I don’t know if it’s because it’s summer (in the northern hemisphere) or the lull before the expansion, but the burnout bug is starting to catch. Lots of bloggers have mentioned it lately: Vonya, at Egotistical Priest; Tsukikoh at Black Grimoire; Cayleigh from Married IRL, just to list three.
Interestingly, I’ve been in a bit of a gaming funk myself, I think. I’ve been retired for three and a half months now…at first, I was in game from breakfast time till bedtime, with a short break for dinner (a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to how much I was playing while working…).
Lately though, I have only logged in during the day to research something, or on weekends, or at the request of a friend to help out. Sure, I could use more badges, but I really don’t want to run heroics all day every day…and logging the priest in means guildies or friends want a healer.1
And of course, I log in for raids. So I was supremely bummed last night when the raid was called once again due to low turnout. I love raiding: I’ve made the point that I’m seeing content now that three months ago I only dreamed of, and I’m afraid I may not see it all (i.e., Black Temple, Sunwell) before Rash comes out.
I’m not thinking of quitting, by any means. But lately, working on the blog, chatting with fellow bloggers (often about WoW), reading blogs (about WoW, mostly) seem more appealing. And perhaps that is my defense against burnout: To not log in, run heroics ad nauseum, do mining runs, farm herbs, do dailies, and so on. WoW still brings me loads of pleasure and entertainment2, but it was very, very easy to log out shortly after the raid was cancelled last night.3
Sure, I need badges: I still need new legs—[item]Adorned Supernal Legwraps[/item]—for Osprey and the Chocobow ([item]Crossbow of Relentless Strikes[/item]) for Talonis. I’d even like to get Falken and/or Kestrel geared up: As my jewelcrafter and enchanter, they’re pretty much done progressing without dropped patterns.4
Of course, it could just be the dog days: My home office gets quite warm in the afternoons due to a western exposure, even with the air conditioning on, and really doesn’t cool off well before I go to bed.
But my granddaughter will be visiting for two or three weeks starting Saturday, and a Hawai’i vacation in September should really get me recharged. In the meantime, I hope to hell we have enough people on to make a serious run at that damn phoenix tonight!
Notes:
- Sucks to be good, eh? ↩
- Such as the punishment one of our Tanks and I inflicted on the guild prior to our latest attempt on Al’ar. ↩
- But I did make some improvements to the blog afterwards, including revising the header banner and reinstating my links and categories! ↩
- A tip for anyone contemplating professions for a main character: Gathering, jewelcrafting, alchemy, and enchanting. Forget leatherworking, tailoring, and blacksmithing. Engineering would be in the middle. If you’re a clothie and need the tailoring for level 70 armor, then level up jewelcrafting, alchemy or enchanting too. Then get a gathering profession once you’ve made your caster gear. ↩
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{ 15 comments }
Oh Kes,
I know exactly how you feel mate. I haven’t quite caught the bug but I can empathise with you. My guild died recently and I haven’t been getting loads of raiding time in my new home.
I’ve had a lot more time with my fiancee and to level fishing and professions before the expansion.
I’m even thinking of levelling a 19 rogue that I’ve been using as a bank alt, to collect herbs ready to level inscription on my Priest when wotlk hits.
Like you, I’m not going to quit by any means .. But I’ve definetely seen a steady reduction in people’s activity and willingness to perform at their peak.
Well, let’s see what happens in a month…summer will be over here, kids back in school, vacations (holidays) over. But I sure would like to hear more gchat about tonight’s raid target rather than Rash of the Itch King.
I think a lot of people are burned out, I know I’ve probably rambled about it in my own blog too much! My guild is withering (though I hope WotLK brings a lot of new “water”), I myself am less interested in raiding/end-game and much more interested in alts, and all and all my previous weekly-raid-schedule has sort of turned into a monthly-raid-schedule.
I think it is summer + pre-expansion blues… that’s my guess.
Pike’s last blog post: Life, the Universe, and Everything
I thought you had, Pike, but couldn’t find your post on it, else I’d have linked you too.
