After all this time: What holds your attention now?

[jpark]

This is a post about both retention and value proposition.  I am curious for those still playing - what still appeals to them about the game - or if there are new things that appeal to them about the game they did not give a second thought when initially released.

For me these are:

1.  Experimenting with Talents.  I love the talent trees and looking at different builds for pve, raiding and pvp.

2.  Art.  I am STILL amazed at the art of Thunderbluff.  Anytime I fly there I just gasp at the shear uniqueness of the city landscape and its inhabitants.  I still enjoy the appearance of the starting areas for Undead and Dwarven factions. 

3.  Theme.  It just seems to be everwhere.  What i loved about Thunderbluff carries over to Thousand Needles.  The goblin zep riders operators are of course in Tanaris and Booty bay with their own little communities.  Even the simple idea of horde vs. alliance carries over nicely across quests and zones as oppornity for conflict arises repeatedly.  The "new plague" quest series - along with so many funny little quests - reinforces this feeling.

4.  Being an ass.  Yes, as a full grown adult man, many months after release, I STILL enjoy cliicking on NPCs repeatedly to see their wonderful graded repretoire of annoyance :)

[Lt.Dan]

I actually think that Blizzard is doing a pretty good job of creating a variety of gameplay options for their players.  I can run 3 different types of battlegrounds, run instances, run quests, roam the wilds hunting alliance, play the market on the AH, play an alt while I build up rest xp, or collect crafting recipes. 

While slow and sluggish, Blizzard is also looking to provide further gameplay options.  Indications are that they'll be adding incentives and content for world PvP (ie outside of BGs) in some shape or form and the expansion will hopefully include content I'll be able to see.

Of course, my largest beef is that with my limited play time I'll never see faction rewards (PvP or PvE), never see high end instances, and rarely be competitive in BGs.  But that's a complaint with the entire genre and at least I can do something, unlike any other MMO before.  That and 6 months down the track, power creep will basically make me too gimp for PvP.

[Fabricated]

I dig the art style, the instances, the crafting (even if it does get easier to get epic drops than to get the stuff to craft the best Rares at the end), the talent trees (rogue being the most interesting to me...All three trees are good!), the friends I've made on there along with my offline friends I play with, and how the difficulty feels just a bit easier than "just right".

[Merusk]

It's all about the elfboobs.*



*This useless, throwaway post brought to you by a company making me work a full day but telling me, "I'll have something for you to do next week. Just.. uh.. review what you did this week."

[Ironwood]

Trying out a new class.

Hunter didn't work, mage didn't work, really, really digging the MS specced warrior.

:O)

[jpark]

Trying out a new class.

Hunter didn't work, mage didn't work, really, really digging the MS specced warrior.

:O)

Cookie Cutter!

[Paelos]

I find that I really enjoy leading groups. It's naturally part of my personality, so when it's time for someone to step up, I'm happy to do it and I like taking charge.

I like pvp, when I'm in it.

I like raids when I know the people, and I know they are cool. I love running Onyxia because it's short and fun. I don't like MC because it's the exact opposite.

I like ZG because it's challenging, but I can still drink while I tank it.

I like playing the AH for money. Buy low, sell high, greed is good.

I love to /dance.

[jpark]

I like playing the AH for money. Buy low, sell high, greed is good.

Trader!

[naum]

Been playing regularly after a long hiatus. This time, I picked a new RP server (Kirin-Tor) and am playing 3 different Alliance characters, now all in their low to high 20s - dwarf hunter, human mage, human priest. Each of them has different professions, so I can funnel trade materials to each from each. I probably get bored or buried in too much other RL stuff or get preoccupied with another game eventually, but it's been fun again, seeing lands that I didn't originally see upon initial launch, and even doing the instances with different characters.

But it seems I'll burnout once character play goes >lvl 30… …then it starts to feel more like work, than a game. Even now, professions and quests require long walks (or automated flights) across the lands and it seems an inordinate amount of time is spent organizing bank inventory and on AH attention.

It still is fun for the most part, though some zones, give a better vibe for me than others. I'd still like to just get a character to 60, just to do it. I always seem to quit on these deals once the endgame is within reach for, as stated, it starts to resemble work more than play…

[Calantus]

I like gearing my chars up. Even if it's just a low level alt getting a new weapon in Deadmines or something similar, I just love putting together a nice suit of gear. I also like helping my guildies get geared up and talk shit while we get into stupid pulls/adds in otherwise smooth-as-buttah runs because we're having fun.

