Should I Return to World of Warcraft? Or .. any game?

[Baracuda]

Based on what I've read in your first post I'd give up on WoW unless you want to stick around to see what's happening. Getting into a guild has become more and more difficult these days, and the content is much the same as it was years ago- the bosses just have more abilities.

I ran into a similar situation a year ago and I decided to switch to single player games in my free time. It's nice, I get a change in scenery, a pause button, and I don't have to invest nearly as much time. Time has become a factor with a house, girlfriend, career job, etc. I'd invest in STEAM, if I were you. There's a community there, and so many games to choose from it's ridiculous.

If you're looking to stay, I'd try the WoW General and Server specific forums to find a guild that caters to your play style and schedule. I wouldn't keep your hopes up, but it's worth a shot.

This is the thought process I went through. Do I want to stay with WoW? Yes. Do I enjoy the content? Only with friends. Do I still have friends to play with? Not anymore. Can I make friends? Tried, unsuccessful. Do I really still enjoy WoW? Honestly, no. Do I still want to game? Yes. What outlets can I game through and still manage my personal life? Single player. What do I need to do this? Console, STEAM. Which do I really want to play, my PS3 or STEAM? STEAM. So on and so forth.

A side note: If you really, really need to continue gaming with friends I'd recommend a console. I was surprised by how many people I could get into the party and racing games (ladies included) as well as buddies coming over to play some NCAA, Madden, FIFA, FPS' and the like.

Console and LoL seem very easy to find friends for.

[Tuesday]

I know it seems conflicting...but the thing is in a nutshell, I still want to game but when I try it doesn't seem as fun anymore because of lack of social interaction and no one seems to really care to try and create that environment with others even when I try to. So I am confused if it's just me or if it's community or if I am just lacking in RL friends.

Hearing you, Steelstrider, particularly on the social interaction issue - something WoW used to have in great measure (and which can't be generated, incidentally, by imposing an artificial system of dumping strangers together), but which they seem to have abandoned in a desperate grab for cash by appealing to the 'me, myself and I' mindset.

I'm older than you and came into gaming later in life than you did - but I feel your conflict and am experiencing the same.

Who stole the fun from WoW?

[Fatbeaverlol]

Workout in the gym

[IronArms]

Hearing you, Steelstrider, particularly on the social interaction issue - something WoW used to have in great measure (and which can't be generated, incidentally, by imposing an artificial system of dumping strangers together), but which they seem to have abandoned in a desperate grab for cash by appealing to the 'me, myself and I' mindset.

I'm older than you and came into gaming later in life than you did - but I feel your conflict and am experiencing the same.

Who stole the fun from WoW?

Agreed and nice to know I am not the only one feeling this way. I have actually been considering a WiiU since I've always liked Nintendo and as for WoW...I'll stick around and play I guess maybe in the next expansion social interaction can pick up. I like the convenience of seeing raid content and dungeon content by queuing for it but I despise that it takes the fun out of it. It's like it turns it into a game of CoD or something, you go in, people piss and bitch at each other, always competing "I did this better than you!", "I got more of this than you!", IWERHNUIR. I mean that kind of thing is good for an environment for shooters but not for an MMO. I think most of my complaint realistically comes from WoW as a whole in this thread because I never expected them to turn it into something like this. Especially making 10m the same as 25m, it just killed off the big guilds filled with friendly people and started to leave elitists who are stubborn enough to make it work.

In the end I might as well do 10..but most of the 10 guilds I find are casual. Who knows Flex raid and virtual servers might fix some of the issues but currently I cjust can't enjoy WoW as much as I used to.

[Jainzar]

Workout in the gym

this. I started working out like 1 year ago (still played wow back then) and it has been one of the best decisions in my life. It's amazing what healthy nutrition and a solid workout can and will do for you. It's way better to work on your body than to work on some character in a video game.

[orioxez]

online gaming is 100% better if you have friends to play with. it doesn't matter what game you play. sounds like you just need to find a friend to play with.

[Loreish]

Yeah man. Do what you enjoy. If gaming sucks for you then don't game. Not like you're gaining anything from gaming in the first place. It's all entertainment.

I agree with this.
Don't waste your time on something you don't want to do, but if you really love gaming as you claim you do, then there's no reason to quit it tbh.
Me myself am playing alot of my games solo due to my friends having different taste in gaming, we still hangout in Mumble tho, but I'd like to find a good community guild in WoW myself.
The social part of a game is a huge part in my opinion.

Perhaps you should post on the official forums or here asking for a guild that would meet your social expectations?

