Farewell, World of Warcraft

The last time I logged into this soul-sucking game was early-October 2008; five months later, I feel confident enough that I have really left this phase of my life behind, thus this post. Audrid told me that a blog post is unlikely to give me any closure, but that's exactly what I'm seeking, so here goes.

I first started playing this game in July 2005, when my then-boss Jon took me to the World of Warcraft launch event in Singapore. Jon had started a couple months earlier, and had been raving about the game in the office. We managed to snag a couple of free copies of the game at the event, and that got both Mel and I started, on the US server of Moonrunner. It was quite a ride, not unlike a soap drama, complete with anger and retribution, laughter and tears, and even some near-death experiences, thankfully it did not involve me.

In the course of my three years in a video game, I made friends that would last me a lifetime, and experienced more than I imagined I would in a virtual world. I came to realise that behind the pixels are real people, with real motivations and lives and emotions. They may be exaggerated by the GIFT, but they were authentic, sometimes even more so than what we see out here in the "real world". That is still one of the under-appreciated bits of the game that few come to recognise.

But I digress. Three years is a long time to be playing one game, even if the dynamics change every so often. The magic died in late 2006, when a few individuals decided that their own interests outweighed that of my guild's. It's a story that I do not wish to recount, but needless to say that was the point where the game became too serious to be a game for me. But the friendships I made kept me going. The content may change, the game itself may change, but the friendships made never did.

Eventually though more and more friends quit the game. It was inevitable that my day would come, and the fact that it took that long was quite a surprise. I was burnt out; I never got to experience the top content, and in hindsight, that remains one of my regrets. I also regretted failing to deliver 25-man content to the guild I was running. That was perhaps my biggest regret. We had good people, and good players, but the lack of 25-mans killed it. I doubt I will ever come to terms with that.

But I don't regret my time spent in the game, without which I would have never met people like Alec, Michael, Rory, Eric, Ryan, Kyle, Cody, Edson, Audrid (the only one I still cannot call by his real name), Rebecca, Cathy, Edwin, Micah...the list goes on. Some I know only by their in-game names, and even them I miss fondly. I don't miss the game though. The hours of grinding, the disappointments, the drama, the politics...those I could do without.

To end on a good note, I'm listing some of the unforgettable moments I had in the game, more for my own benefit than anyone else's. WoW will always be special to me, and the friends I made in the game are some of the best people you can hope to meet. So here we go, in no particular order.

1. When Rory went "Oh...my...fucking...god. Oru do you love me?" This was after we downed Ragnaros and he finally dropped my Eye of Sulfuras, which I needed to make my Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros. It was perhaps the one moment I felt that I've "made it" in the game. That my good friend and partner-in-crime looted it to me made it even sweeter.

It took some time to get the weapon made of course, and Eric did more than anyone to that end when he brokered a deal to get it done. And for that, I owe both of them.

2. This one is Ragnaros again. I've downed my fair share of raid bosses, but the first time I saw him, as well as the first time we killed him, was something I can replay in my mind for the rest of my life.

3. When Unity broke up in 2006, and we had to rebuild, those who chose to stay behind left the guild in my hands. That trust in me was invaluable, and though the road was rocky, we made it a hell of a ride, clearing Karazhan on our own and never looking back. It was one hell of a raid group, filled (with some exceptions of course) with talented people. That period was the toughest and most memorable for me.

4. The moment I got my old PVP rank of Commander. It was under the old system where time spent is more important than winning, but achieving it was no mean feat. It was also a mark of trust from the GM PVP group that I ran with that they celebrated with me. Without them, I would have never gotten there. Also, getting my Arathor Battle Tabard.

I'm sure there are more, but those come readily to mind. Farewell, World of Warcraft. It's been special.

Posted via email from trapper's posterous