When things get better
There's no other way to put it - I was not having fun in World of Warcraft the past couple of months.
A big chunk of that was my personal health woes, which are what they are and have nothing to do with the game. Since those have eased up, it's not surprising that I'd enjoy the game more than I was before. But what's come to my attention is how much of that "not having fun" had nothing to do with the game itself, nor my personal situation, but one person. One person in my guild made the game not fun for me. What's really amazing is, I only figured this out once that person wasn't around to ruin my good time.
Daily quests? I've been doing them like gangbusters this week - to the point where, on some days I actually had to go back to Cataclysm content because I ran out of dailies to do. Heroic dungeons? Yup. Scenarios? Double yup. Raids? Been in the thick of 'em, and even increased my performance. Leveling alts? Yes I have. The only thing I haven't done is LFR, and that's because I don't need anything from it. I even hit up Sha of Anger, and I haven't looked at that guy in 2013.
Some of this is content that, had you asked me on February 1st, I would have told you I hated doing. Dailies were the scourge of my being, and I was only willing to level my alts for work, not play. I did a post about player burnout this week, and tonight I realized that sometimes someone else's burnout can make you think you're burned out. Now I'm fully invested again, for the first time in a long time. Everything's fun again.
What does this mean? Well, for starters, it means that I should have realized it a lot sooner. Furthermore, I should have done something about it. Social games like MMO's are in large part directly affected by the people you play with, and something as simple as one person who is always negative and disruptive can really sour things for everyone he or she comes in contact with. I wish I had realized and said something - perhaps the person in question didn't even realize what was happening to others because of what those actions were. Furthermore, I now know to watch my own behavior.
If I find myself acting in a similar fashion, I now know that I should get away from the group and vent my frustrations in some other way. Perhaps I should go read, or go for a walk, or do some battlegrounds, or play an entirely different game or even just complain to my wife (who will undoubtedly tell me off if I'm being a jerk, which is one of many reasons I love her) but taking it out on the people I play with is not an option.
In a way, it's strange to play with the weight taken off of my shoulders like this. Even several wipes on a farm boss just rolls off my back now, because I not only know we can do it, I know that we'll keep perspective about it. This is, ultimately, a game and it is supposed to be fun, and now, everyone seems to want it to be fun again. And that's awesome.
Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
