I've recently been pondering if, and when, I should retire from raiding. Playing with 24 other people to accomplish a common goal is a wonderful thing. The teamwork and exhilaration from downing a boss for the first time is something that's hard to put into words – it's fun, challenging, frustrating, and all around a great time.
But when is it a good time to stop?
Everything eventually gets old and dies. Yes, one day our beloved WoW will no longer exist; even though that might be a couple decades from now (although I have my doubts WoW will ever truly go off-line, but that's another article). What I want to be sure happens is that I leave this activity I love so much on a high note – and not leave when it's become a pain and something that I'll look back disfavorably upon.
Right now my life allows me to raid. I have classes and WoW Insider work during the day, and at night I have time to raid for a few hours and hang out with the girlfriend and other folks as well. That strikes a good balance in life – allowing both things that I want to do by myself (WoW), and things that I want do with others (girlfriend, friends, etc...)
You may remember the raiding guild Risen, from the Alleria server, for their work in Naxxaramas back before The Burning Crusade, being among the first to grab Atiesh and the Corrupted Ashbringer. They're back at the forefront of WoW news again, but this time for a different reason. They've decided to tap out of raiding until WoTLK, and they aren't being very shy about telling us why, with a post on their website under the oh-so-witty title "World of Casualcraft."
It's amazing to me exactly how hard instances can be.Not the mobs, but the group.We've all been in ugh-PUGs before.Some players don't understand how to use their class or play nicely in an instance.That's only on regular dungeons; heroics have their own set of potential disasters. Sometimes you just have to give up.
Putting a group together for instance can be extremely difficult, and sometimes you have to take what you can get.While there are many excellent tanks out there, the shortage on my server makes for slim pickings. Folks who think that pulling aggro off the tank is an honor make up another problem.I am occasionally guilty of trying to heal and DPS at the same time. I'll admit to causing a wipe or two because of it.
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. Quitting a guild that you've been with for a long time is usually a difficult experience, but it's much worse if you happen to be an officer. An officer giving up and leaving can be one of the most demoralizing events that a guild must endure. In many cases, it sends a message to the members that the leadership is fractured or impotent, and it's only going to get worse. Hence, the opportunities for drama are legion. This week, one reader shares her experience and asks how you can quit as an officer without stirring up too much trouble.
I read WoW Insider all the time, and never thought I'd actually send in anything, because I was so happy with my guild. We were a wonderful nice little social guild. We helped each other with instances, some of our higher up members (myself included) would run lower toons through instances when we weren't doing anything else. We were even starting to attempt to break into raiding.
I was excited to say the least. I was an officer, and I loved my guild quite a bit. I still love the members. I think they're all very smart, wonderful players. We had a raid set up. Simple, practice raid. Nothing to fancy schmancy. Zul'Gurub. On a Monday we'd all gotten together, and decided that it would be Saturday at 1pm. We're all looking forward to it. We are all excited about it. Then Saturday comes.
Reader Marc sent us this story of why he got fired-- just by reading it you can tell that there were probably other things going on the workplace, and the good news is that he sounds like he's better off looking for another job, but basically there was a misunderstanding at work, and as a result he was sent home for a half day. And to show his (sarcastic) thanks, he emailed back the screenshot above of his Tauren hanging around a node in AB, complete with MS Paint-ed gratitude to his co-workers and boss.
Of course, as you might expect, the next time he showed up at work, they asked him to pack his things and go (apparently, even though one of his managers was impressed with his HP, they considered the screenshot sending the last nail in the coffin).
We can't exactly advise anyone to quit their job to play WoW, but in this case, Marc sounds like he was on his way out the door anyway. Here's hoping you land on your feet and find a job where they appreciate you, bud.
If you're going to quit the game, why do it with a boring video showing you disenchanting epic gear or deleting characters decked out in the game's best loot? At this point, practically everyone seems to make the same "I quit!" videos when they decide to leave the game behind. If you're going to quit, do it with a little panache, as seen in this 300-style "I quit" movie.
