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Why do I keep going back to WoW every 2-3 months?

TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
I play WoW. Have a ton of fun for 1 to 4 months. Once in a while I sub for an entire year, and play that entire year. Get kinda bored at endgame. Last longest it seems when I'm on an RP server than any other server, also I do seem to play more when I don't focus on raiding or hardcore stuff, and just play casually. Stop playing eventually because my guild disbands or/and my friends want me to play other games.

Then I go to their MMO, play for a few days and quit and go through tons of genres of games.

I start playing heavily modded Skyrim play that a good two weeks...but a few days of that is setting up the mods. The rest of the time is taking screenshots. And....loverslab xD

Then I buy a bunch of games on sale on steam, go through all. They are a ton of fun. Some are meh, some are good. 

Then I spend tons of time outside. So a good 2 weeks of that.

Start doing MMOs again. I go through all the free ones, some paid, in exact order each time of GW2, SWTOR, LOTRO, EVE, FFXIV, EQ2 and EQ1...then realize I really just want to play WoW. So then here I go again, playing WoW for another 1-4 months. Occasionally I play longer depending if I find a good guild or not.

So, why do I keep going back to WoW? Its not nostalgia, because I vastly prefered WoD over Legion (I know right). I also liked WOTLK way more than the other MMOs. That could be called nostalgia. But keep going back to WoW, that isn't really nostalgia if I liked the previous expansions more.

What is it about all the other MMOs I try that I just don't find fun, but I go on WOW and even if I only play a month...I have more fun than any other MMO. I want to really like GW2 or EVE or FFXIV, yet...here I go back to WoW.

Dunno. I assume it can't be THAT good, especially because other expansions I liked more. Legion itself is good, but class balance is so bad and don't like the changes...which kinda ruins it for me. Yet, I subbed again, and for a minimum of one month I'll have the best time of my life as far as MMOs go.

Even before WoW came out, the only MMO I liked before WoW was Asheron's Call, AO and SWG. I played AC for 3 years. And I've played WoW for far longer than that. Did like SWG and Anarchy Online too like I said. Do I not like MMOs in general? But if that is the case, why did I like AC (but not AC2) or SWG or AO? 

WoW is by far longest MMO I've played even compared to my previous favorites. Yet, I try a bunch of MMOs and its not the same at all, because I just can't get into it. I think partly the world, WoW is just so immersive in its world and quests. 

Oh, with one exception. I played City of Heroes and enjoyed that as much as WoW. So maybe some similarities there? Dunno.

But yup...so here goes one or more months of playing WoW again. Dunno why I can't get into any other more recent MMO.



My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



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Comments

  • d_20d_20 Member RarePosts: 1,878
    edited January 2017
    Similar pattern for me. Maybe because it's reliable and there's always something to do. 

    It does get kind of boring once you hit the gear grind. I'm up to doing heroic dungeons now, which is the highest level of endgame I've reached in WoW since Wrath early tier raiding. But I don't see much point in going beyond that to mythic+ or raiding or whatever. I don't see any point to doing the same thing over and over for more gear = gear treadmill.

    I pug too, because I don't want to join a guild and get into teamspeak with a bunch of strangers, etc. I can see how that's fun and I've had fun with my long time pvp guild which left GW2 for ESO and is dying a slow death over there.  

    Basically just log in to chill for a couple of hours after using my brain all day for work.

    I bounce around between a lot of games, but WoW is a  known quantity and it's not a buggy mess.


  • shadowman465shadowman465 Member UncommonPosts: 32
    I think Blizzard just has much better attention to detail. They also created the game on a foundation that did not seem as if they were in a rush to create the game. Most newer mmos are missing basic functionalities that don't make their game world feel
  • AlbatroesAlbatroes Member LegendaryPosts: 7,671
    edited January 2017
    Ultimately (and this is my opinion of course), WoW ends up providing a few things that a lot of games cannot (mainly F2P games).

    1) Pretty high standard of polish. For the most part WoW takes time out to make sure stuff actually works and has stuff properly tested for a few weeks before going live.

