I’ve been going through a rough patch recently, and It will be quite a blow to some of the people who read this, but then again, maybe not. But basically, Burnout has hit me. I’ve been raiding almost weekly for the better part of the past three years. It started with Maerdred in ZG, moved steadily up to AQ20 and MC and Aq40 and transitioned to Leveling and Raiding Kara As quickly as possible when TBC came out. Kara lasted months and then the guild grew again and we hit Gruul, SSC, TK. This lasted for what seemed like years, but was actually just a few months. Mount Hyjal came after that, and The dreaded Black Temple.
As we floundered in the Black Temple last spring and summer, I took the opportunity to level up Maerrakech and start raiding Kara and ZA with my cousin’s guild. He actually hit 70 in June last year and never looked back. We never had the numbers for the larger raids, so we’d team up with guilds for the 25′s and that went okay for a while. Then with Wrath last November, more leveling and BOOM Naxx 10 raiding started in early January. with 25′s coming mere days later. From that point I haven’t looked back, other than the couple weeks between the fall of Kohrruption and my subsequent move to Unemployed.
I’ve raided at least once every week with Unemployed, and most weeks, I’ve raided all three nights we’ve been active. The only week I missed was when I was on vacation in June, and I have one coming up next week.
So, when I explained to a new friend that I was busy every Wednesday and Thursday because of raids, I was hit with what amounted to a quizzical stare and “why not just not go?” At that moment I knew I’d lost her. She was on her own. Video games are video games and you can decide not to play whenever you want. right? “and dont they understand people need to do whats best for them? in the end its a video game.”
This is what she said to me.
I agree 100%. as I am sure everyone in my guild agrees. I’m sure that you, constant reader, agree. It is just a video game. and it’s my $15 to spend how I see fit. and If I don’t want to raid, it’s up to me. Right? Well It’s not that simple. It’s a difficult Decision. It’s one of the hardest decisions a raider can make. When has it become too much to bear? When is it OK to let your guild down and stop showing up? I joined this guild for one reason. They needed healers to raid, and I wanted to raid. If I walk away, I’m letting them down, just as I am letting myself down. If I step down from raider rank to be casual, how many people get screwed by not having a Tree Druid in their raids? 24. Being personally responsible for 24 other people’s ability to raid at their best is not something I’d wish on anyone.
Try explaining that to someone who doesn’t raid and it’s an alien concept. Try telling someone who’s never witnessed the game? Yeah… three-heads. There’s no way she can understand how frustrating it is to have 23 people show up for a progression night. She has no idea how much it kills me to think that next week, I may be one of the 2 who doesn’t show, causing the guild to backslide. She doesn’t get how I understand it’s just a game. and I can choose to play it when I want, but It’s also SO much more than that.
How do you explain that to someone in terms that they’ll understand? Imagine that I’m the Catcher for my Softball team, and I carry with me all of the equipment for my job, and one weekend I just decide not to show up. Well guess what. None of my friends can play because all of the Catching equipment is in my car, and I didn’t show up. Is that a close approximation to this? I think maybe it is.
Now, the bigger question is this: Why is softball more socially acceptable than World of Warcraft? But that’s news for another day…
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