[TheWalrus]

Massive group PVP. I like the large scale battles of AV even if they are just zerg fests. Actually, I like all the battlegrounds. Ok any PVP period. There. Oh and dungeons. Ok I don't dislike anything about this game. Except NE hunters. Damn shadowmeld anyway.

[pxib]

As I'm no longer playing the game, I will instead list both the things that kept me returning, and the things that would make me throw up my hands and log out for a week at a time.

THE GOOD:

1. The world. It's a beautiful and obviously lovingly constructed. Everything belongs where it stands and most of what you see on the horizon you can visit. All I have to do is walk outside of an inn and, even if I haven't played that character in months, I know exactly where I am. Each location has its own mood. Also, I never get tired of the music. I hum along.

2. The gameplay. No two classes feel the same. The warlock isn't a mage with pets. The rogue isn't a warrior with stealth.

3. Low-impact leveling curve.

THE BAD:

1. The world. I'm tired of running through useless areas because the quest demands I go BACK to kill nineteen more foozles. I'm tired of having to change continents. I'm tired of finding out everything has respawned. I don't know where the "tree in western Ashenvale" is and I don't want to go to Thottbot again.

2. The gameplay. Every class dies the same. I'm tired of dying because something respawned. I'm tired of dying because something wandered by. I'm tired of dying because it turns out the thing this yellow quest wants me to kill is two levels higher than me and ELITE and I can't find a group but, hey... I'm going to try this anyway because I've changed continents and wandered to an area nowhere NEAR a flightpath and I can't find a group and my guild is apathetic so I'M GOING TO GIVE IT A TRY ANYWAY BECAUSE I'M NEVER COMING BACK TO THIS HELL HOLE AGAIN. Oh good. I died. No, don't think I'll go back to my corpse. No, don't think I'll  rez at the angel. I think I'll just log out. Ahhhh... sweet relief.

3. Hmm. Everyone in my guild and everyone I know is level 60 now.

[Rasix]

I can give you the stock "WoW message board approved"answer to #2 on your bad list: learn2play.  :-D 

Hmm, why do I keep playing..

1) I like the art. It's stylish, it's good. I wish my troll had a better dance.

2) It plays well on my laptop.  Not much does.  A good deal of the MMORPGs won't even run on a 32 meg graphics card. 

3) The PVP can be pretty fun.  AV is fun until you realize your side isn't going to get their shit together.  AB is just fun, rain or shine.

4) It's easy to level.

5) It's easy to get something done in less than an hour.  You can get a lot done if you have 2.

6) First game I've ever max leveled two characters.

7) The game has humor and pop culture references.  Everytime I see quest named something like "Rise of the Machines", I smile.

8) Despite the tedium of most PVE raiding, I like the boss fights.  They are crazy fun.

9) I like killing elves. 

I dislike that some things I can never acquire or accomplish due to a limited play schedule.  There's plenty I don't like.. but.. it's really the best MMORPG out there for me. 

[pxib]

I can give you the stock "WoW message board approved"answer to #2 on your bad list: learn2play. :-D

Oh that's right, I forgot.

4. I suck at the game.

4a. My father is better at the game than I am.

edit:

So I was thinking, "Hey, it's been a while since I tried this out... maybe it's fun again." Popped online. Played for about half an hour before I died because every quest I've got required a group and it's impossible to find a group and I suck at the game. I have officially uninstalled WoW. My account is entirely my father's now. I'll let him know on Christmas morning that he can start playing my old characters and/or stop sending them money and items.

[cevik]

So I was thinking, "Hey, it's been a while since I tried this out... maybe it's fun again." Popped online. Played for about half an hour before I died because every quest I've got required a group and it's impossible to find a group and I suck at the game. I have officially uninstalled WoW. My account is entirely my father's now. I'll let him know on Christmas morning that he can start playing my old characters and/or stop sending them money and items.

I hate defending MMOGs, because it always comes back to bite me in the end, but if you think WoW requires grouping then you've obviously never played EQ.  I've leveled a Priest to 56, and only grouped about 10-15% of the time (try THAT in EQ!), and I've got a warlock to 29 and he's never been in a group once.  This is by far the most solo friendly mmog I've ever seen.  About the only thing I can think of that can't solo through the game is a holy speced priest, and if you're a holy speced priest, wtf are you doing trying to solo.  I mean that build exists only to serve groups.