    2) Earned over the years its been around but its population is definitely something that tends to bring people back from time to time. We saw quite a few closed title last year alone so it can put quite a few doubts in the minds of people wanting to pursue something different but are afraid that the population might not be large enough to support the title.

    3) Class diversity will always be a mixed bag but it does offer a few different ways to play each class it has (12) versus a lot of other games on the market which tend to just say "here's your class, like it or level something else." Or if there are path systems, you may have to tend to reroll a character of the same class just to try the other path.

    4) More active pvp than other games (due to population really), people can argue on how the actual combat is in wow, but you will get matches at a decent rate and with a decent amount of variety in areas and match winning objectives.

    There's obviously more reasons as to why people come back to the game maybe 3-4 times out of the year, like the story/loot/updates etc.
  • iNeokiiNeoki Member UncommonPosts: 353
    edited January 2017
    This is a tough one, and actually I sympathize for you, because I am exactly in the same boat. Only that I play WoW during a new expansion every time, and every time a new one comes out I last less and less. Albeit, Legion did hold me for a good month and a half, but then the everyday daily world quests just got to me in the end, and I started legion later than my friends and my artifact power was so far behind.

    My most played MMO's are between Planetside/Anarchy Online/Star Wars Galaxies/EVE Online, I still pop into AO here and there and sigh when I see the wasteland it has become thanks to the suits at Funcom forgetting about it. And Planetside no longer exists in it's former glorious form so I can't pop in there, I haven't tried EVE at all in at least 2 years just from knowing flat out that it no longer has a place for me to enjoy during my casual gaming sessions. So that leaves SWG as my last nostalgia stop, and I do pop into the private server I have played on to check my vendors and see if there is anything required of my Fancy Weapon and Armor smithing.

    After I finish those rounds, I tend to swap between random games I like, be it Diablo 3 Seasons, Mechwarrior Online, Skyrim, Space Engineers, Empyrion, Division or 7 days to die. Then I go on this long check on the Star Citizen and Pantheon web pages, occasionally Camelot Unchained as well, and dread the fact that there is still nothing holding my interest and I hope they will when they finally arrive. But in the end, I think myself, you, and many other gamers have simply outgrown the new modern breed of MMO's that have released including WoW, which has sadly enough become severely dumb'd down from it's previous glory days.

    I can't tell if it's the developers just trying to feed into the broader wide range market and trying to appeal to everyone for more sales, thus removing certain aspects of immersive game play we once enjoyed. Or maybe we as an older generation of gamers are just tired of the same old same old and can't see past the fact we can't get the same satisfaction we once did from our first or second MMO's.

    In the end, I REALLY feel your pain OP, I really do. Currently playing the new Season of Diablo 3, but hitting that brick wall again after hitting a high ladder rating and gear being pretty much set. My next stop will be trying out "Fortnite" from epic games again, it's a fun base defense/tower defense mix that really reminds me of Dungeon Defenders but with your own incredible base to build that remains static.

    Good luck on your adventures.

    TwitchTV: iNeoki

  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 7,875
    I think you are all expecting too much from your games. Perhaps if you simply went with the flow and enjoy them when their enjoyable and not over think why they lose their shine you will be less miserable and not anticipate the impending loss of interest with dread.

  • FritzpowerFritzpower Member UncommonPosts: 23
    I think many many players are in the same boat these days. Espacially thoe who grew up on "ancient" mmo's like everquest, guild wars 1, ultima online, SWG, and Vanilla WoW. 
    The fact is, that not the games are being shit today. THey are actually better and better. We gamers changed,
    we just grew up and no matter if a new mmo looks like great, the are not changing any gameplay or just marginally. And we are just tired of WoW clones. My experience was that the best MMO so far was SWG.
    It was a right mixture of Themepark and sandbox. You had a universe you knew and you've got a place in it.
    I don't want to degrade any games but let's see just Rift for example. Imo it's far better then wow, still you don't know that world if you are a new to the game. WoW had 3 RTS games before it released and that 
    made you feel home. You knew the cities like stormwind, and the races, and the conflicts between them.

