lol i saw that pic, and it reminded me of the WoW episode of South Park

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1 boar down, 65,340,284 to go.

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1 boar down, 65,340,284 to go.

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The Wrath hype and the level 30 mount patch brought me back to WoW after a 6 month hiatus.

Oh and that Questhelper addon is a godsend for people looking at a full quest book.

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Back on topic-

I agree that one of the draws of WoW is the tangible rewards you get for time spent. As the author says, it really is a Time Spent=Reward game. Sure, once you hit the level cap and start prusuing end game goals, that formula is quite as true. There will always be a payoff for doing things in game. As for grinding, the only thing that will keep you doing the same thing over and over is the goal of getting a reward for doing it.

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Not like soviet work camps. Those guys were never rewarded directly for their efforts, which is why they didn't make the effort, and why communism doesn't work.

No, the grind more like a psychology lab experiment with mice. Run the maze, press the button, get a pellet.

Mmmmmm...pellets....

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I stopped playing a few months ago, but kept reading Wowinsider (I maintain that talking about WoW and thinking about Wow is more fun than actually playing Wow- not that it's not incredibly fun), but with all the Beta info coming out, i just couldn't help it and I started playing again.

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Part of my enjoyment of the grind is knowing that there's now much less of it. 1-60 was a breeze post leveling nerf and 60-70 looks to be just as easy pretty soon.

My third toon I intend to level to 70 should shatter the record of my previous best (5 days on a PALLY for gods sake, and without the AoE shenanigans). Not only does that class get crazy buffed in Wrath but my guild despertly needs shaman. No more "your night to sit out, rogue" crap.

Also, I'm looking forward to all that "hunter mail" becoming enhance gear instead of just wearing it and pretending that it was built with shamans in mind.

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" Increasingly, we live in a world where time invested doesn't always
equal reward returned. But while grinding in a game like WoW, it
always, always does, and that's why we love it so much."

i think this explains a lot of the popularity of wow especially in
the post-9-11/iraq war/economic meltdown world we're currently living
in. i've often thought that in our world (at least in america) where a
college education doesn't go as far as it used to and the gap between
the wealthiest and the poorest continues to grow, being part of a
world where your hard work and effort gives you tangible results and
even reputation among your peers (try standing around orgrimmar
sometime in fancy gear and see how many random tells you get praising
your accomplishments ;)) has a definite appeal. who would've thought that a video game would finally give people a chance to live the american dream?

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"Why? Because we're rewarded for it. Increasingly, we live in a world where time invested doesn't always equal reward returned. But while grinding in a game like WoW, it always, always does, and that's why we love it so much."

Second the thought on this excellent quote - probably the single best description of why I enjoy WoW. I am an academic researcher, and a ton of my stuff has two to three year timelines - daily effort never seems like it amounts to much. But I come on WoW, kill some more squishies in AV or some clefthoof in nagrand, and I'm rewarded - tangible action leads to a tangible result. Thanks for writing this - made me feel a little better about all the time I waste on this game :-)

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Or the smarter way is to spend a couple of hours every so often amid your usual week and work that Rested Bonus. I've blitzed a warrior of mine from 40 - 54 in a few hours over two weeks. +Rested +Level Nerf = 70.

If you really enjoy your WoW, rotate characters like stabled race horses. I'm going to love Resting my 70 for WotLK :D

To add joy to this scenario, in my character's 'downtime' I play AH over the week and make a chunk of change, obtain new gear and then blitz those hapless monsters again..

some are addicted to 'Crits', I love watching the XP bar leap whole quarters every time. He's on the money there.

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I like the grind. It's a peaceful, and relaxing way to wind down after a day at work. I fire up WoW on one monitor, and some TV show or audiobook on my other, and just grind through my questlog. I always love that rewarding feeling I get whenever I return to whatever quest hub I'm at with nine or ten quests to turn in.

Sure...the rewards for my effort are intangible and meaningless once I log out of the game...but if you enjoy yourself and have a good time...how can you say you wasted your time?

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