[Tyrael the Impatient]

Don't ask us, what you should do.
Do what you want to do.

You wouldn't ask your mom what pants you should wear today? Right
Only you know what's right for -you- and not -us-

[skrump]

I felt just like the Op after quitting wow, none of the other games looked interesting in comparison (mostly because nobody makes rts games anymore)

Truth be known though just about every game is worth the time/money you put into it.
I started off with the new simcity then mass effect3 before getting the entire C&C series on the Origin downloader and downloading a bunch of roms from nes/snes/n64/ps1 games

[Icecreamcake]

I would say not to come back either, I recently reactivated myself and for the first month you get that excited feeling of playing again and catching up but once you catch up or get geared it's back to that old well now what feeling and you'll sooner or later find yourself unsubbing again and hoping for the old days.

[Necrox]

Most of what I'd say to you has already been said (for example by Mindark), but I'll just post a show of support.
Many of us has been there, and to some degree I'm still there. I'm lucky though, in that I've found myself a nice lady who likes games too so we play together or at least next to each other all the time. Still, it doesn't make up for wanting to game with friends - it's not quite the same thing.
Stepping away from gaming for a while has been a good idea for me at times though. It's how I reconnected with a childhood friend, after having lost touch with a newer crowd, and we still do stuff together now

[Tyrael the Impatient]

To make your own choices and decisions in life, builds character.

You're smart enough to figure out for yourself what to do, it's you this happens to, whatever it is in life.

If you are applying fellowship, such as anonymous alcoholic, that's okey.
But I do not see your problem as such, or having the intention to do so?
Cus that's long term commitment.

[Phurox]

The problem there being that you seemingly only tried any of the other mainstream theme park MMOs, which are basically WoW-clones (not because they copied, but because they follow the same gameplay structures and principles)

For people who miss community or feeling 'meaningful' I can only advise to try some sandbox MMOs instead:

- Age of Wushu (hard to get into, but very community driven) and #1 most played MMO in the world today.
- ArcheAge (halfway compromise between theme park and sandbox MMO, over 120 different class combinations possible, trade-routes + raiding of said routes)
- Darkfall Unholy Wars (all about building villages, player housing, castles, exploring, claiming territory and competition against other guilds)

Other titles to keep an eye on even if they're not released yet (?):

- Pathfinder Online
- EverQuest Next
- The Repopulation
- WildStar (?? the devs seem to say it's going to be a mixture of theme park and sandbox mmo gameplay elements)

The difference between theme park MMOs and sandbox MMOs is that the latter give you a feeling of achievement and that you're building up something, that you're making a name for yourself and that you're an important contributing member of the 'world' and community you're in. Not just being generic hardcore raider #209304 that just did the same quests and killed the same bosses as a few million other people.

I did try Darkfall. Was pure garbage. I did not like it at all. Clunky animations. Clunky gameplay. Overall just bad.

I have played Eve Online and plenty of other games over the last years. I really ain't got the time for Eve though.

WoW is so easy to just jump in and have some fun when I need to get away from all the stress.

I don't mind the game being a theme park, as long as theres something fun to do.

I really dont get all the sandbox thing. It is like people are talking of the new garbage next-gen consoles.

[Druzzil-Zipe]

Well that is the problem. OP complains about lack of community or motivation for people in the game to be social and make new friends or even gameplay dependant relationships. (Eg. a blacksmith you regularly need stuff crafted from or a tank that really works well with your playstyle to clear dungeons).

In Sandbox MMO games you are usually -heavily encouraged- to make contacts with other players to get ahead in the game. And many of the gameplay elements (such as politics, city-building, player-housing, territory control etc.) are fully based on the social interactions between the players.

WoW is just a quick casual game, you can login, queue, clear a dungeon, log out. You don't need anyone else to get ahead. People have no reason to seek out other people.

I wonder why you did not mention EVE on your previous post. Not enought sandbxy for you? :/ I always thought EVE was the mother of the next gen Sandbox.

[Deleted]

Based on what I've read in your first post I'd give up on WoW unless you want to stick around to see what's happening. Getting into a guild has become more and more difficult these days, and the content is much the same as it was years ago- the bosses just have more abilities.

I ran into a similar situation a year ago and I decided to switch to single player games in my free time. It's nice, I get a change in scenery, a pause button, and I don't have to invest nearly as much time. Time has become a factor with a house, girlfriend, career job, etc. I'd invest in STEAM, if I were you. There's a community there, and so many games to choose from it's ridiculous.

If you're looking to stay, I'd try the WoW General and Server specific forums to find a guild that caters to your play style and schedule. I wouldn't keep your hopes up, but it's worth a shot.