    Blizz did a great job with annoucing wow. You knew the world, great story, etc. But gameplay still the same as 10 years ago, and the needs of gamers changed since. 

    So to answer your question OP, my opinion is that you are keep going back because it is the world you know the best, looks like oldish but still good gameplay and there is no really better game around just some that looks better. 

    I am in the same boat and I am also waiting for the next big MMO that was felt like WoW 10 years ago.
  • DragnelusDragnelus Member EpicPosts: 3,503
    I wanna come back but waiting for come back event for those weapon traits.

  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    Addiction.

    And problems with withdrawal.

    Try spending longer than two weeks outside! Read some books. Maybe try some AAA titles not necessarily on Steam - old ones will do: Witcher, Assassin's Creed. Different types of games perhaps: Endless Legends maybe (or Civ5 or CKII if it doesn't have to be fantasy).

    And aim to extend the time between fixes.
  • ste2000ste2000 Member EpicPosts: 6,194
    WoW is charming, that's why.
    I love Azeroth, I love the wacky characters, I love the funny story lines and dialogues.
    If Blizzard didn't turned WoW into its own caricature, I would still be playing it.

  • Kunai_VaxKunai_Vax Member RarePosts: 527
    Legion was probably my last return to Azeroth. The only thing that could maybe bring me back one last time is legacy servers, but even then i dont know if it would keep me hooked like it used to. 

  • TENTINGTENTING Member UncommonPosts: 262
    edited January 2017
    I was going to add something about addiction here also, just like Gervaise1.

     But I am actually not sure in your case OP.

    It might be an element of what you are going through, but at the same time I think there is an underlying restlessness that may not actually be caused by purely addiction and its withdrawals.

    I know its a boring record to listen to, if you have heard this already.
    But maybe something like an education, a job or a partner or friend in RL would help soothe out the restlessness you are struggling with. If it is possible.

    For awhile at least.

    Because at the end of the day, some are simply just born with a restless heart and mind.

    Maybe doing something creative like, music, painting or writing ? Something that allows you to be in charge of the product you create, while training things like longterm concentrating and focus. Dont have to write a whole book or paint Rembrandt right away. Can be blogging or maybe practicing Graphic art at the comp? Maybe make your own music on the comp?    
    I say this because, what I am seeing in your writing is tons of energy, will to come up with ideas and throw yourself at new projects, while having no issue with retrying old projects again.

    You have the gift of being able to walk in and out of projects, which makes you very flexible. And you like people a lot.

     Maybe consider a job in marketing? Advertisement?

    Your personality and behavior pattern can be used to your own benefit. And with that much energy and spirit, you will be going places in your life.

     You are just not a one station kind of guy, you would want to find a hobby, work, game that allows you to travel many stations.

     Games due to their limited overtime content are not great for this, unless you chose to do what you already do. Put them down when they turn empty and return when new content arrives.

     In RL though, you will find that your whole world is your playground, because a lot of jobs require people like you, who can travel around between projects and places on a whim.

     That said, I am of course not a life guide, but if these things have not crossed your mind or if you thought what you are doing is wrong? 

     I can tell you, I see absolutely nothing pointing in the direction of a negative spiral for you.
     
     But if you are at your comp already, check out job and education options, some of the lines of work out there is a fountain for creative energetic people like you, and these places are screaming for people with your natural talents. 
     
      Flexible, spirited, have a portion of self questioning/ self reflection (Very important skill), can change to new tracks fast in life and not afraid of picking up old tracks either.

     The Graphics and music department at Blizzard wants a word with you. Maybe, but you get the idea, if Blizzard does not, there are other Companys in line waiting for you!
    Check them out! ;)

     
    Edit : And sorry for deliberately going in another direction than other people might do on the forum.
     I just think, we, those of us who are stuck in WoW or keep returning to WoW, because I am in same boat, I think we keep beating the same record, when we come up with the questions and reasons to "why do we do" and then get stuck with that too.