I think it’s a matter of wanting something, anything, new. For you, it’s alts; with 5 70s, not so much for me. That’s why I’m loving my raids–it’s ALL NEW to me! (Even Kara isn’t boring. Yet.)
I totally know the feeling there Kes. I’ve been doing nothing but wow in my free time recently, and it’s been wearing me down a little too much to be honest.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s time for a break from wow completely, but I don’t think I could tear myself away enough for that… not yet anyway.
Softi’s last blog post: I haz BETA key… shhh!
And why should you? Granted, you have the wee ones, and I am sure WoW gives you some rest from the hassles of motherhood. But still…cutting back is probably a better option than quitting.
One thing I forgot to mention is that for the very first time today, I idly (and I mean IDLY) considered applying for a beta slot. But then I’d feel obligated to play…even though I don’t have a lot of faith in the beta process as anything more than a stress test. (Have been burned by betas too many times in the past.)
Beta cured my incipient burnout. :>
(Although to be fair, starting on antidepressants didn’t hurt.)
Good, on both counts!
Burnout is for losers. What you put into this game dictates what you get out of it.
megan’s last blog post: Better, Faster, Holier
You know, that’s a good point, Braids: I think a big part of my current frustration is the fact we’re trying to progress, but we’re having a helluva time killing the bosses we need to kill. Right now, Leotheras and Al’ar are kicking our butts. The 1% wipe on Leo the other night just totally bummed me.
Tonight, back at Al’ar, and we couldn’t get him lower than 15%–on the next try, we’re doing EVERYTHING right and suddenly, two tanks and two healers are dead. Dominos from there…
So I’m busting my ass, being encouraging, healing everything in sight, NOT dying (thereby adding value to the raid)…and we just keep wiping. So I feel like I’m putting in a lot more lately than I’m getting back. Gah. I need a beer. Or ice cream.
Kestrel’s last blog post: Burnout, or Just Lethargy?
Remember. It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself and spec 41 into emo melodrama. It’s easy to feel that everyone around you doesn’t put forth the effort and/or doesn’t understand you. It’s easy to chalk it all up to summer/expansion woes.
Who the hell wants easy, besides 4 year olds and people with no spines?
Make the best of it, always put forth 110% even if other people aren’t (lead by example), and sometime in the future it’ll make some grand storytelling/memories.
If it’s of real value, if it really builds your character (not just ingame, the real you behind the toon), it’s not supposed to be easy.
megan’s last blog post: Better, Faster, Holier
Stagnation in progression can almost always put people in a funk. Especially if you feel that you are giving it 200% and you’re just not getting anything back. But I’d have to say that there will be many more fights just like the ones you describe. Their names are Vashj, Kael, Archimonde, Council, etc – I agree with Megs. It’s easy to fall into that pattern.
I would agree with Megs’ advice as well. Leading by example or taking some time to identify what it is people are having trouble with. Flame patches on Alar or early DPS on Leo? When we are stuck on a fight it usually helps immensely to say ‘we really need to zero in on X’. To feel like everyone else just isn’t doing enough gives way to bitterness, and raiding is supposed to be fun! Never bitter.
Jive’s last blog post: What Council? I don’t see any Council..
I think our biggest difficulty with progression is not having the same people in the raid every night. We usually have anywhere from 3-7 people who’ve not seen the fight before, or did it with a healer and now they’re DPS or something similar. So, the learning curve takes a lot longer to level out than if we had the same 25 people for 2 or 3 nights.
Sounds to me you need to take a break for a bit. Give it a week or two and relax without having to worry about raiding. If it feels like a job, then it’s not a game.
Khrule’s last blog post: Nerd Alert: Rp Story
Oh, it’s not the raiding that feels like a job: That’s one thing that DEFINITELY keeps me logging in. I love raiding! The wipes are frustrating, but I know they’ll happen. The frustration of not getting a boss down is one every raider shares to some extent, I’m sure.
What I’m tired of (at the moment) are dailies; not having quests to do (any quests Talonis or Osprey have need at least 3, and usually 5 people); farming.
Nah; I’m fine with the game…but two (and very nearly three) consecutive nights of called raids hit my QQ button very hard.
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