During a 10 man run last week, a very interesting topic came up. One of our tanks mentioned how they know a guy who has max gold on 5 characters and is working on a 6th (whether this is true or not, I really have no idea but that was his claim).  A member of the group, who I will call Joe, pipes up and says “That is just stupid. They do realize that someday all of WoW will be gone and they are just wasting time right? It’s just a game.” 

Now before I go into reactions I would like to tell you a little bit about Joe. Joe (claims to) know “everything” there is to know about WoW. Knows the history, the benefits/weaknesses of all the classes and has 9 alts. They spend a crazy amount of time on the game, putting it above their regular lives most of the time. Everyone knows this, and it is pretty common knowledge.

I have no problem with people devoting their time and effort into the game. I have played for 4 years so I know what that is like. The game is a hobby and people like to participate in hobbies. But I found what Joe said kinda odd. Why would you say that someone is wasting time in a game that you spend a great deal of time in. It seemed very contradicting to me. Most people feel that WoW is just a game. Most understand there are lives outside of the game, and that is all well and good. And we all know that WoW will not last till the end of time. But if Joe felt this way, why did he put so much time and effort into WoW in the first place? Why was he even still playing now?

Someone in the group was thinking the same thing and asked, “Then why are we even all here and still playing the game? Why are we wasting our time?” Joe never responded, and instead we went on to get some tries on Hard Mode Sindi.

But this left me pondering…if WoW is a “big waste of time” and will just be gone eventually, why do you play? I am sure we have all been asked this question before, and probably mostly by non gamers, but I think it is a good one to put out there.

I play for many reasons all of which I know are different from reasons others play. I play because I like the game, my first and most plain and simple answer. I have not always loved bosses and people and I really hate leveling, but in general I like playing the game.

I also love my main character. Ever since I first played a Resto Druid, I knew it was for me. Just the feel of the game, the excitement of healing, it was all right up my alley.

I play for friends. Some of the people in my guild or that I have met over time, I would call my best friends. We do not just talk on the game or about the game but they know me, even without meeting me. When we have taking breaks from WoW, we would still talk. I would miss my friends and know WoW is a great place to meet people. Heck I even met my husband in Shadow Labs! So WoW will always hold a special place in my heart.

I play because I love raiding. I may hate to level with a passion, but raiding is the most fun I ever have had in a game. The teamwork, the accomplishment, everything about a raid drags me in and I just want more!

So what about you? Why do you play? Has there ever been a point where you really questioned yourself in your WoW hobby?