This is the thought process I went through. Do I want to stay with WoW? Yes. Do I enjoy the content? Only with friends. Do I still have friends to play with? Not anymore. Can I make friends? Tried, unsuccessful. Do I really still enjoy WoW? Honestly, no. Do I still want to game? Yes. What outlets can I game through and still manage my personal life? Single player. What do I need to do this? Console, STEAM. Which do I really want to play, my PS3 or STEAM? STEAM. So on and so forth.

A side note: If you really, really need to continue gaming with friends I'd recommend a console. I was surprised by how many people I could get into the party and racing games (ladies included) as well as buddies coming over to play some NCAA, Madden, FIFA, FPS' and the like.

Lol exactly this Steam is working really well for me However my friends only play Fifa and that gets boring from time to time. Yes I'm European haha

- - - Updated - - -

Agreed and nice to know I am not the only one feeling this way. I have actually been considering a WiiU since I've always liked Nintendo and as for WoW...I'll stick around and play I guess maybe in the next expansion social interaction can pick up. I like the convenience of seeing raid content and dungeon content by queuing for it but I despise that it takes the fun out of it. It's like it turns it into a game of CoD or something, you go in, people piss and bitch at each other, always competing "I did this better than you!", "I got more of this than you!", IWERHNUIR. I mean that kind of thing is good for an environment for shooters but not for an MMO. I think most of my complaint realistically comes from WoW as a whole in this thread because I never expected them to turn it into something like this. Especially making 10m the same as 25m, it just killed off the big guilds filled with friendly people and started to leave elitists who are stubborn enough to make it work.

In the end I might as well do 10..but most of the 10 guilds I find are casual. Who knows Flex raid and virtual servers might fix some of the issues but currently I cjust can't enjoy WoW as much as I used to.

Totally agree with you, since Activision merged with Blizzard it's not the game you play for days, it's the game you do fast daily's and raid and you're logging out, which looks kind of like a shooter to me. If you really want to come back I would consider waiting for the expansion if you're not totally bored right now. It would definitely be cool if we get a new race/class, which I don't see happening, but then thousands of people are leveling up a character and that's a cool moment to step in again. If you don't maybe I will :P

[Mhyroth]

this. I started working out like 1 year ago (still played wow back then) and it has been one of the best decisions in my life. It's amazing what healthy nutrition and a solid workout can and will do for you. It's way better to work on your body than to work on some character in a video game.

And another person who thinks looks are everything in this world. Good luck getting somewhere with those pumped-up muscles. If you feel good with it, good for you, but don't give advice for something which just gives extra attention to the stereotypes in this world.

[jbombard]

And another person who thinks looks are everything in this world. Good luck getting somewhere with those pumped-up muscles. If you feel good with it, good for you, but don't give advice for something which just gives extra attention to the stereotypes in this world.

I don't think it's just about looks, exercise will make you healthier and have more energy(once you get over the hump). Exercise being good for your health and leading to a longer life and higher quality of life isn't a stereotype it is a medical fact. A little exercise will make sure you can live longer so you can play more games.

[IronArms]

I don't think it's just about looks, exercise will make you healthier and have more energy(once you get over the hump). Exercise being good for your health and leading to a longer life and higher quality of life isn't a stereotype it is a medical fact. A little exercise will make sure you can live longer so you can play more games.

I had a Gym membership for a while and it did feel good to get exercise but I didn't go but twice a week I didn't have time to go daily so I gave up on it because it was eating 45$ a month to go 6 times a month. I could go walking around town when I feel like it for free or just get a bike from Good Will which I might consider. I am currently starting a new job and the whole work force is women, I will be the only guy there. I have no problem with this considering they are all mostly my age but I know I won't be having too much fun with it. I might have to look in forcing myself into a new guild or a community somewhere to get back into the swing of things.

In the end I think it's not only just WoW but also my RL friends are slowly moving away from me, which isn't my fault it's just times change and it sucks. It still really demoralizes me overall from playing any game at all when I have no one to actually play with but strangers. I haven't really socialized online with people much in the passed year so I have gotten very rusty on trying to join a community and trying to find one within WoW is hard nowadays. Does anyone have tips on how to find a friendly community?

[yjmark]

Does anyone have tips on how to find a friendly community?

1) You have to actively look
2) Be friendly yourself
3) Do not be over-bearing. If you try and push someone to be more social than they feel like being, then you will annoy them.

It's not easy finding the balance. But just keep looking and I'm confident you will. If you stop looking, then you won't find it.