    Break the pattern, next time you want to check out what is new at Pantheon or the other games you check out, check out their job offerings or other sites that gives insight to jobs that might just be exactly what you are looking for.

    Daily challenges, flexible projects, maybe a lot of travelling? 

     
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,374
    edited January 2017
    Poor upbringing? Weak character? Lacking in will? Fluoridated water? Daddy issues? Seeking something new to put your faith in, a good cult perhaps? ;)

    Putting psychoanalysis and kidding aside, most modern games don't deliver anywhere near the immersive experience some us had with early versions of our favorite  MMORPGS.

    So we go back to them, in some cases to legacy private servers for EQ1, WOW, DAOC, and SWG.

    People will tell you it's all nostalgia, except it's not, having returned to a 2002 version of a favorite game my friends and I are having more fun together than we've had in years.

    So understandable why you return to WOW, for me it's EVE. On a hiatus for now but one day I'll be returning, not much on the near horizon to replace it.

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • ShaighShaigh Member EpicPosts: 2,142
    Its a combination that mmorpg progression is addictive and that lots of our actions are controlled by habits. We played those specific mmorpg for a really long time and its why many end up returning and returning. 

    I did try a private legacy server and quickly I felt the old habits get triggered by progression. Problem is that its playing group content with friends that I really liked about mmorpg and it didn't take long for me to get the same distaste of leveling as it did when I leveled up a few alts.
    Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
  • winghaven1winghaven1 Member RarePosts: 736
    Because of Blizzards amazing PR. They have tons of money to toss into great advertisements that go beyond fantastic trailers, comics and such and goes into IRL as far as huge skyscrapers showing an image of bloody Illidan in order to keep you reminded of World of Warcraft on a frequent bases. 


  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    edited January 2017
    It is most likely because you know the game,easy to login and go right at it.
    Wow is not doing anything different or creative,it is there exact same clone as every other game and actually missing some components that other games offer,so it is not about the game design that draws you there.

    Chase linear questing,yellow markers over npc heads,kill some bosses,maybe craft,yep nothing new or amazing there.
    In FFXIV you actually get a more diverse game,way better graphics,sub class system,possibly housing etc etc.Now they have also added several mounts,something i am sure Wow players like but to me they are cartoony cheap looking mounts.

    The game i always compared Wow to was EQ2,again it is not better at  doing the exact same thing.So imo people don't play Wow because it is better or offers more,they play it for several reasons,friends,the game they know,it is popular.For the majority of Wow players it was their first fray into online mmo gaming,so it really amazed them, i was already online gaming 10 years prior to that so  Wow did not intrigue me what so ever.


    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • ste2000ste2000 Member EpicPosts: 6,194
    Kyleran said:

    People will tell you it's all nostalgia, except it's not, having returned to a 2002 version of a favorite game my friends and I are having more fun together than we've had in years.

    You know how many times I debunked this Nostalgia non sense, yet people keep throwing this term around like confetti in a wedding.
    Most people fail to understand or acknowledge that 10 years ago MMOs were completely different from what's available today (not just graphically).
    Some of us got over that kind of gameplay and completely embraced the new breed of games.
    Some others still crave for that kind of games.
    I am happy you are enjoying an older game.
    Care to share what that is?

  • btdtbtdt Member RarePosts: 523
    Ask yourself this simple question... do you see yourself at 70 playing video games?  Do you want to see yourself playing video games at 70?  You may laugh now, but instead of sitting in some park staring into oblivion for hours on end, you may be sitting in a chair playing the same video game for hours on end... not because you really want to, but because you have nothing better to do.

    A lot of elderly people just repeat the same thing they've always done until the day they die.  For some, all they have ever known is work, so when it comes time to retire, they literally don't know what to do anymore.  Like all things in life, you have to train yourself, prepare yourself for the golden years or they might not be so golden.  Don't save now, you see the impact later.  Don't come up with healthy activities now, you won't take to them later.  

    If your only friends are virtual, your locking yourself away in a closet.  When you are older you're not going to magically come out of your shell and be the life of the party.  In the closet you will stay.  Habits apply to everything... especially life.  Youth seems like a lifetime until it passes... which is why it is so very much important to train yourself to do things that you want to see yourself doing when you are 70.

