Hitting the Blogs left and right for WoW I here allot of people talk about Raid Burn out (both leader and follower), Guild Burn out, or Game Burn out. It gave me a bit to chew on and think about. WoW has a following of extremely loyal, some say fanatical followers. Yet even the most rabid follower becomes shall we say War weary. Why is this? I have some theories, many will not be liked but I point them out for discussion and debate.
Raid Leader/Raid member Burnout:
Progression has become allot tougher. Even one misstep gets a repeated wipe and it gets uglier with costs etc. Minimal returns for maximum effort. It ain't easy especially with the sharp ended learning curve. Mechanics has changed significantly as well. Timing of dps, heals aggro tables are no easy shot by any means. Progression Raid guilds get real edgy when competing for server leaders and or world firsts. It wasn't meant to be easy.
Personal Opinion - If Raiding is ALL you do, yes burnout will come deadly quick. You gear, you heroic instance, you fast lv toons, you farm like a fool for enchants/upgrades etc. This becomes almost a full time job unto itself...but your paying to work. With tougher mechanics and raider performance coming into question, this becomes an eSPORT. Superbowl or WorldSeries for real world sports is what it is and paid for. Athletes train up for their games, so do WoW Raiders. Being a Pro vs bush league is two different worlds. So why get burnt out? I mean Pro football players or base ball players don't. Couple of things here, Raiders don't get PAID for what they do. There isn't a real tangible worth for their hard work. Raidleaders have a thankless job and ultimately responsible like a team coach on success or failure of the guild as a whole. Since there isn't any tangible reward, burn out and unhappiness for failure becomes rampant as the self worth of being in a top raid team or lead position becomes a reflection of real world self worth. So when you fail or bust your ass for weeks on end but get nothing for it save for a few pieces of gear or worst case get canned from the raid team, this becomes grueling and mind breaking.
Guild Burn out - Been with the same crew for years. They are like both family and friends. You spend hours and hours chatting or working together. But the little shit starts to irritate you. Things you could deal with before become serious items that piss you off. Doesn't matter if it's pvp, pve, rp, social...whatever. People will begin to irritate you and then you don't want to deal with drama or issues.
RP Burnout - All the world's a friggen stage! I think RPers are pretty cool...when they are not being selfish pricks and godmoding pieces of crap. Hey, I love RP I'm not bagging the concept...but allot of the people. Drama starts somewhere, if said person is'nt at the center of the story...either they mope, pout, cause un necessary drama or cause mayhem in a plot simply to become the center of attention. Hmm, a GM would get burnt out REAL quick on that. People want to have fun, not make work out of creating a damned story. Learn from it.
Personal Opinion: Storylines can be incredible. But drama in general is VERY VERY emotionally draining, especially when one is pixel acting it out beyond the normal read lore and quest and move out. Some people are outright psychic vampires, feeding off of emotional output from others. In some quarters this phenomena is known as a Drama Queen or Diva syndrome. Psychic vampires are really out in force right now in the game since the world of Azeroth has been sundered. Lore hounds scream about additions to lore, this is also a form of psychic vampirism. Didn't happen because Blizz broke lore canon. Yeah whatever dude, just enjoy the damned game. But, these psychic vampires drain possible fun RP scenarios and create total massive RP burnout.
Cataclysm Burnout - Shell shock....My world completely went upside down and I didn't like what happened to me or my happy world...... PTSD of the video game...I KID I KID!!! God knows I don't want someone quoting me saying that WoW caused PTSD.
Personal Opinion - I dunno here, if you don't like a game don't pay for it and stop whining about it. Go play something else.
There are several methods of dealing with this burn out without creating a massive wall of text about your woes and creating unnecessary drama across the gaming world. Really, forums are already filled with that crap. Simply take a break dammit. It's no big deal. Really, let some new blood in and go do something for fun.
1. A quick remedy if you don't like to explore other MMOs is really simple, reroll and start from square 1 and while your at it, READ the Damned quests! Storylines do in fact raise up across the board...well with the exception of the Blood elves, those poor bastards got the short end of the stick in new questlines.
2.Better yet, reroll on a totally different server to meet new people for social needs/ a new guild.
3. Try a different class and raise them up.
4. Try a different aspect of WoW. Raider are ya? Great! Try PvP for awhile. RPer? try doing ALL of the Crafting that can be done. PvPer..Try Raiding! Try exploring! Become an altiholic! Try SOMETHING! If you aren't a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.
But you say, these aren't working for me. I love the game. I love my friends, but the magic isn't quite there. Ok, tell your friends you are taking a break. Stop playing for 4-8 hours every day. Read a book, go out to a movie. Watch TV. Go to the Gym. Go to a nightclub. Go camping. Go do something to take a couple days off. Still not enough? Take a break and go play a different MMO for awhile. Try two or three different ones on trial basis. See what you really loved about WoW or really hated. Maybe you'll move on to a different game for good. This is ok, people do change, I promise. Point in fact, it's healthy. I'm seeing too many people bitch about WoW Cata like they are an old married couple..but to the GAME! Hell, stop playing mmo's altogether for a couple months and go play single player/FPS/RTS for awhile. Get fresh perspectives.
Here is something some people may be totally objectionable to think about: Maybe you are afraid you will loose your self worth and identity if you leave the game. You won't, it will simply transform into something new. Maybe you think WoW is the only world you feel comfortable in. STOP IT! You are a friggen human being! Go try something different, take a road trip across America for a couple of weeks with nothing more than the clothes on your back. Challenge yourself with something in the REAL WORLD.
I can hear it now:
"Easier said than done you self sanctimonious prick!" (I am not self sanctimonious, but I am an arrogant prick)
"I don't have money for that! (see below)
"I have a job I can't leave! (Bullshit, unless you are in the military where you are under a serious obligation)
You won't know till you try though. For the record I have travelled extensively. Mostly on business but I've wandered quite a bit too. I once took a trip across America on a bus with nothing more than a dinner from Burger King and 10 bucks in my back pocket. But for the love of the gods, do something for once to make yourself happy.
With all of that, I wish everyone well, I hope that all their endeavors bring them satisfaction and above all, a tranquil mind.
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