Ennui Go

Interesting article over here on what the author calls “WoW-nnui,” a sort of, “Huh, kinda getting tired of this” feeling that more World of Warcraft folks (in his circle) are feeling these days.

Last night I logged in to WoW for the first time in a long time. I visited my characters one by one, but didn’t stick around to play very long despite finally having an evening free to play. I felt a distinct detachment from my characters and soon recognized my old friend, game ennui.

Now I don’t mean to sound like I’m spelling doom for WoW (or MMOs in general!). Far from it. I don’t know WoW’s sales numbers, but as far as I know their box sales remain at or near the top of the charts. And of course there’s a much-anticipated expansion pack coming up that will give them a welcome, if perhaps temporary, bump in their usage numbers.

But in my case, not only could I really not gather any excitement about playing these characters, knowing as I do that I just don’t have multiple hours per week (much less per day!) to play them, but the more advanced the character the more difficult it was to get back into. I could sorta drive my 22lvl hunter; my 37 warlock was almost incomprehensible — and for many more expert players such levels are “lowbies.” Remembering all those spells, weapons, abilities, talents, etc., just seemed like way too much trouble.
And all the quests that were driving these characters’ progress were entirely meaningless now (this is the danger of external motivation—it’s just too easy to lose all sense of why I should care about an entirely artificial set of quests).

I’m involved, loosely speaking (given my lack of attendance), in several different guilds on PvE, RP, and PvP servers. In each, multiple people I know — both those with multiple level 60 characters and those who have never come close to that — have sort of run aground on the over-and-over again gameplay, whether that’s yet-another-kill-X-creatures quest or yet-another-raid for yet-another-piece-of-armor. No one I’ve talked to dislikes the game; there’s no sense of having been spurned
or that the experience has curdled. But in even the best parties there seems to sometimes come a moment when, amidst the music and noise you and your friends silently agree “great party; we’re outta here.” For some people that moment has come with WoW. And I’m guessing that trend is only going to accelerate.

File off some serial numbers, and swap some nameplates, and this could be CoH/CoV. I continue to be interested in news about the game, I’m curious about stuff coming out in I8, even having some character plans around it, and I have a Level 40 that’s been forging along — save for my only playing a couple of times in the last week-plus, due to other commitments — plus a stable of other characters who deserve more time in the sun.

But, honestly, the burn just isn’t there for me, these days. When I have a few free minutes — or even a free evening — I’m not instantly diving into CoX. I’m not regularly staying up to Midnight, to get in one last missoin. Part of it is a “been there, done that,” part of it is being distracted by other interests (good and bad), and part of it is the latest round of dramatic brouhaha that’s not only messed up the community but soured me on the whole associated environment.

I dunno. Not quitting any time soon, as far I as know, and I expect I’ll be playing more in the coming weeks than I have been. But, honestly speaking again, I know exactly the feeling the author of this essay is talking about, and I can imagine a time (in a way I couldn’t a year or so ago) when I won’t be playing CoX.