    Write down all the things you like to do, want to do, or want to try.  Hopefully the list is long and not brief.  Hopefully it offers you more than just video games as an outlet.   Don't wait until you are retired to start doing them.  The habits you form now will stick with you for a lifetime.  If you wait a lifetime to find out what you want to do with your life, it will likely not be the outcome you wish it to be.

    This returning to WoW is merely a sign that your life lacks anything better to do.  Now is the time to find something new to do, not fall into the habit of doing what you've always done because video games aren't going to keep you entertained for the rest of your life...  because they fail to keep you entertained now.
  • rodingorodingo Member RarePosts: 2,870
    It could mean you simply like WoW.  It's a game to be liked.  Nothing wrong with that.  There are far worse MMOs out there.

    "If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor

  • TENTINGTENTING Member UncommonPosts: 262
    edited January 2017
    Kyleran said:
    Poor upbringing? Weak character? Lacking in will? Fluoridated water? Daddy issues? Seeking something new to put your faith in, a good cult perhaps? ;)

    Putting psychoanalysis and kidding aside, most modern games don't deliver anywhere near the immersive experience some us had with early versions of our favorite  MMORPGS.

    So we go back to them, in some cases to legacy private servers for EQ1, WOW, DAOC, and SWG.

    People will tell you it's all nostalgia, except it's not, having returned to a 2002 version of a favorite game my friends and I are having more fun together than we've had in years.

    So understandable why you return to WOW, for me it's EVE. On a hiatus for now but one day I'll be returning, not much on the near horizon to replace it.

    I know 100% that you are only joking, the sad thing just is, that your first two sentences in your post is often used by people, who are actually not joking. People who actually believe that they are in the right, when they encounter a person so different to their own ideals of what a human should be like, that they are willing to just let these comments fly around.

     Since the dawn of this planet, there has always been people with high amount of restlessness, but for centuries these people would be nomads wandering around the globe, contributing towards the advancements we see in the world today.

    If it was not for these restless curious souls, you'd not have any game to play.

    Its unfortunate that we live in a time, where its hard to appreciate people that has not quite yet found their matching place in life yet.
    As if everyone is meant to be born with a full grasp and control over their own destiny.

    And when right is right, there are people who will be better off just trying to play games for the rest of their Lifes.
     I wont deny that.

    I just find that steps can be taken before that final decision.
    Some people, like the OP, have amazing futures ahead of them.

    We can make them feel like second grade people by telling them they are wrong in so many ways, or we can help them along on a path where they realise their own potential and understand that they poses exactly what part of the world is asking for.

     That said, sure, I may be wrong in my assumptions, but if you long back to a past where there was community.
     The very foundation of that community you miss, actually consisted of people who were willing to help and support, rather than tell everyone to go delete their games, cause they suck at life and or they wanna do something with someones mom or what have you, beats me what people consider helpful these days.


  • RaquisRaquis Member RarePosts: 1,029
    WOW is not worth it,maybe if you played on a server where you dont pay a subscription.
    its an average overpriced game!
  • TENTINGTENTING Member UncommonPosts: 262
    edited January 2017
    btdt said:
    Ask yourself this simple question... do you see yourself at 70 playing video games?  Do you want to see yourself playing video games at 70?  You may laugh now, but instead of sitting in some park staring into oblivion for hours on end, you may be sitting in a chair playing the same video game for hours on end... not because you really want to, but because you have nothing better to do.

    A lot of elderly people just repeat the same thing they've always done until the day they die.  For some, all they have ever known is work, so when it comes time to retire, they literally don't know what to do anymore.  Like all things in life, you have to train yourself, prepare yourself for the golden years or they might not be so golden.  Don't save now, you see the impact later.  Don't come up with healthy activities now, you won't take to them later.  

    If your only friends are virtual, your locking yourself away in a closet.  When you are older you're not going to magically come out of your shell and be the life of the party.  In the closet you will stay.  Habits apply to everything... especially life.  Youth seems like a lifetime until it passes... which is why it is so very much important to train yourself to do things that you want to see yourself doing when you are 70.

