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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: The curious phenomenon of "reverse burnout"
by Weston Arrowsmith 
May 10th 2011 at 8:00AM
We all hear the stories about people who played World of Warcraft too much and as a result had to stop playing to make the game fun again. I've fallen victim to that myself back in the days of Trial of the Crusader. But lately, I've encountered something that at first makes little sense. The best thing I can call it is "reverse burnout," and it's not from playing too much -- it's from not playing at all.
I admit to being a raider at heart. I love making my gear a shiny shade of purple so that I can join nine or 24 other people as we down the big, bad monsters of WoW together. It was my reason for getting to level 70, and it kept me hooked all throughout Wrath of the Lich King. But since the launch of Cataclysm, my raiding days have just ... stopped. Each guild I've joined on the promise of being able to raid either hasn't raided at all, or they've gone raiding without me. And without raiding, it feels like my motivation to play is gone.
I've gotten all the gear I could get from heroic dungeons and reputation vendors (except bracers, which will never, ever drop), daily quests feel like a chore, and the friends that I have online are off in their own raiding guild that I'm on a waiting list to try out for (they're full on hunters). Pickup raids have proven to be too unreliable in terms of both time and talent as well. It's like one part of such a huge game was the glue that held everything else together for me.
So what do you do when one of your favorite parts of the game becomes off-limits? How do you deal with being bored with WoW -- when you're not even really playing at all?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 7)
DarkWalker May 10th 2011 1:10PM
It really depends on the player.
Players that actually want to take leadership roles are rarer than tanks. I, for example, was a tank, but didn't care about leading 5-mans (I would let anyone who stepped up for the job and proved minimally competent lead), hated leading raids (I would step up if the raid leader was doing a really horrible job, otherwise meh), and would never, ever consider assuming a permanent guild or raid leadership position.
This is often a constant with games. Players that actually find leadership roles fun (proper leadership, not just the thrill of power) are rare, and until Blizzard starts to hire professional raid and guild leaders to organize other players, I wouldn't want to impose leadership on any unwilling player.
(It might be an interesting idea. Hire special GMs to organize and lead guilds and raids, and charge something extra from players that want guaranteed spots on Blizzard-organized raids and guilds. Those special GMs wouldn't even need any special powers, they would just be Blizzard employees dedicated to organizing fun and fair groups. They could also serve as a way for Blizzard to gather more direct feedback on features and tweaks to make guild and raid organization easier and more fun.)
Denise Briner May 10th 2011 10:25AM
I'm echoing the sentiments of many that have responded. I am in the same situation. I thought the cure to the 'ain't got no raid blues' was to level a new toon. But I find I am having to literally make myself login and play.
Parknet May 10th 2011 10:25AM
yep.. i can feel the end on the horizon. I also can't get raids off the ground. It takes nearly an hour to even get a pug baradin hold raid together on the very rare chance alliance wins on my server. since maxing out on gear, i am just flying around doing odd achievements, rep, quests, etc. honestly, the only thing that keeps me logging in is that i have a few close buddies I don't want to abandon. I do have some fun leveling up new toons but it just feels well. .like I said.. the end is on the horizon. sometime.. i won't have a wow acct.. /sigh
FlameFlash May 10th 2011 10:27AM
Alt rolling time.
Puntable May 10th 2011 10:29AM
My guild used to be able to field 40 for Molten Core, but now can rarely find 10 for BOT. We have only managed to kill 1 boss (plus BT). I got so bored that I leveled a tank. Now if I could only play a tank and healer at the same time, we could raid! It seems like raiding is a lot less accessable this xpack. Can't they put in just one easy raid for the casuals?
vetrizwow May 10th 2011 10:31AM
Unfortunately, I cannot say that I'm in the same position. I have been raiding with my guild since Wrath of the Lich King and I am one of four members that have kept our raid alive, despite all obstacles. Recently, we acquired two raiders that are friends in real life. They brought in a couple more real life friends and luckily enough for us, they're all good! Even more luckier for everyone, we didn't really have to replace anyone. They came at a time when we were struggling to find active, serious minded raiders. Needless to say, our raid group and our guild are stronger then ever at the moment. Even with our guild master on a temporary leave of absence!
I'm getting a little sidetracked but what can I say? When I read articles like this from bloggers like yourself struggling to fit in somewhere, I'm amazed how far I've come and how lucky I am to have found my guild. To be one of four members that have resurrected a guild that was once dead and abandoned and turned it the small powerhouse that it is today.
