Well, it's finally happened. Made it official by posting on the guild forums: I'll be taking a break from the game until the spark reignites. Well, not the entire game, just the only activity I was actively engaged in outside of garrison chores and weekly Ulduar runs: raiding.
Last week I decided to sit out for our Heroic/Alt raid just to see how it felt to not raid when no obligations were keeping me from doing so. When raid time rolled around, I felt that familiar tinge---part routine and part desire, unsure of each's weight in the equation---but it didn't last long. There was a small feeling of being left out, but I quickly squashed that, as this choice was mine.
I've been involved in organized guild raids, whether as leader, planner, or assistant, since the summer of 2013 without taking a break. Even on a 1-night schedule, much time was spent planning, leading and organizing while helping to maintain a guild. It was honestly a lot of fun, but also demanded quite a bit of my time. Now three years later, the raid is an undeniable success and the guild seems a well-oiled machine. Given that, I've been to pay a little more attention to the feeling of burn-out.
Last fall's life change offered some new perspective as well. When you've got a great deal of the future planned out in your mind's eye and suddenly the RESET button gets hit, it tends to make one pause. I'm grateful to have had my guildies' support during the time, and the option to continue part of the routine I'd known for so long. I'm still working out how much I want my hobbies, like music and gaming, to fit into this uncharted expanse ahead of me. Stepping away, in light of the above, seems the wisest thing to do at this point.
And if it were only the two things I've listed above, I might stick around a bit longer. But there is a third prong: Warlords of Draenor's lack of appeal to me. I won't even waste the time to go through what I liked and didn't like. The fact is, I wanted to enjoy this game as much as I've enjoyed all of the previous expansions. But I didn't, and nothing's going to change that at this point. My hope is that what drew me to and kept me in Azeroth isn't completely lost. I want to like Legion, too. I'll remain cautiously optimistic for the time being.
Ulduar Runs Continue
My squad of four characters have already been through Ulduar this week and are currently resting until next week's adventure. One byproduct of next week's run will be the acquisition of the legendary mace on my priest, the second character overall to complete the chain.
Gold Collecting
This week's tally saw me eclipsing 700,000g. Exactly two weeks ago I reported that I'd eclipsed 600,000g, meaning I've averaged 50,000g per week since then. Again, this is accomplished without stepping foot outside of my garrison. I'm confident I'll see the gold cap well before Legion's launch.
Cheating on WoW
I dove into the Darkest Dungeon for a while, but the repetition and brutal challenges in that game have led me to put it aside for a while in favor of an MMO I first checked out a few years ago: The Secret World. Look for a Gaming Affairs post on that title soon!
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