A farewell to arms

Hi everyone.  Real talk time.

I don't know how many people are subscribed to this blog, or check it routinely, or whatever.  I don't keep close track of the statistics.  I know that I haven't done much with updating over the last year or so, so it'd surprise me if I had a big reader base who will be disappointed by what I'm about to say.

But here it is.  I alluded to it in my last post, and further revelations which have come to light about Warlords of Draenor have only solidified my resolve.

I am not currently planning on purchasing WoD.  My days as a WoW player appear to be behind me.

I don't like the "no flying until 6.1/ever" attitude of the devs.  I don't like the "let's hold off on new content for well over a year with no explanation" business decision.  I don't like the removal of story from the side quests.  I don't like the Draenor perks, I don't like the wibbly wobbly timey-wimey storyline, I don't like that we're going back to somewhere we've been before.

I don't like that the primary feature of the expansion, garrisons, is explicitly called out to be relevant only through the end of WoD.  It's bad enough that we'll have to hop back on the gear treadmill; building a town and then having to abandon it when 7.0 drops is even worse because it's a treadmill that we'll get invested in.  Unlike raiding, where the treadmill is the burden we bear to enjoy the content, with garrisons the treadmill is the content.

So, I'm done.  I'm out.  For the first time since I started playing, I don't think I see myself coming back.

This has been a long time in coming anyway.  Pretty much ever since Arete broke up back in 2010.  WoW is ten times more fun with friends, but the game has been moving away from being a means to make friends for a while.  I don't know anyone who plays or is interested in playing, so the game has to keep my interest on its own merits and it just can't do that anymore.  Hasn't been able to for a while.

If I come back, it'll be because I'm playing with friends again.  Or because I got nostalgic and decided to log back in for old time's sake.  Which'll probably happen, knowing me.  But it'll be temporary.

So where do we go from here?

I'm not really feeling MMOs in general anymore, to be honest.  I was intrigued by the World of Darkness game before CCP torpedoed it, but, well, it's been torpedoed.  EVE hasn't been fun since they made exploration so easy.  Wildstar looks vaguely interesting, since its "professions" provide a little extra above and beyond the standard quest grind, but I'm not sure it's worth paying for.  I'll probably drop some cash on Secret World once I have a job again, and I'll still dick around Star Trek Online, but in general I think the days of "MMOs are my primary hobby" are behind me.

If someone gives me something genuinely new, I'll give it a shot.  But it's fairly safe to say that this is no longer a WoW-player's blog.  Content going forward will be outsider's commentary, or discussing other MMOs.

It's been fun, guys.  Thanks for reading.