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The Daily Grind: Are you a game recidivist?
We like to talk about when we leave games; we don't like to talk about when we come back to the same games yet again. Speaking for myself, I've left and returned to World of Warcraft at least five times, and I know there's probably one or two times that I'm forgetting. And it isn't alone -- City of Heroes clocked up three separate returns over the years, Final Fantasy XI clocked up four, and even Final Fantasy XIV arguably saw me leave and return at one point. Sometimes you return to find that nothing has changed and you leave again before too long. Sometimes you always come back for at least a few months, but you'll happily leave for a while as well. And the legend goes that some of you leave and then genuinely remain gone, not returning no matter what the next expansion promises you. Are you that legend? Or are you a game recidivist, always finding yourself going back to the games of yesterday sooner or later unless they shut down completely? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you keep old account information?
Odds are good that you've played a fair number of MMOs over the years. Every single one comes with a code telling you that it's very important you hold on to that code, that you need to keep a log of all your account information so that nothing gets lost. And if you ever lose it, you know that's an excellent reminder, since if you'd paid attention then you wouldn't be sifting through your desk now desperately searching for the notebook paper where you'd written your password. Most players are fairly good about holding on to the important information for games that they're currently playing, but we can all get sloppier about former games. Have you ever wound up losing important information for your older games that forced you to buy a new copy or made resubscribing harder than it could have been? Or do you make sure to hold on to all of your information in a safe place, so that you can sign back up for any game at a moment's notice?
WoW Rookie: Coming back to WoW after a break
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. You're not really a rookie -- but man, it's been ages since you last played! Azeroth feels like a whole new world. A "dungeon finder" -- huh? And why are all these people pelting you with friend invitations that have real-life names attached? As more and more former players start peeking their heads back into the game in anticipation of the launch of Cataclysm, we'll be seeing more and more uncertain vets fumbling through mechanics and features even those rookies among us now take for granted. What's the best way to get back up to speed after an extended time away from WoW? Reader Anthony writes: I used to be an avid WoW player but quit about a year ago (just before patch 3.1). I have been entertaining the idea of getting back in the game but am kind of intimidated, because I think there probably have been so many addons to the game since I left, I'll be totally lost. I used to use your website as a resource and visited it daily when I did play, but I stopped after I quit playing. So I'm not really sure what has changed. And I am also not really sure if it's a good time to pick up playing again because of the expansion that's supposedly coming out. So I was wondering if there could be any way that someone on your team could give me a quick little up-to-speed brief on some of the changes that have happened, mostly with the gameplay aspects; I'm not overall concerned about new raids and stuff. I used to raid all day, every day when I played before but would rather just ease into that later. So if there's maybe a link or something, I would greatly appreciate it. A "link or something"? WoW Rookie can certainly oblige. Join us after the break for a healthy dose of tips on getting your bearings if you've been away from WoW for quite some time.
The Daily Grind: Do you revisit MMOs you used to play?
There are always going to be new MMOs coming to the market, promising so much more than you're currently getting and trying to take your business over to their camp. Perhaps you like what you see and hear so much that you cancel your old game accounts, possibly delete their clients and devote yourself to the new MMO. Things go okay for a while, but then you find yourself missing things about that old game -- maybe the community, your former characters, the gameplay, the content -- that make you want to go back. It's your classic "grass is greener" scenario and we hear about it all the time. That's not always how it goes though. It doesn't have to be a quick process. Maybe you quit a game many years ago and then suddenly out of nowhere, someone brings it up and (perhaps due to being bored with newer offerings) you just have to see how that world is going. It's a lot like an old partner, in that there's often a comfortable familiarity with a game you've spent a lot of time playing that you just can't get anywhere else. Have you had this happen to you? Is there one particular game that, no matter how many others you try, you just keep coming back to? Tell us about it in the comments section.
