for a while. I came back about 6 months later because I was given the a-ok from the boss...played for a while quit again...we had our second daughter. Was out for 4 months or so came back briefly left again. 4.0 and all the class/race/zone changes brought me back for about 3 months then I started on a whole new server and level 10 toons all at once through nearly the same content. I recently returned after another 3 month hiatus. What ends up bringing me back is a lack of anything on television and my wife being on call every weekend at the hospital.
When the kids are in bed and it's just me; it's pretty boring around the house...that said, I burned myself out last time so I'm hoping to do that again...the burn out actually helps me stay away...I love the game but since I started back up last Friday...it's like I can't stop thinking/playing it...despite all my best attempts at self-control it seriously just takes me over...so maybe a better question is how do you keep yourself away rather than what brings you back.
Ryan May 9th 2011 9:49AM
I can relate to your plight. I've decided to step away from the game for awhile after missing an assignment deadline, but all the while still levelling a char.
It's pretty dam hard particularly when you do actually get some real "free" time. Thus far I've managed to distract myself with the Warcraft III level editor. Finishing off one of the multitudes of incomplete maps I started.
Find yourself a distraction that you can easily put down.
exogenesis. May 9th 2011 8:27AM
I'm a very shy and introversial person, and as such, I don't really have what you would call 'friends'. I prefer it that way, since I have bad experiences with friends, but sometimes, I like to have people with similar interests to talk to.
WoW, therefore, has become the place where I have friendships. I've had breaks from the game before, but I always come back because I miss the people that I play with.
Szass May 9th 2011 9:11AM
Talk to a therapist or a religious leader you trust. Seriously.
Real world interactions and people are much better than a video game.
I feel for you.
MattKrotzer May 9th 2011 9:27AM
This is not entirely unusual. I've found that several of my in-game friends suffer from social anxiety disorders as well as one who deals with Asperger's Syndrome, which can make it challenging for them to interact with people face-to-face. However, WoW provides them a safer way to interact, be creative, and have fun in a way they aren't comfortable or capable of doing outside of the game.