As for what is keeping my attention in the game: PvP.  I love killing Elfs.  It pleases me greatly.  I've slowed down on the priest for awhile (WAY too many group invites when I log on now!), and I've moved to my warlock, which (slightly twinked) manages to destroy in the 20-29 WSG.  :)

[TheWalrus]

 Doesn't that elven death howl just make your day? And the lil spin the females do is great. I almost feel bad killing gnomes because they're just so damn cute.

[jpark]

Doesn't that elven death howl just make your day? And the lil spin the females do is great. I almost feel bad killing gnomes because they're just so damn cute.

I found I got over this instantly 

For the Horde!

[cevik]

Doesn't that elven death howl just make your day? And the lil spin the females do is great. I almost feel bad killing gnomes because they're just so damn cute.

I dunno.. I hate gnomes as well.  I usually try to beat them to death with my staff instead of finishing them with spells, just for the humilation factor.  I usually yell something like "I AM THE GREAT GNOME DESTROYER" while doing it.  I imagine the lovely hollow sound their head makes as I crush their brains out of their ugly little ears.

[jpark]

Doesn't that elven death howl just make your day? And the lil spin the females do is great. I almost feel bad killing gnomes because they're just so damn cute.

I dunno.. I hate gnomes as well.  I usually try to beat them to death with my staff instead of finishing them with spells, just for the humilation factor. 

That was quite funny.

[Yegolev]

The draw for me is pretty much just the comedic adventure that defines everything my friend and I do.  Running out of gas on the interstate in West Virginia in the middle of the night in below freezing weather, or trying to help him kill some quest demon in Duskwallow and failing miserably... it's all good fun.  The game itself is pretty "meh" to me, especially since I have become unhealthily-infatuated with EVE Online, and I am playing Dragon Quest VIII and Shadowhearts.

[Hoax]

I play because there isn't much else to play right now and my friends play and are having fun so I'm trying to have fun.  Its not working.

I sold my priest account, which meant I was in trouble.  Then I was saved when someone from our group gave me his account complete with a 60 warrior.  I meant to level a priest anyways, but got to 14 and promptly said fuck that.  I have played the warrior ever sense, but I hate it.  I need gear, mostly I need a 2hander that isn't ass, his currently is a just under 50dps blue world drop axe.  That doesn't fucking cut it on my server.  So I'm grinding AV, every night, I grind AV, I grind and grind, and grind and grind.

I've got 24k rep to go, when I get there I will have an epic mount, TuF and Don Julio's my warrior will be much better.  Hopefully I will have gotten to rank6+ despite the low honor gain so I'm close to upgrading my gear to blue pvp set.  But there is a good chance when I hit exaulted in AV I will quit.  Having accomplished something, I will just log off and not come back, again.

My only real hope of not burning out very soon will be if I pick up the 36 warlock on the account and level that with a buddies priest.  Unfortunately warlock might not work for me in pvp and if I get him to cap and find I dont like him, I'll definately quit.

[cevik]

My only real hope of not burning out very soon will be if I pick up the 36 warlock on the account and level that with a buddies priest.  Unfortunately warlock might not work for me in pvp and if I get him to cap and find I dont like him, I'll definately quit.

If you get a warlock to cap and find you don't like him in PvP, respec.  There are enough different ways to spec Warlocks in PvP that you'll EASILY put yourself into 50g respecs before you play them all.  And Warlocks play so different with each of the specs it's almost like a different class.  Try SM/Ruin, SL/Nightfall, DM/Ruin, SM/DS. 

Heck, the difference between an SL/Nightfall build and a SM/DS build are so drastic that one is a Mage with an uber buff (and no pet), and the other is a damage reduction class with staying power (and an uber pet).  You go from Nuking to DoTing and kiting with one simple respec.

Be sure you have Servitude Ressurection and ShardTracker Ressurection, this is doubly true for Nightfall specs.  One of those two (I think it may be ST) will play a sound when you get a Nightfall proc.  You will learn to LOVE that sound (it should just say IWIN, but instead it plays some creepy sound).  I've been in the 20-29 PvP group with my lock for a week, and I've not lead the kbs in maybe 4 games (games where no one else was playing defense, so I played defense, I'm interested in my team winning, after all).  It may all be different at 60, but I doubt it.  From the talk I hear the Warlock is THE class with the most variety.

