Breakfast Topic: The things that keep us playing WoW

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A few days ago, I told a couple of friends who were ex-gamers that after my softball game, I couldn't go grab something to eat because I needed to get home and play WoW. After all, it was our weekly raid night. One friend replied, "Why bother? Why even play WoW? I use to play but then gave up; it all became about the numbers." The other just stood there nodding his head in agreement.

This got me thinking, why do I play WoW? After all, it's not like I don't have a lot of other things to do to occupy my time. I have books to write, sports to play and a family and friends to hang out with. My life was perfectly fine without WoW, and I am pretty certain life would be fine if the Blizzard servers crashed forever (God forbid), thus making WoW impossible to play. So why do I play?

First off, I play for the camaraderie. To me, our guild is like a group of friends that I have never really met but still really like. I enjoy getting to interact and work toward a common goal with a bunch of people from all over this country (and even Canada) whom I wouldn't normally get to meet. Second, I started playing Dungeons and Dragons over three decades ago, well before most of my guildies were born. D&D is in my blood. WoW comes very close to replicating the D&D experience for me. Third, it is about the numbers. I enjoy pushing myself to concentrate so I can churn out the best DPS I can. I still feel a sense of accomplishment when we down a new boss and I top the DPS charts.

That's why I play. Why do you play?

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