Agony Of Leveling

[Deleted]

i made a bad decision, which result is a burn-out. to level 1-100.

in my 10 years of wow-career i leveled only 3 toons (due to sale of 2 high end accounts), and i never enjoyed it. not a single time.
i main 8 mains 945+ (100 boost), which r ecxiting to play in endgame (maybe not the lock). leveling always felt like a summer job (which RL i failed hard btw, my qualification as paper boy was not appropriate), i have to work while the rest of mankind is on summer holiday.
i rationalised this bad decision with diverse arguments, primarily preparation for the Allied races route. i did the research (Speedrun WR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8T96LSsnMY ), planned my route, prepped the EQ, XP potions (60k per, lucky to be multi-millionaire i guess) and a date respecting my work-out schedule (iam a 90kg fitness atlethe with a daily volume of 5-9h H(igh)I(ntensity)T(echnique), my life is a catwalk). i rationalised cuz iam returning from 2 years of depression due to tragical death of my wife, and while my professional ambitions r still emotionally blocked (writer) i never surrendered (to depression) - its better to be manic-progressive, than manic-depressive? so i always need something to do, iam controlled hyperactive, always pushing the limits trying to strife for something better.

WoW is a vacation to me, an imaginary world where RL is temporarily suspended, also a rich data pool for research on class dynamics, intergroup behavior and performance society (which WoW is, performance aka Kapital as main factor on social stratification, either subjects perfom "adaquate" or r outgrouped, even WoW, a game has its own hierarchy based on Kapital which only translates into performance), intel i need professionally, there is nothing more inspiring than authentic experience . i tested every MMO, and most failed on technical issues, WoW is just superior regarding Netcode, Class Balance (dont shoot me), convenience and in general corporate attitude (towards users), even if i still dislike most of the aesthetics, SWTOR PvP is as annoying as the haptics (responsitivity) of TESO (didnt last 20 mins), the 21k AVs of those 6 years on this acc is a statement per se?

but leveling grow into a massive burn-out fast. even if i was positivly looking forward to this "sentimental" adventure to days long gone (its not just wow, but the forgotten times) days before, within the first hours i was completely demotivated. after the first 30 lvls i realised i ll never get into "lvling flow", cuz i completely dislike it. the disconnection of having to skip storylines (i pushed tru 3 times in the past 10 years btw) was minor, dominant was this feeling of wasting my time, even if my evaluation of better alternatives failed cuz rationalised arguments (see above). my demotivation was so strong, i declined every invite to socialise, cuz at this time it felt like a burden (even if it logically is the opposite).
usually i just quit, when i dont have fun, but this time i wanted to push tru, cuz sense of accomplishment and arguments etc.
after 8h i achieved lvl 101 (Legion intro, first invasion right on time), and even if i speedrunned WoD in 40 mins, there was no feeling of accomplishment, no happyness to at least be done with this chore.
again: iam a trained atlethe, 8h on my couch with breaks, stretching and soulfood r not stress for my (slightly overtrained) hardbody, my body is trained for keyboard sessions with overtime (cuz i love narrative structures, motives (the details of any narrative) and even words too much).

the last time i slept this bad was a suffocation dream after the death of my wife. Again: i main 8 mains in endgame which doesnt feel like a nightmare.
there wasnt any immersion (on my new class, as responsible RL i have to have authentic experience on every spec), and even though i love to learn new gameplay, classes, master new challenges, sometimes even to explore or just to push the limits there was no fun at all. neither dungeons, neither talent unlocks, neither the sentimental part of it - it grew into some weird auto-cannibalism, where i feel to feed on my substance rather than having fun, enjoying the game like i do in endgame. cuz even if some AVs feel like grind, there is this sense of accomplishment, like being done with Argus World AVs 4ever!

i analyse a psychological difference between outdated content and actual endgame bzzd already recognised with catch-up, but i did several playtrus of DS 1- 3 over the years and reached the same point where i just cant and wont do it again. i mastered this game. i loved this game sometimes too much. but i wont play it again. i cant. neither Civ V (clocked 700+h), nor do i feel to burn-out myself ever again over the lvling chore to 100. not without some fundamental changes to the core philosophy (killing XP bags for being able to kill bigger XP bags - Raph Kostner), its not an adventure any more, but a summer job?

this neither a decline of extrinsical value (since my 9. toon is another 6-15k daily bonus income without profs, so Gold is a still actual extrinsic motivation for me) nor an intrinsical (since i still have fun endgame), this is just an experience of repetition tiredness, where replayability reaches the emotional decline due to repetition. i only see one way to optimize WoW lvling to be fun for me (!): to skip lvling, make lvling optional and allow pl to lvl via endgame content?