Over at Casual WoW, Delaney has compiled a detailed list of the various options players are given when attempting to cancel their subscription. Yes, before you can cancel your account, you're required to select a reason from this Blizzard-provided list. (Just above the pulldown menu offering you a list of reasons you see the graphic and text above, including the sad news that, by quitting, you're making this poor peon cry.) Some of the more interesting options include:
Content / Unexpected Genre
Harassment / Conflict with player/guild
Other Game / Ultima Online
Technical / No Computer
Other / Offline play not available
But take a look at the entire list: it's clear that someone at Blizzard has put a good deal of thought into all the reasons players might be leaving. And I agree with Delaney's opinion -- to heck with the stats Blizzard provides us on most often killed monster, etc, I'd love to see a percentage breakdown on these exit stats.
Before you yell at us for saying the sky is falling (again), that's not what we're saying at all. WoW has lasted for a long time for a lot of people-- more than almost any other videogame out there (in some cases, ever). For some people, including this first round of bloggers, it's run its course. Just because they're quitting doesn't mean the end of the world (of Warcraft) is upon us. In fact, it doesn't even mean the blogging is over-- Tobold quit a week and a half ago, and he's still blogging about WoW. My guess is that both bloggers will be back when the next expansion hits.
But then again, it's kind of sad that these WoW veterans are stepping out of the game. At least it's productive-- Tobold quit partly because of attunements, and they were lifted the next day. Maybe now that Pally Sucks is RIP, that ret Paladin review will come sooner than we think.
"Treacherous" on the official forums pointed out a new CM opening on the Blizzard site, then asked if Tseric's recent absence was somehow related. The very next response was Eyonix with the following statement:
Tseric is now pursuing other opportunities and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.
While I know Tseric's opinion wasn't always popular, I did think that he was an excellent CM for a very long time. He brought some of the better zings to the forums, and until the last bit, was generally a pretty nice guy from what I saw of him. Many people are still hotly divided on whether or not it was his right to reply like he did to that one post... Was he right or wrong to reply in that gruff of a manner? And just how far is too far when you're dealing with customers?
Obviously we don't know if he walked out on the job after dealing with the forums for 2+ years, or if he was let go due to that bit of forum head-explody that happened. (And Blizzard wouldn't dare tell anyone because that's a lawsuit in the making.) But in either case, I personally would like to wish Tseric the very best for his future, and I hope we'll hear from him somewhere down the road.
I've noticed an astonishing number of players on the forums claiming, at least, to be ending their relationship with the World of Warcraft that we all know and love. Complaints are all over the map -- warlocks are overpowered, warriors are underpowered, fear needs to be nerfed, too much lag, too much downtime, too few world events... Indeed, everyone has their beef with the game, but with the recent patch throwing a lot of things up in th are, a number of players seem to think it's just not worth coming back. But what about you? You're reading a game-related blog, which hints that you're still in the game. Do you see the game's last straw somewhere in the immediate future, or are all of these quitting announcements dramatic nonsense?
Ok, so it has Tom Cruise in it, which breaks one of my most cardinal rules...but it also happens to be the best Tom
Cruise movie since that one all those years ago where he wore a little elf-suit & fought the devil with a unicorn
horn. You'll see...
I've recently been pondering if, and when, I should retire from raiding. Playing with 24 other people to accomplish a common goal is a wonderful thing. The teamwork and exhilaration from downing a boss for the first time is something that's hard to put into words – it's fun, challenging, frustrating, and all around a great time.
It's amazing to me exactly how hard instances can be.
First Tobold
![[This is the face of shock, I'm telling you.]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.wowinsider.com/media/2007/05/shockcat.jpg)
"Treacherous" on the official forums pointed out 
I've noticed an astonishing number of players on the forums claiming, at least, to be ending their relationship with the World of Warcraft that we all know and love. Complaints are all over the map -- warlocks are overpowered, warriors are underpowered, fear needs to be nerfed, too much lag, too much downtime, too few world events... Indeed, everyone has their beef with the game, but with the recent patch throwing a lot of things up in th are, a number of players seem to think it's just not worth coming back. But what about you? You're reading a game-related blog, which hints that you're still in the game. Do you see the game's last straw somewhere in the immediate future, or are all of these quitting announcements dramatic nonsense?
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