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SickleSigh on 22 July 2011
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CommonMan said:
Alic0004 said:

WoW sucks you in because you start to feel like you have an obligation to the other players you meet and the friends you make. The social aspect of games like WoW is way beyond what you find in most console games, many of which don't even encourage you to play with the same people more than once (random matchmaking).

Quitting WoW doesn't just mean not playing the game any more, it means dropping every friendship you've made inside the game, often forever, because if you ever want to go back you'll be much lower level than your old friends. So you not only lose the experience of playing the game, you lose what for many people is their main social activity, their most active set of relationships, and their favorite topic of conversation with friends. (In-game friends, but friends all the same.)

It also means giving up on your ambition to reach the highest level, or (assuming you're at the cap) your ambition of having the best gear or stats of anyone on your server, or anyone in your guild. These things have a strange power when you're in a virtual world with thousands of other people.

I think the draw of WoW goes way beyond the gameplay itself, which is what most games attempt to draw you in with.

I'm sorta confused, these "friends" you make on WoW, couldn't you say "hey, I'm quitting this game because I want to experience sunlight again, can I call/skype you?" and then do so? Wouldn't you then have gained real relationships with people and also freedom from an obligatory gaming experience (which to me makes it seem less fun and more, well obligatory) at the same time? If not, then you've really not made friends yourself but your WoW character has, which is about as deep of an experience as my pinky gets when it's mining nose gold.

I know I necrod this post but I quit WoW again and this post makes a lot of sense now.

When I had to raid I was forced to give 20+ people my cell number so If I am ever late they could contact me. I talked to these people for 6+ hours a day but the conversations majority of the time revolve around WoW or internet chat. Nothing is personal and people go out of their way to avoid personal conversations. Your relationship to other raiders is ranked on how well you percieve the player is at the game. I looked up the "good players" who were top DPS or heals or lead the raids.

The obligation to play non stop is made even worse by this because playing more and helping raiders do their heroic daily or help in arena/bgs puts you in a better standing with them. So a 4 hour raid day turns into a 10 hour event of doing nothin beneficial for your character but your social reputation instead.