End of the raid

I recently realized I was working two jobs. Normally this would sound like a profitable situation, until you break it down and realize that while one job was bringing in a paycheck every two weeks, the other one wasn't. Break it down further, and you realize I was actually paying to attend my second job. Monthly.

I can see the lights coming on over all the smart people in the audience. You got it, alright. World of Warcrack.

Hold on, though. Is this the same BakaMattSu who has always praised the WoW title? Yes it is. And it's also the same BMS who traversed the void of being clan dropped to bounce back into active raiding and see end game content that only 10% of the population base sees without browsing through google video.

Now don't get me wrong - WoW is an amazing piece of work. It's beautiful, it's fast, it's friendly, it's fun. But it can also be a huge timesink. It's not so bad at the casual level. It can be taken in moderation, and it's a load of fun that way. But it has a limit for casuals, and sooner or later the remaining content is open to none other than the hardcore.

I speak, of course, of all those tough dungeons Blizzard crafted that require huge parties of 40 players to traverse. The Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and now Naxxramas. They are challenges that just can be traversed with your standard casual player. They're tough, they're big, and they take time and dedication.

Which is their point. The best available items in the game lay within them. To keep players playing and shooting for those rewards, Blizzard makes it tough enough that the players have to spend the time to reach for them. Because once the player has reached their level cap, progression is solely material.

It was a trap, and I fell into it before Admiral Ackbar could speak up.

When I got picked up into a guild again, it was one that labeled themselves as "casual raiders". They hit up the Molten Core once a week for a day or so, still learning it when I cam on board. Just one week prior to me joining, they had their first Magmadar kill, and within a few months, I was among their ranks staring down the big bad boy Ragnaros himself. It was fun in the sense that I got to experience content I couldn't on my own, I was able to earn points for attendence and buy the first Perdition's Blade that dropped with them duly saved up. It felt like a real accomplishment.

But then the novelty wore off. Sure, we killed Ragnaros at last, but it was for the loot he dropped, not the accomplishment. So we returned, week after week to kill him again to see the purple-lettered epics drop. For a casual player, it's like running a Stratholme Baron group, only on a larger scale. You weather the entire instance for the hope that when you get to the end, your coveted new pants will drop. A Baron run takes around an hour. A Molten Core clear takes a high-end guild three times that (more for a less equipped one).

And little changes from there. Thousands of players are chasing after that one item that will improve their character and spending hours during the week or weekend just for a chance to get it. Timesink? You betcha.

I've changed guilds again recently. My new one blazes through BWL, has cleared AQ through to C'Thun, and is now planning to hit Naxx full force. And while the content endgame is certainly cool to see, it's not worth it. Raiding is a second job, and one that only pays out in imaginary cash and rewards.

I put in the cancellation for my WoW account today. I can't trust myself to not raid and remain casual, so the best thing I would say is to cut me off completely. Baiko will never see all the cool weapons and armor I had been dreaming of, but I'm breaking free from the addiction and moving on. Sweet dreams, girl.

 

And by the time you can run

And by the time you can run it in 45 min, it's really to say you can, or else for fun - much like I would run a 5-man instance recently. I can't see a t3-decked group seriously wasting time in there.

If I ever do end up returning to the game, I will avoid the hardcore raiding. I spent enough hours at work during the day to go to another job in a game.