Required comic link of the day.

[Fabricated]

I thank RO for making me shudder whenever I hear "HEAL PLZ".

[MrHat]

Nice.

I've given up on the whole gameplay/grind thing.  When you play games (any game) you waste time.  They're there to waste time.  How you waste time is up to you.  I don't like the idea of most efficient use of spare time.  It's spare time.  Just use it.

[Xanthippe]

I've given up on the whole gameplay/grind thing.  When you play games (any game) you waste time.  They're there to waste time.  How you waste time is up to you.  I don't like the idea of most efficient use of spare time.  It's spare time.  Just use it.

Beautifully said.

[Pococurante]

I've given up on the whole gameplay/grind thing.  When you play games (any game) you waste time.  They're there to waste time.  How you waste time is up to you.  I don't like the idea of most efficient use of spare time.  It's spare time.  Just use it.

Agreed.  I really do enjoy just exploring, learning (and often dying - whee!) quests on my own time w/o Thott, and crafting/selling.  When I do feel any pressure to level it's because of things like WoW's level requirements for crafting.

The closest thing I do to grinding right now is just taking quests from a different faction than mine - I think it would be nifty to have another factions' mount to better fit a character concept (Orc Warlock => Undead Mount)

[Murgos]

Nice.

I've given up on the whole gameplay/grind thing.  When you play games (any game) you waste time.  They're there to waste time.  How you waste time is up to you.  I don't like the idea of most efficient use of spare time.  It's spare time.  Just use it.

It's well said but it is wrong.  The problem is that the game demands more of your spare time than you actually want to give it.

EQ being the classic example.  I don't know if things have changed but you could not log in for 30 minutes in EQ and have a reasonable experience.  You would have actually have had to spend time in advance preparing to have a 30 minute game session where you accomplished more than a very limited subset of play, none of which any reasonable person would find fun.

[NiX]

It's well said but it is wrong I disagree.  The problem is that the game demands more of your spare time than you actually want to give it.

There you go.

[MrHat]

EQ being the classic example.  I don't know if things have changed but you could not log in for 30 minutes in EQ and have a reasonable experience.  You would have actually have had to spend time in advance preparing to have a 30 minute game session where you accomplished more than a very limited subset of play, none of which any reasonable person would find fun.

Let me repeat, I don't like the idea of effiicient use of gaming time.  If you want to spend 30 mins walking around LFG in order to spend 2 hours (of your FREE TIME), then that's what you do with your free time.

It's no more 'productive' and you don't 'accomplish' more than watching 2 1/2 hours of TV.

[Paelos]

Yes, lets turn this into another holy war thread about how watching TV and gaming are the same. Note, you're facing the choir.

[MrHat]

Yes, lets turn this into another holy war thread about how watching TV and gaming are the same. Note, you're facing the choir.

Substitute TV with <your hobby here>.

God damn I'm tired..on a side note, our stuff is off to Maryland!

[Xanthippe]

I have to admit though, that I sometimes do grow annoyed when I see others around me who are so much more efficient at gaining levels/gold/phat lewt/whatever than I am.  Then I typically go visit web sites so that I can try to improve my xp/gold/loot gain.  After maximizing my efficiency, I come to realize that I'm not having much fun in the actual game itself anymore - just pushing that lever over and over again.

Sigh.

[MrHat]

I have to admit though, that I sometimes do grow annoyed when I see others around me who are so much more efficient at gaining levels/gold/phat lewt/whatever than I am.  Then I typically go visit web sites so that I can try to improve my xp/gold/loot gain.  After maximizing my efficiency, I come to realize that I'm not having much fun in the actual game itself anymore - just pushing that lever over and over again.

Sigh.

/agree

[Sogrinaugh]

I have to admit though, that I sometimes do grow annoyed when I see others around me who are so much more efficient at gaining levels/gold/phat lewt/whatever than I am.  Then I typically go visit web sites so that I can try to improve my xp/gold/loot gain.  After maximizing my efficiency, I come to realize that I'm not having much fun in the actual game itself anymore - just pushing that lever over and over again.

Sigh.

What you are essentially talking about is quitting one game (WoW) to engage in another - indirect competition with other people, using WoW as a measuring stick of success.  Once this shift in focus is made, from playing with whatever combination of elements attracted you to the game in the first place, to using those elements as tools in a competition, the elements themselves become trivial, and you will tend to view them only in light of how much they enable or hinder your path to victory.

In any competitive endeavor, you pretty much have to accept that almost the entirety of the joy or agony you will expierence is wrapped up in success or failure.  The process itself is secondary.  This seems to remain true even for those who love the game the most.

If triumph within the game (improving your character relative to other people, or crushing them in combat) brings with it no great thrill, or if this is simply something you are unable to achieve frequently enough to mitigate the discontent that you experience, then it would seem that this isn't a game you aught to participate in, unless you are masochistic.  Of course, this might be impossible, considering how driven humans are in general to compete.