[Cleric75]

i made a bad decision, which result is a burn-out. to level 1-100.

in my 10 years of wow-career i leveled only 3 toons (due to sale of 2 high end accounts), and i never enjoyed it. not a single time.
i main 8 mains 945+ (100 boost), which r ecxiting to play in endgame (maybe not the lock). leveling always felt like a summer job (which RL i failed hard btw, my qualification as paper boy was not appropriate), i have to work while the rest of mankind is on summer holiday.
i rationalised this bad decision with diverse arguments, primarily preparation for the Allied races route. i did the research (Speedrun WR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8T96LSsnMY ), planned my route, prepped the EQ, XP potions (60k per, lucky to be multi-millionaire i guess) and a date respecting my work-out schedule (iam a 90kg fitness atlethe with a daily volume of 5-9h H(igh)I(ntensity)T(echnique), my life is a catwalk). i rationalised cuz iam returning from 2 years of depression due to tragical death of my wife, and while my professional ambitions r still emotionally blocked (writer) i never surrendered (to depression) - its better to be manic-progressive, than manic-depressive? so i always need something to do, iam controlled hyperactive, always pushing the limits trying to strife for something better.

WoW is a vacation to me, an imaginary world where RL is temporarily suspended, also a rich data pool for research on class dynamics, intergroup behavior and performance society (which WoW is, performance aka Kapital as main factor on social stratification, either subjects perfom "adaquate" or r outgrouped, even WoW, a game has its own hierarchy based on Kapital which only translates into performance), intel i need professionally, there is nothing more inspiring than authentic experience . i tested every MMO, and most failed on technical issues, WoW is just superior regarding Netcode, Class Balance (dont shoot me), convenience and in general corporate attitude (towards users), even if i still dislike most of the aesthetics, SWTOR PvP is as annoying as the haptics (responsitivity) of TESO (didnt last 20 mins), the 21k AVs of those 6 years on this acc is a statement per se?

but leveling grow into a massive burn-out fast. even if i was positivly looking forward to this "sentimental" adventure to days long gone (its not just wow, but the forgotten times) days before, within the first hours i was completely demotivated. after the first 30 lvls i realised i ll never get into "lvling flow", cuz i completely dislike it. the disconnection of having to skip storylines (i pushed tru 3 times in the past 10 years btw) was minor, dominant was this feeling of wasting my time, even if my evaluation of better alternatives failed cuz rationalised arguments (see above). my demotivation was so strong, i declined every invite to socialise, cuz at this time it felt like a burden (even if it logically is the opposite).
usually i just quit, when i dont have fun, but this time i wanted to push tru, cuz sense of accomplishment and arguments etc.
after 8h i achieved lvl 101 (Legion intro, first invasion right on time), and even if i speedrunned WoD in 40 mins, there was no feeling of accomplishment, no happyness to at least be done with this chore.
again: iam a trained atlethe, 8h on my couch with breaks, stretching and soulfood r not stress for my (slightly overtrained) hardbody, my body is trained for keyboard sessions with overtime (cuz i love narrative structures, motives (the details of any narrative) and even words too much).

the last time i slept this bad was a suffocation dream after the death of my wife. Again: i main 8 mains in endgame which doesnt feel like a nightmare.
there wasnt any immersion (on my new class, as responsible RL i have to have authentic experience on every spec), and even though i love to learn new gameplay, classes, master new challenges, sometimes even to explore or just to push the limits there was no fun at all. neither dungeons, neither talent unlocks, neither the sentimental part of it - it grew into some weird auto-cannibalism, where i feel to feed on my substance rather than having fun, enjoying the game like i do in endgame. cuz even if some AVs feel like grind, there is this sense of accomplishment, like being done with Argus World AVs 4ever!

i analyse a psychological difference between outdated content and actual endgame bzzd already recognised with catch-up, but i did several playtrus of DS 1- 3 over the years and reached the same point where i just cant and wont do it again. i mastered this game. i loved this game sometimes too much. but i wont play it again. i cant. neither Civ V (clocked 700+h), nor do i feel to burn-out myself ever again over the lvling chore to 100. not without some fundamental changes to the core philosophy (killing XP bags for being able to kill bigger XP bags - Raph Kostner), its not an adventure any more, but a summer job?

this neither a decline of extrinsical value (since my 9. toon is another 6-15k daily bonus income without profs, so Gold is a still actual extrinsic motivation for me) nor an intrinsical (since i still have fun endgame), this is just an experience of repetition tiredness, where replayability reaches the emotional decline due to repetition. i only see one way to optimize WoW lvling to be fun for me (!): to skip lvling, make lvling optional and allow pl to lvl via endgame content?

