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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Will you quit with a bang or fade away?
by Stephen Cheatum 
Aug 7th 2011 at 8:00AM
I always thought I'd go out with a bang, one last hurrah. Perhaps a ride through the Horde capital cities with 39 of my closest Alliance pals, leaving a path of devastation as we destroy anyone who dared get in our way. Maybe I'd take my druid on one last flight from Booty Bay to Light's Hope Chapel, or teleport to the Moonglade and fly down to Un'Goro crater. I'd take in the disjointed, chaotic beauty that is Azeroth one last time.
How did I hang it up? After logging on for a few weeks only for jewelcrafting dailies before leaving for work, I was late one day and skipped my dailies. I never bothered to log back on. After a week, I finally realized I'd stopped playing, went to the forums, and informed my guild leader that I would be removing myself as an officer due to lack of playtime. I hadn't fully decided to quit yet, and then I was cleaning up hard drive space. Five years of patches and expansions had inflated my World of Warcraft folder to almost 35GB -- and with one quick keystroke (and a subsequent confirmation), it was gone.
I was always under the impression that I'd have to actively try to quit, agonizing over the thought of never logging on again. I was wrong. Quitting was just the way life worked out. It wasn't something I planned, it wasn't something I was hoping for, and it's just the way it worked out. And it was one of the easiest things I've ever done.
Would you want to go out with a bang or out with a fizzle? Is there one thing you absolutely must do before you hang it up?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 6)
Mikhaela Aug 8th 2011 12:01PM
When Cataclysm came out I had real fun but never got really into raiding (except TB) After leveling my 3rd character to level 85 and having some stuck in Northrend my friends and family told me I sat to much in front of the computer. I didn't even raid and the thought of raiding scared me since everyone talked about how hard Cataclysm was. How much time would I spend in front of the computer if i got MORE addicted?
I said farewell to my guild, left and deleted the game from my computer the same day.
But I wasn't ready to leave the game yet.
Some weeks later I felt the urge to play again, paid for two more months and started raiding. It was sooo fun in the beginning to come back but it only took some weeks before everything just faded out. Some days I didn't bother logging on. I just logged on sometimes for my dailies and raidnights. I had some characters I just pvp'd with to try to get some variation into the game.
But the fun-feeling was gone. It was the day when I was going to do some dailies, check AH and my mail when I noticed my gametime had expired.
I thought about it and it was fine. I had tried to come back to a game I left just to get out of an addiciton and didn't let myself think it was over before I realised it just wasn't that fun anymore.
I had mostly fun playing WoW, I don't regret doing it and I met some wonderful people I still talk with today :)
Caz Aug 8th 2011 12:00PM
I cancelled my subscription back in early March when I first lost my Exalted title (which I since got back). I was slowly buring out anyway - Cataclysm disappointed me, the grinds seemed too long, and there just weren't enough fun things to do on the side to keep my attention. For example, I hate the whole dungeon system for building rep - I much prefer the old-style grinds like the Kurenai or Thorium Brotherhood. I'd log on, become immediately bored and log off.
I actually quit playing cold-turkey on March 25th when I found out the house I lived in was going up for sale and I'd have to move. There were boxes to pack and I needed to focus on finding a new house. I'm not a procrastinator, so I started packing, looking for a new house and moved completely by May 15th.
Around early July...the garden was dug and planted. Everything was unpacked. Pictures were on the walls. The rooms I wanted to paint were painted. It looked like I'd lived in this new house for years.
I suddenly found myself feeling bored after work, looking for things to do...and so I cautiously ventured back into Azeroth. And you know - I'm enjoying the game more than ever. I've sworn off of raids for the time being; I'm leveling a mage and druid *slowly* and enjoying new professions; my main is at the Molten Front from time to time working his way through to the end; I've still never ran a single heroic dungeon since Cataclysm launched.
Sometimes you've got to stop and take a break so you can remember why you loved playing in the first place.
Fierna Aug 8th 2011 2:07PM
This makes me so sad. I've been fading out myself, mainly because the friends I raided with during Wrath never quite came together again and I've been soloing Cataclysm. I miss the late nights talking with friends in vent.
jrcreation Aug 8th 2011 7:22PM
As I watch my friends and other guilds fade away, your comments really hit home. I also feel the lost of excitement and purpose of the game.
With WoLK, we had a puropse and challenge. We "must" do everything to defeat the Lich King. Form the time we stepped onto the Northrend soil and until the final confrontation with Arthas, the storyline held us. Every quest, achievement, or skill helped us prepare for the upcoming battle. We even "gritted our teeth" and stepped into the Tournament or braced for the Halls of Reflection, all to obtain better gear and skills. Arthas evoked intense emotion because he was one of us that had turned and betrayed us. From the first trailer on WoLK, we were tantalized with the ultimate victory over the Lich King.
And now comes Cata with questlines that only open new areas and instances, dailies that once done go nowhere, and Ragnaros as the final boss with no emotional attached other than he is a "End Boss" just like Cho'gall and Nefarian, only harder. Cata is splintered with everything going off in different directions with no continuity.
Will the final confrontation with Deathwing offer the excitement and challenge of WoLK or will too many players and guilds just fade away due to the lackluster patches? Only time will tell.