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War Locked
My relationship with World of Warcraft is a sordid tempest of love and loathing. On one hand, there is a part of me which recognizes that a rather sizeable sum my money is slowly being funneled into Blizzard's pocket. This, of course, is the stifled voice of rational thought as it desperately tries to drag my addled mind back from the bitter euphoria induced by massively multiplayer gaming. However, anyone who has actually played World of Warcraft recognizes that Blizzard has somehow managed to lace their game with a peculiar quality far more common in narcotics than in games.
I first started playing WoW in the middle of open beta. From there, I played the game on and off for quite some time before that tiny, rational part of my brain managed to convince me to quit altogether. The simple fact of the matter was that I was no longer having fun. As a huge fan of the Warcraft series, the initial draw for World of Warcraft was that it was the World of Warcraft. However, after playing my warlock to the prestigious level of 60 (which was the level cap at the time), I found myself realizing that, while the game certainly had the "world" aspect of the game down pat, it seemed to be missing quite a bit of the "warcraft" part. So, as many children are wont to do when a new toy loses its luster, I cast WoW to the wayside and devoted my time to more productive endeavors.
I had been clean for quite some time when Blizzard launched The Burning Crusade. To my credit, I initially ignored this new development with the notion that Blizzard had lost sight of their original vision, and that no mere expansion pack could remedy this.
I made a grave error.
One year after the launch of Burning Crusade, I began to undergo a severely belated withdrawal. My soul itched for another MMORPG, a stigma which was certainly not alleviated by the persistent goading of my friend Kevin. Needless to say, I succumbed to the game's siren call a mere month later.
My reactivating my account filled with a mixture of joy and despair. By this point, the armor that I had worked so hard to acquire was now obsolete, and the general populace had moved on in my absence, leaving me with a large amount of catch-up to do. But even in the face of this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, there was new content. The endgame was no longer home to a slew of nameless and insignificant beasts. Instead, players now faced such legendary adversaries such as Archimonde, Kael'thas, Vashj, and Illidan Stormrage himself. With these new additions, new life has been breathed into the land of Azeroth. Certainly, the game seems poised to hold my business for a little while longer, if only to the point where I discover whether or not Champions Online will ultimately be worth my time.
posted by Elvon @ 05 Mar 2008 10:30 37 am - 0 Comments