That sounds like a great idea. *mimes jerking off motion*

[Florida Man]

That sounds like a great idea. *mimes jerking off motion*

I just laughed so fucking hard omg

[Project 501D13R]

you can skip leveling, it's called buying a level boost, this can be done by trading in game gold for wow tokens
also the new level scaling that blizz will implement combined with heirlooms will speed leveling up enormously

[Pull My Finger]

You need to grow up.

[Mythabay]

I don't get it. Levelling is the aim of the game. You go through the content via levelling and then do end-game content. The only reason that people are given the option of 100 boost was because of the fact that people complained about doing content they had already done, instead of doing them on their new toon. So Blizzard added the 100 boost (initially added as the 90 boost) so that they could: 1. Stop all the complaints about 1-100 levelling and 2. To make profits.

Thank you.

[Deleted]

obviously the main issues of all former posters is not reading comprehension. those passive aggressive answers r just auto-destructive. i feel sry for u, u rlly must have a shitty live if u have to channel ur aggressions passivly via online forum discrimination (trolling) instead of at least being constructive or trying to argument (which is the whole point of a forum: to debate, hm?).

like mentioned 3 times in OP i had 7 boost etc (i mastered this game), this chore was rationalised as preparation etc.
what the "participants" ignore is the question of this debate: how make lvling more appealing?

and despite all the "salt" (aka class hate) i still feel sry. maybe u try to find a positive channel for ur self-hate, hm?

[Mythabay]

obviously the main issues of all former posters is not reading comprehension. those passive aggressive answers r just auto-destructive. i feel sry for u, u rlly must have a shitty live if u have to channel ur aggressions passivly via online forum discrimination (trolling) instead of at least being constructive or trying to argument (which is the whole point of a forum: to debate, hm?).

like mentioned 3 times in OP i had 7 boost etc (i mastered this game), this chore was rationalised as preparation etc.
what the "participants" ignore is the question of this debate: how make lvling more appealing?

and despite all the "salt" (aka class hate) i still feel sry. maybe u try to find a positive channel for ur self-hate, hm?

I feel like this was said to goad people into being offended. You said:

i main 8 mains 945+ (100 boost)

So you didn't "master" the game at all. You skipped the levelling that takes up about 80% of the game, and then call yourself a "master". Sorry but that's not believable.


Thank you for wasting people's time,

Xelium

[Saiona]

obviously the main issues of all former posters is not reading comprehension. those passive aggressive answers r just auto-destructive. i feel sry for u, u rlly must have a shitty live if u have to channel ur aggressions passivly via online forum discrimination (trolling) instead of at least being constructive or trying to argument (which is the whole point of a forum: to debate, hm?).

like mentioned 3 times in OP i had 7 boost etc (i mastered this game), this chore was rationalised as preparation etc.
what the "participants" ignore is the question of this debate: how make lvling more appealing?

and despite all the "salt" (aka class hate) i still feel sry. maybe u try to find a positive channel for ur self-hate, hm?

I like how you think all of humanity is on summer holiday. Yeah I worked every week in summer same as every other season.

[ls-]

So you didn't "master" the game at all. You skipped the levelling that takes up about 80% of the game, and then call yourself a "master". Sorry but that's not believable.

Weird statement, levelling is entirely irrelevant o_O It's at best 10% of the game, everything important happens at max level.

[Mythabay]

Weird statement, levelling is entirely irrelevant o_O It's at best 10% of the game, everything important happens at max level.

All the content that happened before wasn't? That makes no sense. Its what gets us to Level 100. So your statement is weird.

[ls-]

All the content that happened before wasn't? That makes no sense. Its what gets us to Level 100. So your statement is weird.

All the content that happened before was done on chars that were played during that period. Levelling is irrelevant for newer chars.

[Deleted]

I feel like this was said to goad people into being offended. You said:

So you didn't "master" the game at all. You skipped the levelling that takes up about 80% of the game, and then call yourself a "master". Sorry but that's not believable.


