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Behind the Curtain: The guilt of an MMO gamer
I haven't been playing World of Warcraft as much as I should have this week, and I feel bad about it. Last week, my Warrior hit the Defence cap, I got my first 25 Emblems of Heroism, and I tanked Archavon on 10-man. This week though, I've hardly even logged on. I have instead spent most of the week playing Mario Kart Wii, honing my skills so that I can crush my 7-year old nephew utterly when next we meet. There are lessons we all need to learn early in life. Chief among them being never, ever, horse your Uncle Craig at Mario Kart. He'll thank me for it in time. I also had some problems with my internet connection, thanks to the UK's seeming inability to cope with heavy snow. Then again, it is January, so I can see why we were taken by surprise. That was sarcasm, by the way. I have felt guilty about my lack of WoW time though. I've been neglecting my characters in favour of other games, and I feel bad about it. I've felt this way before, on the occasion that I've taken a break from WoW, for example, to spend some time with EVE Online or Star Wars Galaxies.
MMOGology: There's no place like Azeroth
I was running my daily quests for the Shattered Sun Offensive this week when one of the officers from our guild popped online. He said he was back from a session with Age of Conan and was having a blast with it. I asked him if he liked the combat mechanics – he did. I asked if he liked the quest system – he did. And he was, of course, impressed with the shiny new graphics and level of detail in the game. So naturally, my next question was whether he planned to give up World of Warcraft permanently to make Conan his new home. His answer? "Nope." I guess his response shouldn't have surprised me, even given his enthusiastic praise of Age of Conan. It seems like World of Warcraft operates as many gamers' home base. They might leave for a while to try out a new MMOG when they inevitably burn out on WoW; but most eventually gravitate back. The return might be in anticipation of an expansion, it might be that the gamer misses his guildies, or maybe it's the old, comfortable game mechanics. Whatever the reason, many of us can't seem to escape the black hole that is WoW; and maybe that's partly because we don't want to escape.I know that there are definite exceptions to this trend; those gamers who cancel their WoW accounts and never look back. But for many of the gamers I know personally, something always pulls them back to WoW and hooks them again, usually for several months at a time. Even when they're playing another MMOG they often keep their WoW accounts active to check in on friends, run a random instance, or do a little PvP. Which makes me wonder, are multiple MMOG subscriptions becoming more common?
