Many of you know that World of Warcraft is an ever-changing game. There are ups, there are downs and there are even just MEH gray areas in the content provided. Everyday I openly read the forums of a WoW community whether it be here at MMO-Champion, ArenaJunkies, WoWHead, or even the official general forums I always see a thread complaining on how the game is turning on a downslope. This thread is going to be somewhat a guide on dealing with the downslopes of World of Warcraft and MMOs in general. So if you are interested, keep reading!

Taking Breaks:

Sometimes the most difficult action for MMO players are to take a small break from them. I'm not talking about the small 5-10min breaks while playing the game. I'm talking about a genuine week, two weeks, or even a month from logging in.

Why is it so difficult for us? It's definitely not because the game is addicting. It isn't because we crave to get that next piece of loot faster than the other guys on the server. It's because of the people we meet from a day-to-day basis. After meeting with people, we expect them to log in each and every day. Of course we never actually say that we have that expectation, but it's one of those unwritten rules. It even happens to newbies that just hit cap level. They join a guild that has strict attendance rules, and to keep their spot in the guild they log in making sure that they aren't late.

So, how do you take a break? You talk with the same people you talk with every other day only have a different conversation with them. Tell them the honest truth, "I don't like the way this game is playing out right now, I'm going to take a break for a couple weeks so I don't get burned out and I'll Raid/PvP/Level with you again then." It may not be this easy for some people, you may want to wait until your subscription runs out. But what if you opted for a six month or one year subscription only just two months ago? You have to put your foot down and tell yourself that you know you won't like to play this game if you continue to play it in the state that it's in.

When is the best time to take breaks?:

All gamers have felt burned out on at least one game before World of Warcraft. It was probably a console game, or maybe it was a PC game. "Burning Out" on a game definitely doesn't feel good. You are no longer intrigued when something new happens, you start looking at everything in generalities stating that maybe "X class is going to be overpowered next patch" instead of "It will be interesting to see how that ability plays out, because they gave me something to avoid X class with as well." Burning out on a game may make you feel bored on a daily basis.

But we never had this problem when console games were in the spotlight, if we saw that a game was going to be boring we would just stop playing it. Why? Because we had no strings attached. In World of Warcraft and other MMOs however, you always have strings attached. If you are in a guild, you have some sort of strings attached with something. Whether be a raid schedule, a promise you made to someone, or a goal that you set with a group of people and you wouldn't want to let them down. So the best time to take a break is when you have the fewest strings attached.

For me, it was a factor of many strings breaking at once. My sub was a week from running out, I was in the middle of two arena teams, I was looking to join a new guild. So instead of looking for all of those factors now, I am just taking a break. It was pretty obvious whenever I told myself, "Hey, I can just do these things in a couple weeks and there may even be more guilds recruiting."

Now for you it may not be an easy of a situation, but I have taken breaks while being the top healer in a guild before. All it took was for me to give my guild a heads up so they could set up an alt replacement for me before I took a break. They were very understanding as well and if your guild isn't you may be better off taking a break then coming back to finding a new guild anyhow!

"What the hell Adams? I thought you said this was going to be a guide about dealing with the downslopes?"

For all purposes, it is. Taking breaks is the absolute best way to deal with the downslopes of MMOs in my opinion. I have done it for eight years of MMO gaming and any MMO has never lost their charm for me, even World of Warcraft. I encourage you all to take breaks, it really keeps the glimmer on any MMO.