Thank you for wasting people's time,

Xelium

if this topic (to debate on leveling, u didnt even grasp slightly) is a waste of time: y bother at all?

lemme show u a constructive example how to deal with timewasters:

[Deleted]

obviously the main issues of all former posters is not reading comprehension. those passive aggressive answers r just auto-destructive. i feel sry for u, u rlly must have a shitty live if u have to channel ur aggressions passivly via online forum discrimination (trolling) instead of at least being constructive or trying to argument (which is the whole point of a forum: to debate, hm?).

Sorry dude but the only one "passive agressive" here with a "shitty live" is YOU. otrherwise you wouldnt made a BLOG post on a wow fan forum like a 3 year old.
Leveling is a core mechanic of this game if you dont like it silly get out.
And you dont care for a debate because otherwise you would learn some spelling and dont use all these shitty abbreviation like "u" on a forum.

But hey you dont like playing by the rules anyway because you admited to beeing a rulebreaker that sells wow accounts which is against the tos.

maybe next time when you have to write a BLOG post please do us ALL a favor and dont abuse mmoc for it.

[Frumpy Frumpy Frak]

I only skimmed the post because honestly, who the fuck has time for all that?

I agree that levelling needs to be changed. Scaling zones is a good start but we need more. In my opinion, we are sorely lacking in carrots to look forward to, aside from new spells and talent which we may only get one of every 5 levels, nothing of value is gained upon levelling up.

We need some kind of secondary pre-Cata talent trees, maybe they can include small power ups or maybe they can revolve around less important aspects of the game like travel/professions/rep/loot. At any rate we should always have something to look forward to every time we level up.

[Deleted]

Pay to win bro. The option is always there

[Deleted]

Sorry dude but the only one "passive agressive" here with a "shitty live" is YOU. otrherwise you wouldnt made a BLOG post on a wow fan forum like a 3 year old.
Leveling is a core mechanic of this game if you dont like it silly get out.
And you dont care for a debate because otherwise you would learn some spelling and dont use all these shitty abbreviation like "u" on a forum.

But hey you dont like playing by the rules anyway because you admited to beeing a rulebreaker that sells wow accounts which is against the tos.

maybe next time when you have to write a BLOG post please do us ALL a favor and dont abuse mmoc for it.

wow, i do not only disrespect online etiquette by using common abbreviations, iam also a criminal, cuz i sold 2 high end accounts, i didnt wanted to delete, bcuz they were just to beautiful (Grand Crusader <3) to delete (so i gave them to those proving their worth by investing 1700 €).
there is no rational debate with such pl like me, cuz iam a 3 year old who doenst like the core mechanic.

sry, dude, obviously ur main issue isnt reading comprehension, cuz i like endgame, which is - as few former posters indirectly confirmed - the main game.

maybe next time u post on an online forum, u try to respect the rules by debating construtivly and not using insults like 3year old, silly etc. for projecting ur self-hate, hm? if u dislike reading "blog" posts, y read at all?


fun fact: my girl tried to comfort me, cuz she found my sad on my couch: envious pl she said. she isnt right though, as Bourdieu (Pierre) analysed in Die Feinen Unterschiede, resentiments r a "priviledge" "des absteigenden Kleinbürgertums" (expiring lower middle class), a desperate move to reject what they feel rejected about. its not me, iam not destroying this game for u, ill try to keep it alive by evaluating solutions for outdated mechanics in an evolved gaming world. bzzd has long realised that user demand has changed, thats y they streamlined and re-paced eg itemization (accessibility). but u r obsiously not the gourmet, to have an elaborated debate with.

[kraid]

i made a bad decision, which result is a burn-out. to level 1-100.

in my 10 years of wow-career i leveled only 3 toons (due to sale of 2 high end accounts), and i never enjoyed it. not a single time.
i main 8 mains 945+ (100 boost), which r ecxiting to play in endgame (maybe not the lock). leveling always felt like a summer job (which RL i failed hard btw, my qualification as paper boy was not appropriate), i have to work while the rest of mankind is on summer holiday.
i rationalised this bad decision with diverse arguments, primarily preparation for the Allied races route. i did the research (Speedrun WR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8T96LSsnMY ), planned my route, prepped the EQ, XP potions (60k per, lucky to be multi-millionaire i guess) and a date respecting my work-out schedule (iam a 90kg fitness atlethe with a daily volume of 5-9h H(igh)I(ntensity)T(echnique), my life is a catwalk). i rationalised cuz iam returning from 2 years of depression due to tragical death of my wife, and while my professional ambitions r still emotionally blocked (writer) i never surrendered (to depression) - its better to be manic-progressive, than manic-depressive? so i always need something to do, iam controlled hyperactive, always pushing the limits trying to strife for something better.

