Roadblock Ahead

You ever read a blog and immediately felt like they were speaking right to you?

Kadomi over at Boldly Nerd had a post today “Could I be any worse at blogging?” and as I read it, I found myself nodding along with her. It's been (let me check) a month (yikes! So sorry!) since my last blog. I guess I should really write an update.

I find myself in a remarkably similar situation to the one Kadomi describes.

Early June, I was totally stoked for Wildstar and I had blast that first week or so. Even now, when I play it, I have fun, but I don't get to play it all that often. Like Kadomi, by the time I’m done with dinner and getting the kiddos tucked into bed, and spend a couple of minutes in adult conversation with my wife, it’s every bit of 10:00 pm. My wife is a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) now so she really needs a little adult conversation at night.

Since I have a full time job, I need to be heading off to dreamland by midnight. That leaves roughly two hours or so of free time. The weekends don't afford much extra time. 

Games have been a big part of life since I first sat down at my Atari 2600 with Pitfall Harry. I'm a geek (or nerd - whatever) after all. Congratulations if you got the reference or have your own fond memories of your Atari. 

You are now officially old.

As far as MMOs, I'm still subbed to Wildstar, but I haven’t logged in since early August. My Engineer is level 25 and helping these Easter bunny looking guys get a wedding together in Whitevale. I still want to support Carbine because they made an amazing game and they are pumping out content like nobody’s business. But I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it up.

The big concern I have is that I’m not sure that Wildstar’s endgame is really for me. I see the hardcore endgame and the long attunement chain. I'm pretty sure I won't ever be attuned. By the time I get to 50, people are going to be really burned out on the attunement dungeons. Already, I'm seeing 30 minutes plus queues for dungeons and adventures. I assume this is because everyone has leveled past me. But I don't see my pace improving.

The days of me playing an MMO 25+ hours per week are over. 

But more than that, I’m not sure I’ll ever be good enough for Wildstar. My reaction time is way off what it was when I was main tanking my way through Ulduar. The further I get into Wildstar the more I'm dying to what I'm sure would be considered simple mechanics by end game standards. My first run through Kel'Voreth had me tanking the floor more often than not and that was running with 50s who had busted down to my level.

I'm subbed through October, and then I'll have to decide what to do. One option would be going back to WoW for Warlords if I can find a good community that can raid around my abbreviated schedule and didn't mind my slower than molasses leveling pace. The cinematic was pretty cool, and the simpler combat might be something I can still manage. No, I'll never be a "Mythic Raider". #notgoingtohappendotcom. Flex would be about the most I could hope for (maybe). But I know I'll be able to experience the entirety of WoW's endgame, and not face a roadblock that says "Go no further!".

I do really like the...err... flexibility that Flex Raids provide. If I need to bail or I can't make it, no big deal. The raid self-adjusts.

If I can’t get my schedule to work for even Flex raiding, I can still do LFR in my limited playtime. I know it's been derided over the past, but it really is a nice option if you are strapped for time. Another bonus is I don't feel anywhere near as guilty if I have to get up to take care of one of the kids during an LFR as I would during a 'real' raid. They might not even wipe after I died.

MMOs seem be on a general decline. If a guy was 19 when WoW came out, he’s 29 now. I was considerably older than 19 when WoW came out. 

Let’s just leave it at that ;-) 

MMOs need to ask themselves why they aren’t attracting this generation’s 19-year-olds in the same numbers they did a decade ago.

For me though, it might just be best to finish this ride where it all began, back in Azeroth.



Image Credit: "3d Man With Construction Elements" by renjith krishnan / Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net