Why I am done with WoW

Cataclysm is around the corner and with the promise of worgen and Deathwing, I once again find myself really, really, really considering running out and buying the damn xpac. BUT, I'd also have to buy Wrath and that does give me pause. Fortunately I have come to my senses and here is why:

We started playing WoW in November of '04. We hooked up with a friend in January of '05 and threw ourselves in 100%. We played until November of '08, at which point, it was time to quit. I found myself shaking my staff at newbies who did not know who Nef was. I found myself pining for the good ol' days of actual rep grinding. And fishing, my most beloved of past times, was now popular. Egads!

I remember when Scholo was a friggin' PITA. Before the original nerf patch, when the instance was at least a 2 hour venture. To anyone who remembers these days, all I should have to say is the zombie room and have you cringe. I remember when UBRS required an actual strategy. I can remember wiping at the end, and having to sneak back in cat form to rez a damn priest or pally.

I remember when Vael was referred to as "The Guild Breaker." Longest 4% of health EVER. I remember spending hours upon hours of grinding, killing, gathering and collecting to get 3 pts. of rep. I can remember farming for hours to trade for dark iron ore to get the damn +22 enchant.

I remember AQ40 and the first time you encountered Hulu. I can remember spending hours looking for a damn group to go fight a world dragon. But most importantly, I remember being the one of the first druids on our server to have full Stormrage, the diamond ring from Nef and the pineapple staff from the world dragons.

And then Burning Crusade came and my epic, pimped out gear was suddenly gimped and I had to do the level grind again. Okay, I guess. Why not? Wait ... the friggin' draenei? Wth?! Gah, nvm, the raging fanboy is trying to digress.

The game was suddenly filled with n00bs who thought the rep grind was a PITA. Who would never see Nef. Who would never farm for Wildheart. Raiding was lame, PvP was lame... I was just over it.

Now people with whom I work want me to get back in the game on a "casual" basis. The problem being that I am not a casual player. I want to raid, and raid it right. I am a farmer. I will log on 4 hours before a raid and craft, enchant and cook to prepare. I will be at the instance 30 minutes before and help summon. And God help us if someone is late or if we have to PuG. Because 4 years of a world where PuGs were embedded in the 7th level of hell, have ingrained within me that I do not party with people I do not know. If I'm logging on to go party with strangers, what's the point?

I miss joking on Vent and hearing Med yell for more Dots, more DPS! I miss cursing Sheyla for drawing aggro. I miss Pally tank healing. I miss the good old days. And no amount of bells and whistles can bring that back.

And really, the people with whom I work think I'm strange enough as it is. I don't need them seeing that I'm a friggin' hardcore, old school MMORPGer, too. :)

Awaiting "New Vegas."

While I've had very little game time as of late (work is insane), I have to say I am genuinely happy for "New Vegas." (I will be at the midnight release, come hell or high water)

It may come as a surprise to those who know me that "Fallout 3" appealed to me in the least. While I vastly prefer Warhammer 40,000 to Warhammer, and am not a huge fantasy book fan in general, I do prefer my RPGs to be fantasy rather than sci-fi. "Dragon Age" was far and away better than "Mass Effect" to me, and I must preferred "Morrowind" to "Fallout 2."

But for some strange reason, "Fallout 3" really struck a chord with me. The plot was "okay," and the difficulty curve was definitely on the shallow end (as someone pointed out, I was wallpapering my house with money, health and ammo), but there's something about the ginormous, "eh, do what you want..." feeling to a game that I really like.

"Oblivion" annoyed the pants off of me because of the damn Oblivion gates. The gates were little more than plot-driven cliff racers, though there wasn't a patch to get rid of them. And, as a devout Morag Tong supported, it galled me to join the Dark Brotherhood. But I digress.

"Fallout 3" sucked away more hours of my life than I care to admit to and I genuinely enjoyed every aspect. It was one of the few games that I did not want to beat because I didn't want it to be over. But eventually all things must end and after a few DLCs, I beat the game and retired it to the game-case.

"New Vegas" looks like the equivalent of "Bloodmoon," the expansion pack that, as anyone who knows me knows, I revere above all other x-packs. As I griped here (seemingly) an age ago, "Dragon Age: Awakening" was one of my biggest disappointments in x-packs. It had substance, but no purpose. "New Vegas" (like "Bloodmoon") looks to have both.

Hopefully I'll see y'all at midnight. Now, it's back to drooling over Tyson Rios in "AoT: 4oth Day," because there's something wrong with my head. :)