More importantly, I'm reminded of the days that I spent in your position. Abandoned by a guild of real life friends when the Guild Master (and co-worker) decided to give me the boot both in game and in real life over something I had apparently said in game. To this day, I don't remember what I said but it was apparently enough to never talk to me again. I spent what must of been month's hopping guilds, trying to find a place to call home. Looking for my ticket "in". Looking for PuG's in trade. Many, many PuG's. So many PuG's.
The breaking point finally came when I met my girlfriend. She was Alliance, I was Horde. At this time, I had my own guild but my talent... Well, they were a work in progress in my eyes. Lots of potential but like myself, little serious raiding experience. Since all the hardcore raiders were pretty much taken it was my job to improve the talent that I had.
However, she was in a serious raiding guild that had progressed quite nicely. In fact, she had become my secret weapon when I was leading raids. My personal knowledge center because she had already progressed through it all.
Finally, when faction changes became possible and after much consideration for my guildies (who I cared about very much), I transferred leadership and faction changed/server transferred. Best decision I ever made. I raided with her guild for 3 weeks and they server transferred themselves, leaving the new guild abandoned. What I didn't know was that the original GM left the game and there was a huge shakeup with leadership which caused many members to up and quit when a key player was booted from the guild.
After only three weeks, I was back in the same position of finding a guild. A place to call home. Waiting for my ticket back "in". I joined casual guilds that considered themselves raiding guilds. I started my own guild but no one would join. I even joined the 3rd top guild on our server progression wise but I spent my time benched. Their core group was pretty much set in stone.
Then one day my girlfriend logged onto her alt who was still in the abandoned guild and who was on? The original GM. He was looking at a destroyed guild covered in ashes. It was then that he decided to transfer leadership back to himself and pick the guild back up. My girlfriend and I weren't doing much so we came back on our mains and helped him bring the guild back on it's feet. After only a month we were raiding again. After two months we downed the Lich King. It wasn't a big deal to most raiding guilds that had already progressed through Wrath content but it was to us. Not only because our raid consisted of 10 members that were not kingslayers but because it meant we wiped the dust off an abandoned guild and turned it back into a real progression guild. I have been with the guild since.
What did I learn from it all? Well, I learned that it's possible to start again from scratch. I learned that PuG's aren't necessarily a bad thing if you're guildless. We've gained many members from Pugging. Granted, it's rare, but it happens! If you're good and you find yourself replacing a member of a good guild, chances are they'll want to keep you. Keep applying to guilds. We've accepted members below our standards before. Some of them turned out to be amazing players. Hang in there, you'll find something if you have the time and you always play your best.
Remember when you did raid? Remember what your raid group looked for? Try to be that guy.
gunstrak May 10th 2011 11:06AM
"Hang in there, you'll find something if you have the time and you always play your best.
Remember when you did raid? Remember what your raid group looked for? Try to be that guy. "
THIS TOTALLY THIS!!
Each individual's gaming is what you choose to make of it.
Amaxe May 10th 2011 10:51AM
I'm working on leveling alts. I've filled all ten slots on my realm so I have one of each class. The original idea was whichever class I want to play, I can, with the support of a vanity guild storage.
Now unfortunately it's "Is there anything which seems least boring?"
Chucks May 10th 2011 12:19PM
I did that too! 5 Alliance, 5 Horde. Completely agree.
zaababy May 10th 2011 11:02AM
I didn't gear fast enough, and the guild started raiding without me. I lost my spot. They continued to out gear me and it got to the point that I didn't even try. I didn't have a spot saved for me to come in, you can't pug unless you have the achievement to link or a certain gear score. So I put my main on hold and focused instead on leveling my alts. This exact. same. thing. happened in Wrath too. I missed out on Ulduar because once again my guild outgeared me so quickly. It is frustrating to the extreme. I love to raid! I love the excitement of being with 25 other people, making sure I feasts and flasks and bandages and that my gear is completely up to par! I am never late, usually early, I always carry extra stacks of other classes consumables in case they forget because they usually do, always have extra flasks and mana pots! I even carry around repair bots just in case we need one and our engineers come up empty! I research my character, working towards the best gear--gems--enchants--talents--spell rotations! But. Too late. And no pug really cares about all that. They want LEET DEEPS and achievement and a certain gear score. So back I go to leveling my shaman through the dungeon finder. Crossing my fingers that since she is a healer I'll be desperately needed and will get to raid on her. I am grinding netherwing rep (2500 into revered wooot) and when that's done I'll be back to full time leveling.
Interesting to see I'm not the only one left behind. Too bad we all can't get together and raid!
