Poll: Escapists and World of Warcraft

[Geamo]

It'll be a year next Monday that I last logged out/quit. I played since mid-vanilla to beginning of Wrath. The definition of a casual player, really.

Do I miss it? A little. However, I now look back and wonder at how long I spent on it, and how much I spent around it (like visiting wow.com, wowhead, forums). So I think i'll leave it at that. Might have a quick pop around Cataclysm, but i'm unlikely to rejoin.
Mainly because there's a small group of people I know that have become truly zombiefied by it.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I actually just picked it up again last week, after two years (yeah...67 GB laptop and no money for an external HDD made me sad).

I play off and on, and I have a few characters, though most are in the 20 and below range (and the highest is 46).

Then again...

I vastly prefer City of Heroes, though.

Take out the "vastly" and you do have my opinion.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I played the free trial, but i just found it mind numbingly boring and repetitive

 

[SonicKoala]

Honestly, I have NEVER played WoW - the only contact I've had with that game is a few glances while other people are playing. I am not against the game in anyway, and I'm sure it's extremely fun - the main reason I stay away from it is, knowing myself, if I did start playing WoW, I'd probably REALLY get into it, therefore taking away all my other free time. Being in University and working doesn't allow me that much time to game.

 

[BECarrico]

I have heard so many scary addiction stories from WoW. I do not play because of the money. But I have to give it up to a game with 11 million players (something like that) paying a monthly fee. blizzard math = $15/month * 11,000,000 * 12 months/year

 

[Negative]

I play WoW quite regularly. I enjoy the community, there are alot of fun people if you ignore the 12-year old cybers and PVP asshats. The grind can be a pain, but it's durable and I still manage an active social life.

I also have a rather fast typing speed now.

 

[Agayek]

Been playing WoW since release, raiding since BWL came out. I enjoy it and have made a lot of good friends over the years. It's starting to get a little stale though, it remains to be seen if I'll stick with it into Cataclysm.

 

[Bigsmith]

I play it and still do, been 3 years now. I got 2 lvl 80s, one of which is geard for Ice crown citidel 10man.

 

[Aesir23]

I tried it for a while but I just became really bored. That and I started to wonder what in the world is there left to do once you hit that level cap?

 

[CptPanda29]

I got a Human Paladin to around level 41, got bored out of my skull. Could never find a team, got sick of how long it took to get anywhere and then realized I was playing the same 4 missions over and over.

Might give it another go when Cataclysm comes out using a trial or something, but I'm not expecting to love it.

 

[ExaltedK9]

I chose the first option, because I love it more than the "it's just ok" option. But I odn't have any 80s.

 

[joshthor]

i have played it. i have a few characters, and pop back in every once in a while, its usually fun for about a week and a half then it gets boring.

 

[RN7]

I grinded a Shaman to lv 70, but was put off by 1) atrocious class balancing and 2) being forced to spend hours inside grinding while my social skills slowly decrease

Wait wait, you actually have to train yourself to be social?
Whatever happened to the good old days when I was a lad and when you called a girl stupid she called you a meanie and then 15 years later your married?

The internet, cyberbulling, reduced inhibition of teenagers, kids having sex/doing drugs earlier...shall I go on?

 

[The Madman]

I have one level 80, a Night Elf Druid, and a pair of characters meandering around level 70 right now, a gnome rogue and a human mage.

Been playing since the late beta actually, although it's an on-off relationship considering there are stretches like right now where my account isn't active and I have no real urge to renew anytime soon. I did what I wanted to do, saw what I wanted to see, and for all intents and purposes 'beat it' till come the next expansion pack at which point I've no doubt I'll renew and enjoy the game for another couple months till bored.

Fun game. I really don't get all the hate this game receives.

 

[Rednog]

I played from beta until last September.
I was raided in several guilds and got to see most of the endgame content. I was in Naxx and AQ 40 when vanilla was out. I beat Hyjal and BT before the nerfs and before they let people in without the vials. I got half way through Sunwell before the new talents and nerfs. And I got to Yogg 25 within the first few weeks of Ulduar.
I almost managed to hit 2k arena rating in seasons 2 and 3 but got screwed over by teammates who in 1 season decided that they didn't want to wait for me to get the last few points and grabbed another healer who completely failed. And the other season we got to 1990 but our shadow priest went emo because he got sick of being the bait and decided to go disc and play with a rouge in 2s, leaving us without a suitable replacement.
4 Level 80s (Shaman, Priest, Rogue, Hunter)
Every other class 70+ (also several of the same class at 70 because of rerolling the same class when my guilds moved and I couldn't afford the transfer).
After so many years it really was time to move on. I just got sick of the time and devotion that you have to put into raids. And the fact that guilds break up so easily in wrath. It is a real pain in the arse to find a new guild and be on recruit status for several weeks.
I also got sick of alot of class imbalances. Shamans were (and still are) from what I hear pretty terrible in PvP and their dps is pretty mediocre in PvE.

 

[Olrod]

I played the 14-day free trial and found it quite addictive.

But I decided against buying a subscription because I don't like the thought of paying to play the same game I've bought, every single month.

 

[Apathetic_cynicism]

I stopped playing for awhile, but i started up again. Only because my...*sniff*...360 passed on from this world...WHY DO THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!?!?

 

[S-Unleashed]

I'd like to play but can't pay.

 

[Blogg10]

It's difficult to say. I've been playing it for three years, on and off. Sometimes I'll play it with a crusader-like fervour, frantically doing daily quests and levelling for seven-hour stints in a day every day for two weeks until people are convinced I'm addicted.
Then I'll not play it for three months and think "Hmm, the extra ten quid a month was nice." I like to think I'm one of those people who think the game is genuinely great and can honestly say they aren't addicted. And the grind thing is rubbish, by the way- MMORPG's are defined by their grind. It's the only way to have a hierarchy- better players are the ones who have spent time getting their characters better. It's like real life really- there's no fast track to success IRL. even if you're a genius you'll likely end up working as a clerk for most of your life if you don't put the heel in and GRIND till you hit your goal of six-bedroom detached house with three cars in the garage, a beautiful sexy wife who dotes on you and two adorable children.

... What?