WoW is a vacation to me, an imaginary world where RL is temporarily suspended, also a rich data pool for research on class dynamics, intergroup behavior and performance society (which WoW is, performance aka Kapital as main factor on social stratification, either subjects perfom "adaquate" or r outgrouped, even WoW, a game has its own hierarchy based on Kapital which only translates into performance), intel i need professionally, there is nothing more inspiring than authentic experience . i tested every MMO, and most failed on technical issues, WoW is just superior regarding Netcode, Class Balance (dont shoot me), convenience and in general corporate attitude (towards users), even if i still dislike most of the aesthetics, SWTOR PvP is as annoying as the haptics (responsitivity) of TESO (didnt last 20 mins), the 21k AVs of those 6 years on this acc is a statement per se?

but leveling grow into a massive burn-out fast. even if i was positivly looking forward to this "sentimental" adventure to days long gone (its not just wow, but the forgotten times) days before, within the first hours i was completely demotivated. after the first 30 lvls i realised i ll never get into "lvling flow", cuz i completely dislike it. the disconnection of having to skip storylines (i pushed tru 3 times in the past 10 years btw) was minor, dominant was this feeling of wasting my time, even if my evaluation of better alternatives failed cuz rationalised arguments (see above). my demotivation was so strong, i declined every invite to socialise, cuz at this time it felt like a burden (even if it logically is the opposite).
usually i just quit, when i dont have fun, but this time i wanted to push tru, cuz sense of accomplishment and arguments etc.
after 8h i achieved lvl 101 (Legion intro, first invasion right on time), and even if i speedrunned WoD in 40 mins, there was no feeling of accomplishment, no happyness to at least be done with this chore.
again: iam a trained atlethe, 8h on my couch with breaks, stretching and soulfood r not stress for my (slightly overtrained) hardbody, my body is trained for keyboard sessions with overtime (cuz i love narrative structures, motives (the details of any narrative) and even words too much).

the last time i slept this bad was a suffocation dream after the death of my wife. Again: i main 8 mains in endgame which doesnt feel like a nightmare.
there wasnt any immersion (on my new class, as responsible RL i have to have authentic experience on every spec), and even though i love to learn new gameplay, classes, master new challenges, sometimes even to explore or just to push the limits there was no fun at all. neither dungeons, neither talent unlocks, neither the sentimental part of it - it grew into some weird auto-cannibalism, where i feel to feed on my substance rather than having fun, enjoying the game like i do in endgame. cuz even if some AVs feel like grind, there is this sense of accomplishment, like being done with Argus World AVs 4ever!

i analyse a psychological difference between outdated content and actual endgame bzzd already recognised with catch-up, but i did several playtrus of DS 1- 3 over the years and reached the same point where i just cant and wont do it again. i mastered this game. i loved this game sometimes too much. but i wont play it again. i cant. neither Civ V (clocked 700+h), nor do i feel to burn-out myself ever again over the lvling chore to 100. not without some fundamental changes to the core philosophy (killing XP bags for being able to kill bigger XP bags - Raph Kostner), its not an adventure any more, but a summer job?

this neither a decline of extrinsical value (since my 9. toon is another 6-15k daily bonus income without profs, so Gold is a still actual extrinsic motivation for me) nor an intrinsical (since i still have fun endgame), this is just an experience of repetition tiredness, where replayability reaches the emotional decline due to repetition. i only see one way to optimize WoW lvling to be fun for me (!): to skip lvling, make lvling optional and allow pl to lvl via endgame content?

Why don't you take a break from wow mate?
It has worked for me, I take breaks from 2 to 8 months, and try some other games or activies (Like playing in a metal band in my case)
I disliked leveling too not as much as you put it into words thou, but I feel like this game can be fun outside of end game activies planned by blizzard, I do some roleplaying on zones and silly things for the hell of it, like the using inky black potion on duskwood so I have to carry a torch in the forest otherwise I wont be able to see.

[rootbeerboy]

You're out of your mind.

[Lushious]

TLDR...

But from the title, I think I'd rather level a new char than read that