Eirik May 10th 2011 2:26PM
I hate to say this, but your guild was captured by "Progression-only" raiders.
That mentality leads to an "A-team" and "the rest". If the guild leadership isn't willing to commit to either organizing a true "B-team", or swapping people in to their "A-team" on a regular basis, they lose their "alternates" (bench warmers) completely. As you said, the gear disparity means that they CAN'T swap people in any more.
IMO, it's a guild leadership failing. Wrath eventually countered it to some extent by making the tier gear more accessible, making it easier to catch up. We're not there yet with Cata.
Nagi May 10th 2011 11:09AM
During Wrath of the Lich King, I tamed my alt-itis and focused narrowly on only one or two characters through most of the expansion so that I could actually raid for once. Once Cataclysm rolled around, however, time constraints (on top of other things relating to the new guild setup, a lack of decent PuGs, all that early weirdness surrounding healing, etc.) completely killed my ability--and then desire--to raid at all.
As a result, I willingly relapsed into alt-itis in a big, big way. I now have eight toons I'm working on, every class except warrior & DK, each with a separate tradeskill, and I'm actually kinda having a blast (there were several classes, specs, and professions that I either never tried before or haven't tried in at least a couple years that I'm trying out now, for example). I still run five-man content with guildies on my main, but other than that I'm just alt leveling, tradeskill leveling, and going for whatever achievements can be obtained with a maximum of 3-5 people in heroic dungeon gear. If the opportunity to raid comes up, I'll raid, but it's no longer a priority, and doesn't look very likely (being on a roleplay server where actual roleplaying occurs tends to lead to a lack of solid raiding guilds to run with, but I roleplay and I like my server so I have no intention of leaving).
Jovini May 10th 2011 11:12AM
to be honest, im not sure how this happens to people. im on a back water server that historically never gets anywhere (misha), and i dont claim to be hardcore either. we havent cleared any raid fully but we still raid, 3 times a week, no matter what, and we still move forward at a steady pace, even if its a slow pace. we will never be the best on our server, let alone anywhere else, but we have fun. when we start getting burnt out raiding, we take a night off and run BGs. were not real life friends or anything like that, we all just love the game. we dont even have a full 10 person group. we end up pugging at least 1 a night, 2 or 3 of us have a massive collection of alts so no matter what we get, we can make a balanced group somehow. to top it off, most of us only really play 10-15 hours a week.
this is kind of a wild stab in the dark, but i would have to say its the attitude that crept into this game during wrath. i cant even name the attitude, its like people want to be "leet" or not play at all.
Gozzix Goldgear May 10th 2011 11:13AM
I was in a predicament where I couldn't raid, at all. I solved my problem, however, by becoming a roleplayer. It's not as demanding as raiding and nobody tries to bite your head off like in pvp (okay, sometimes they try that). I am usually quite competitive, and roleplaying was completely new to me, so I decided to try be one of the best roleplayers there was. I'm not sure it is even possible to be "the best" at roleplaying, or sure I am even close, but it definitely solved my reverse burnout problem.
Tbah May 10th 2011 11:14AM
I quit wow for some months now. If I cannot raid 2-3 times a week I don't want to play at all. It's just too depressing to see cities clear of the raiders as they head on to their ventures.
Maybe I'll sub back later. Maybe there will be a guild that needs a rogue. Maybe I will gear one of my alts to raid. Maybe that will happen only at the next xpack.
Maybe I'll just save the money.
Jenks May 10th 2011 11:19AM
I cancelled my account last month because of RBG "reverse burnout." In the beginning of cata we were playing many games a night, and now on my server it's hard to get a few games a week.
Gruntpole May 10th 2011 11:26AM
Why not form your own raiding guild. Then you could add members and teach them how to be awesome at raiding.
Castianna May 10th 2011 1:56PM
Def not as easy as it sounds...
goku10655 May 11th 2011 12:40PM
yep, been there and tried that. Some people you just can't teach enough. They all want to be "1 man warriors" lol, cata requires team players and whole group efforts. Where did my "bang head here" sign go anyway?!
jbaum311 May 10th 2011 11:48AM
I'm in the same boat, I want to raid but my guild's raid times don't really work for me. I like the people in the guild though, so I don't want to leave. We may soon by changing raid times though, so I am holding out hope!
Also, I'm leveling a Resto Drood to give healing a shot. I was scared at first, but found, so far, that I can do it (at least on reg's; I'm lvl 84). We'll see what happens when I get him into Heroics, but I will most definitely run it w/ guildies 1st.
Bottom line, try switching up roles. You might be surprised!