[Morfiend]

Doesn't that elven death howl just make your day? And the lil spin the females do is great. I almost feel bad killing gnomes because they're just so damn cute.

I absolutly LOVE how after you kill a Night Elf, they drop to their knees. I enjoy it so much I have hundreds of screan shots of NEs kneeling before me as they die.

As soon as they die, I stop moving, and savor the goodness. Also, it is sweet ina lore sence since Im undead. Oh yeah, and then eating them. Pricless.

[cevik]

As soon as they die, I stop moving, and savor the goodness. Also, it is sweet ina lore sence since Im undead. Oh yeah, and then eating them. Pricless.

A warrior friend and I (both undead) were running through capping flags in AB the other night, and after we killed a NE Rogue (one that I see ALL the time and I love killing her), he hit canabalize just as she hit the ground.  It was one of my favorite moments in game, to see the last NE at a flag fall, and then the moment she did, to see my friend tear into her and hear that (almost slurpy) sound it makes when they start eating them.  Man I love that ability.. :)

[jpark]

As soon as they die, I stop moving, and savor the goodness. Also, it is sweet ina lore sence since Im undead. Oh yeah, and then eating them. Pricless.

A warrior friend and I (both undead) were running through capping flags in AB the other night, and after we killed a NE Rogue (one that I see ALL the time and I love killing her), he hit canabalize just as she hit the ground.  It was one of my favorite moments in game, to see the last NE at a flag fall, and then the moment she did, to see my friend tear into her and hear that (almost slurpy) sound it makes when they start eating them.  Man I love that ability.. :)

I fought a duel in the badlands once against one alliance member from a trio (we just put our pvp flags on).  To incite his remaining two comrads to arms - I fed on the body of their fallen friend.  They couldn't take it - both attacked me - and upon being both flagged - my mage buds joined the fray :)

[Tebonas]

Just for completeness sake.

Nothing, I quit after hitting 60 and dabbling in raids until the end of Molten Core.

I did this retention thing with Everquest. It doesn't work out for me anymore. On and away to new shores.

[Yegolev]

One more bit... I like helping my bud and he likes helping me.  I am feeding mithril to his engineer and his main kills junk for me.  Those warrior quests are getting done in record time thanks to a bit of level 55 rogue help.

I sort of screwed up last night, though.  We were getting seals or charms or whatever from the elementals in Arathi, just outside Hammerfall.  A ?? elf rides by and spots my 35 warrior (Veroline).  I think she's going to keep chugging towards the portal, but she wheels around and starts eyeballing me.  My friend Killjoy, of course, is already stealthed and moving in but something must have tipped her off, I think, because she rode off after staring at me for a few seconds.  Could have been that I was just standing there watching her, or maybe it was that she thought it odd a 35 warrior was soloing level 39 elementals.  I have to work on not looking so much like bait, I guess.

[cevik]

I sort of screwed up last night, though.  We were getting seals or charms or whatever from the elementals in Arathi, just outside Hammerfall.  A ?? elf rides by and spots my 35 warrior (Veroline).  I think she's going to keep chugging towards the portal, but she wheels around and starts eyeballing me.  My friend Killjoy, of course, is already stealthed and moving in but something must have tipped her off, I think, because she rode off after staring at me for a few seconds.  Could have been that I was just standing there watching her, or maybe it was that she thought it odd a 35 warrior was soloing level 39 elementals.  I have to work on not looking so much like bait, I guess.

Unfortunately (due to my friends starting WoW before I did) I am on a PvE server, so I can only do this in BGs, but the same tactic may work in the real world (but I have yet to test it).  When I'm alone at LM in AB, I'll stand on the alliance side of the hill giving direction via /raid so that people know where to defend.  When I see a group coming up the hill to LM, I'll take a few steps towards them, then start emoting /wave or /cheer or /rude at them like a madman.  80% of the time, the group will turn and run off, looking for a different flag.  I assume it's because they cannot see past me (you can't see over the crest of the hill at LM in AB when you're moving up the path), so THEY must assume I have a few defenders with me to have such bravado.  I can often hold the LM flag alone the entire battle doing this, only occassionally having to fight one or two rogues that stealth up (which are usually easy pickings for a shadow priest).

I imagine the same principle applied here, you didn't run, the ?? elf assumed you must have had a reason not to run.  The more cocky you look, the more likely they are to decide it's not worth it.  :)

[Jayce]

I quit at 58, which pissed me off because I have never max leveled in a game before, and I was SOOO close.

