Musings – End Game

It’s been about a month since I’ve done a blog entry, and although I’ve been occupied with this and that, I certainly haven’t been that busy. If I had something I really wanted to talk about in that time, I could have found the minutes to jot down my thoughts on the subject, I’m sure. Yet, despite the fact that there’s been plenty of material – a patch, a hotfix, the current raiding scene, and so on – from which I could have easily drawn motivation, I haven’t felt the slightest impulse to tackle any of it.

It hasn’t been a matter of laziness so much as utter disinterest.

As of late, the game has just been terribly bland for me. It’s not that the current content is any better or worse than previous tiers (it has its upsides and it has its downsides), nor that this expansion in general has been any more or less than what was promised or expected. It’s just that, well… it’s precisely that, actually! It’s that the current content and the expansion as a whole haven’t been notably changed from the past. It’s the same formula Blizzard has used for the last six years, and although the formula may be brilliant, and although they may regularly stumble upon improvements to it, it’s still what it’s always been when you come down to it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, in some ways, the game is better than ever. Classes are more balanced (although certainly not close to completely so). Rotations are more dynamic (although still rather simple at the core). Raiding is more open (although have fun if you’re too good for normals but not good enough for hards, especially on 10 man). Fixes are faster (although most could still be avoided in beta/PTR, as always). So on and so forth.

By almost any objective measurement, the game has never been stronger. And, even as I write this, I agree wholeheartedly: The game as a whole is at the best it has ever been over its six year lifespan.

And therein lies the issue; as a whole.

If there’s one aspect of the game Blizzard has failed to improve upon in those six years, it’s end game. Don’t get me wrong, as I already said, the raiding is fine. The PvP is, I assume, equally acceptable. But outside those two? What do you have? What do you have that isn’t utterly boring and repetitive, not to mention relatively pointless after a time? What do you do when your guild isn’t raiding? Let me rephrase that: what do you do when your guild isn’t raiding that you actually enjoy?

Dailies? Fun and productive for a time, perhaps, but they grow old quick, and you’ll quickly be rid of the need for their rep/gold/tokens/whatever.

Professions? Once you get to 525, little to do with them aside from make money, and although some enjoy the gold game, I can’t say I do. Professions have probably changed less than any other part of WoW; simply different names to the items/nodes/whatever.

Alts? Enjoyability varies from person to person, but even this process is super fast these days.

Walking around in Stormwind or Ogrimmar? Let’s be honest; for most raiders, this is probably what you spend most of your time outside of instances doing!

Blizzard has failed to provide any meaningful (and, by that, meaning fun) content outside of raiding/arena that you can do more than once and that isn’t the same thing each time you do it. As long as the raiding/arena are good, it’s something most will overlook, but one notices it and tires of it all after a time.

The game is now boring for me because there’s nothing to do. Raid or PvP. Woo hoo.

At any rate, I’ve rambled much more than intended. No, this isn’t an “I’m quitting” post. Most certainly not! I’ll still be playing the game, although all there’s nothing outside of raiding, and even that, I only partake in for the social aspects these days. This is simply my explanation for my lack of postings here and slower-than-usual updates to the EJ threads, and why that trend is likely to continue.

That said, I will try to be better than I have been this patch month or so, though. But posts will be less common than they used to be, and you may notice me being a bit less enthused about it all.

On a couple other notes, which I don’t currently have the time to give their own entry on:

• Yeah, Unholy got hit again. It should still be slightly ahead of Frost in actual play, although on paper, it might be just about equal. It’s performance relative to other classes is what’s really changed, but there’s nothing one can do about that, and it’s not like the spec is the bottom of the barrel, at any rate.
• I try not to jump into the EJ threads too often, as I prefer people to figure stuff out for themselves (and as it’s not an “Ask Consider” thread anyways), but try to stay intelligent with the discussions! For your sake as well as mine. Many lackluster posts of late. Bringing up an idea (“get as much hit as possible, yeah!”) is all well and good, and we all know that some of the oddest ideas (Obliterate Unholy? Reapingless? Epidemicless?) have turned out to be the class’s most optimal playstyles. But there’s right ways and wrong ways to go about theories which differ from the accepted norm, and anecdotal evidence (“I seem to have done more dps doing this” or “I was sixth on recount and now I’m one!”) aren’t the way to go. Math. Numbers. Logic. They are your friends. Use them!
• For those who notice my twitter and have asked: yes, I will be playing Rift. Not 100% sure on the calling yet. I might write up a review of the game during the lull between the open beta and headstart (meaning sometime between tomorrow and Thursday), if there’s interest, be it from others or simply from myself. Many familiar with the game should understand after raiding this post why I’m so attracted to it and find it such a breath of fresh air. Although I don’t expect it to last, say, six years for me as WoW has, as long as I enjoy it for a few months, why not? And, without delving too deeply into the subject: yes, it takes a lot from WoW, and WoW has a lot of good to be taken. And, yes, WoW is probably the better game overall. WoW, however, is also six years old, and thus whatever better aspects it may have one who has been at it from the start will have long grown tired of.

Anyways, I bid you all a good evening!