    Write down all the things you like to do, want to do, or want to try.  Hopefully the list is long and not brief.  Hopefully it offers you more than just video games as an outlet.   Don't wait until you are retired to start doing them.  The habits you form now will stick with you for a lifetime.  If you wait a lifetime to find out what you want to do with your life, it will likely not be the outcome you wish it to be.

    This returning to WoW is merely a sign that your life lacks anything better to do.  Now is the time to find something new to do, not fall into the habit of doing what you've always done because video games aren't going to keep you entertained for the rest of your life...  because they fail to keep you entertained now.

    As an oldtimer who has made many wrong choices in life, your post could come off as very wise.
    And you are not wrong either, its just.

    Being scared of making wrong choices, often just leads to making even more wrong choices out of fear and pressure.

    Balance is the key imo. Games are amazing and I hope I will live long enough to see just how far technology and the imagination of developers will go. So I sure hope I will be playing games when I am 70.
     
     Old age and the things that comes along with it, cant really be avoided for a lot of people, and a lot of people will end up at that bench, which is a really nice bench to observe life from when all comes down to it.

    OP might not end there, but in general, Id say if most of us just manage to live the remaining of our lives without wars or other grave RL obstacles, a life where one is fortunate enough to spend time in gaming, can be considered a rich life. 

    Balance is just the key, eating the same dish every day, all day, it would get boring to everyone. 
     (With ofcourse the exception of the one person, who is different in that regard also.)

    But I guess I see great potential here, maybe I am wrong, at the end of the day I dont really have a clue about anything, I just wish the best will happen for the OP.
  • EternusIVEternusIV Member CommonPosts: 1
    I've been lurking on this site for a long time, and value, and second, the wisdom shared here.  I appreciate the OP's willingness to share.  

    I suspect veteran MMO players are all in the same boat to varying degrees with our game (s) of choice, and most of the players I have met over the years were certainly never short on potential and ability.

    My 2 cents to add/support: most of us should never regret screen time.  We were all there for our own reasons and regret won't help beyond the rare case of the addict who specifically has issues with MMO addiction.  Anecdotally , For those who struggle in other ways, I've seen MMOs soften said struggle, rather than enhance it.

    Balance On.
  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722
    edited February 2017
    You keep going back to WoW because there is something you like about WoW. There is nothing wrong with that.

    Some people think that they have to force themselves to hate WoW to try and "fit in" with the cool kids that hate WoW. Seriously.... You like something, enjoy it. Life is too short to waste it on silly things like riding the hate train because the vocal minority says so.

    Also, there is nothing wrong with unsubscribing for a while then coming back. I play WoW for at least 2 months (usually no more than 3 months and sometimes just 1) every year because i play when i want to play it.


    My thoughts.




  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183
    Good question....

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • VyntVynt Member UncommonPosts: 757
    I think going back to a game you really enjoyed is because it is a known quantity.The thing is though, they're not quite the same, so you may have fun, but it doesn't last as long. Kind of like how previously stated that some do each expansion, but spend less and less time on each new one.

    I go back to some of my old games still, and even stay for a while. I stopped going back to WoW because it just changed too much for me to enjoy it. 

    I usually go back to EQ1 when they have a new progression server and often last 6 months to a year on it, which is more than most MMOs for me in the last 10 years. Of course I end up going on vacation for a few weeks and when I return, I'm no longer interested hehe.

    I think of going back to ffxiv, but the way the game is set up, having to do all the quests, and for me, it would soon be 2 expansions worth, just is so off putting.

    For the most part though I rarely play MMOs anymore. I have so many other things to occupy my time that I enjoy that I don't have the need to settle for some mediocre MMO. I do get the urge to play them every now and then, and miss them, and that is when I look around and see what is out, but often none garner interest to even try them, which is why I go back to favorites that I know I will enjoy for a while.

    At least I have a few I'm looking at on the horizon, maybe they will pan out.
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