Then I resubbed and finished leveling to 60 in a new guild that has it together.

Now I'm actually raiding ZG regularly as a casual player.  I never thought that would happen.  I still play a max of 4 hrs a night, sometimes 5 or 6 on weekends.

Also, it occurred to me the other day that now, having seen the endgame, it seems to me that there are no entirely useless classes.  It seems like a crime that there were ever classes like DAOC blademasters that were perpetually gimped and no one could figure out how to retreive them*.

Other than that, yeah, what everyone else said.


*I have no idea if DAOC blademasters are still gimped. I only know they were when I played (so long ago I can't even use my CD any more)

[CaptainNapkin]

I still can't stop playing, never thought too much about why that is before, why ruin a good thing right?

Friends - My girl plays along side me, we have mains that we've duo'd till we finally hit 60 a few nights ago.  I've also got a small group of RL friends that play, and even though we rarely group due to level differences, we've got a chat channel and bs constantly. So regardless, I always have someone to at least shoot the shit with, if not do more.

Alts - I'm an altaholic, I have countless characters on countless servers I can always log on and play when I need a change of pace. And I actually enjoy each and every one of them.

The Art and Music - It's been mentioned many times, but I still find myself just looking around and taking it all in here and there. I'm in no rush, and that affords me the opportunity to just fart around and enjoy the world.

The Pace - I go a slow pace, I don't care to be uber, I don't do raid type stuff, and even instances are few and far between (more as I got higher level). What this allows is for things to happen like getting a green item and still being able to get excited about it. I guess most would say I'm underequipped or gimped even, but I never thought so. Our rogue/druid combo rocks everthing we attempt for the most part, and now that I'm getting into BGs, I'm holding my own even with my subpar equipment (coming out of AV with more killing blows than deaths is a victory IMO). Even at 60, there so much "stuff" for me to get and upgrade our gear, I don't see there being an end to it yet.

Trades - I just love the trades, and even the gathering, for me it's fun and usefull. For instance, I do engineering just to make and use the wacky stuff and be able to run around with a deep dive helmet on my head. The trades are usefull, interesting and can make some cash, what else do you need?

Man, I really sound like a fanboi, and I guess I am. I still really cannot think of anything that I have come across in WoW that I disliked. If I put some thought into it, I guess I'd say that long BG queues are a bit annoying, but to me they aren't really that bad since I just sign up and go do whatever I'm going to do regardless. If I get in, I decide at that point if I'm still interested or not. I just made the habit of joining a queue before heading out for the night.

The only thing I regret is that I didn't start at first on a PvP server, now that I've dabbled and seem to like it. I've got alts on one but nothing too high level, and my friends aren't there. At the beginning my girl didn't want to touch PvP with a 10 foot pole, now I can't pull her out of the battlegrounds and she even made alts on the pvp server. I should have seen that coming though, since under 2 years ago she never touched a video game and now I can't pry her away from them.

Oh... how could I forget... my main being a much hated Night Elf, I mostly enjoy doing my homo mangina dance on the corpses of all my horde victims 

[Yegolev]

Oh... how could I forget... my main being a much hated Night Elf, I mostly enjoy doing my homo mangina dance on the corpses of all my horde victims 

Do you, perchance, play on Crushridge?

[CaptainNapkin]

Do you, perchance, play on Crushridge?

Unfortunately my NE main character is on Earthen Ring non-pvp server. And the toons I made on pvp servers (Daggerspine and Emerald Dream) are Horde. I'm smacking myself for not going pvp from the beginning.

[Cheddar]

I am officially turning my account off.  I sent my extra cash to Urmine (minus a small amount in case I resub) and am focusing on EQ2 and EVE.  I am really loving EQ2 once again.  COME PLAY WITH ME DANWA, ZUG, AND TRAGNY!!!

(psst.  Righ, Schild, SPT, and Signe are all in EQ2.  Recipe for fun!)

[jpark]

I am officially turning my account off.  I sent my extra cash to Urmine (minus a small amount in case I resub) and am focusing on EQ2 and EVE.  I am really loving EQ2 once again.  COME PLAY WITH ME DANWA, ZUG, AND TRAGNY!!!

(psst.  Righ, Schild, SPT, and Signe are all in EQ2.  Recipe for fun!)

Finally, someone mentions EQ2 in the WoW forum  :-D

[MrHat]

Bah, can I play for free?