There really does come a time when I am powerless to resist the call of a polished and stable game. Taking an inventory of the current releases and future releases for the next eight months, it quickly became clear to me and many others in our K&G Community that there really are no MMO’s to look forward to anywhere in the near future. The closest MMO worth waiting on is Star Wars and that’s not until next year.  Perhaps you can relate to the boredom that ensues when you realize there are no MMO’s to play. Regardless of what other neat games might be out, without a MMO I feel like a part of me is missing. Instead of suffering for eight months, many of us decided to take a stab at an old favorite.
About twenty of us have resubscribed to World of Warcraft. Instead of just transferring characters and playing the end-game, we decided it would be much better to replay the game all over. Most of us have made brand new characters without transferring or getting the aid from our old chars. We rolled on the Emerald Dream (RPPVP) server Horde side. Why Horde? We know that when Cataclysm comes that many of us are 100% set on playing Goblins. Establishing our guild beforehand just made sense.  Why start over when most of us have 80’s? We want to see “vanilla” WoW again before it is permanently altered. There’s a sense of nostalgia at work as well as recognizing that “vanilla” WoW is the best leveling experience of its kind.
We’re playing through all of the old content and making sure that we do every instance. Most of us are approaching or in our 20’s. We’ve run Deadmines, Wailing Caverns, Ragefire Chasm, Shadowfang Keep, and we’re preparing to run Blackfathom Deeps, Stockades, and Razorfen Kraul. Bottom line, we’re playing all of the content. Since the EXP curve was flattened, it’s not hard at all to level and most of the content is out leveled easily. Picking and choosing which zones to play in, as well as being able to do it at a relatively fast pace, means that nothing about this process is tedious.  We’ll eventually hit up all the old 5-man’s like Scholomance and eventually even do all the raids like Molten Core and BWL.
Ultimately we will be in our 70’s and then reaching level 80 before Cataclysm releases. Then what? We have the numbers to do all the 10-man content. (We still have plenty of room for more as well if you would like to join us.)   We’ll be working our way through the WotLK 5-man, then Heroics, then starting the 10-man stuff and gearing up casually — Onyxia, ToC, and eventually ICC. Ultimately it’s our goal to do the content and have fun.
There’s only one way to play WoW now and I’ll stand by it being the only legitimate way to enjoy this game as a GAME and not diminishing it into a meta-game activity: Playing with good friends. When playing with friends it’s about slightly more than the gear grind. Working through the content with the intent to see it, completing content because we’re all skilled players who enjoy dungeon runs, and then working towards achieving something for the group rather than the individual is how we plan to approach the game. For example, the other night we were in Wailing Caverns and laughing ourselves to tears and chatting it up having fun. Normally a run through Wailing Caverns is boring, but this was different.
When Cataclysm comes out we’ll be set to experience the Cataclysm content and roll up our Goblins (and other alts). Like I said at the start, it’s just too long a wait to not be playing a good game. This will be the very first time that I actually play WoW with a large group of friends. In the past it’s been with just a couple of friends or as a hardcore raider or power-gamer. It’s a totally different experience with friends.
how does one get ahold of you guys? I’m thinkin bout resubing, and doing the same thing.
Ummm. Geez. Really? WoW?
I have done this a few times. For me each return has been worse and shorter than the first time I played. That being said, the first time I played with a large group of close friends. Pre-TBC with all of them was the most fun I have ever had playing a game. While at this point WoW does nothing for me, I envy your ability to return to the game with friends. I am constantly searching for that experience and community, and always coming up short.
Nice blog btw 🙂
Yup once again you are correct Sir Keen. I resub’d a few days ago and having a blast. It’s so amazing at the lvl of detail and polish that WoW has. It actually makes all these other mmo’s I have been trying to make work look just that much more worse.
I have done that too not so long ago. For a very brief period it seemed great, then the reality hit home once I understood just how little challenge was there at any level.
WoW has been nerfed into a brutal simplicity! Are you aware that Wailing Caverns can be single manned with a level appropriate character? See the Greedy Goblin for more info.
I went back at level 53 then turned out you can easily 3 man BRD at level 55, clear the whole thing, and even then, if your group is remotely competent you never have to watch aggro, have a plan, etc.
You will soon see this yourself, the game is mindbendingly simplistic. There are no consequences of any type, even the rez stones have been moved closer and corpserun was made faster – as if the death penalty were too harsh to being with. The game is pathetically simplistic. I would rather watch TV whole day than play WoW.
I could write more, but I guarantee you’ll post something just like this in a week or two…
Totally aware that the game has been nerfed. It’s still fun to go through the motions of the content. WotLK content wasn’t nerfed and I absolutely LOVE everything about it except for the raiding, when it’s done as nothing but a gear grind.
I’m hoping that the raiding (10-man) will be a different experience when it is done with friends — not some guild or random people, but people I consider friends.
If you want to contact us you can post on our forums. Our guild is called “Happy Fun Guyz” on the Emerald Dream Server.
I think you made the right choice. You can at least take a break from levelling and enjoy some BG PvP fun from time to time which is great when you are playing with friends instead of PUGs. But also you might consider the free 10 days of DAOC offered now. I re-downloaded it and did the char transfer, and was playing my Reaver within minutes of the transfer.
Was also thinking of trying Mabinogi out since it gets lots of nods for high quality.
I think the most exciting news lately MMO-wise, is expansion announcements for WAR. Sure the PvE is crap and end game RvR a bore, but any work being done on WAR can only help at this point. Such wasted potential!
And you are really looking forward to SWTOR? I am hoping GW2 beats it to release.
That doesn’t sound like a very RP guild name. 🙂
But seriously, yeah, you’re definitely going to have to make your own challenge by undermanning, underlevelling, etc., if you want to encounter any challenge at all in a group of friends who know how to play.
But I have to say.. despite the WoW hate already shown in these comments.. if you just want to have some happy fun times with some happy fun guyz, what MMO is currently better for that than WoW? I honestly don’t believe there is one.
@coppertopper: I don’t think GW2 will beat it to release. I have a feeling that SWTOR will avoid Cataclysm by a huge margin and then all other games will avoid SWTOR by an equally large margin. No one wants to compete with guaranteed success (WoW). But yeah, we’re going to be playing SWTOR and GW2, but they’re so far away.
@Carson: We’re not really RP folk. 😉 We’ve been doing the dungeons with no one healing just for the heck of it. Pretty much summed it up: we just want to relax and have fun and WoW is really the best for it right now.
Yeah the content is dumbed down, easy mode, etc… but what you guys are missing is that Keen et al are having FUN playing something together. It doesn’t matter that it’s easy to do, it matters that they are having fun. Whether it’s WoW or LotRO or WAR, etc… that’s what I STILL love about WoW, that I can get in and just have FUN playing a game.
While it is tempting to resub, I’m trying to hold out till cataclysm. I’ve just done it too many times and I know how it’s going to end, so I’m waiting for the expansion. Ideally, FFXIV or GW2 will come out this year and save me from WOW.
It goes back to what I’m saying about stability. I’m so tired of banking on something to be good or actually knowing something is good and then watching it crumble before my eyes. I’m also tired of anticipating game releases that are 8+ months out.
Sometimes it’s nice to play a polished game even if it is WoW.
@Xorakis: I was going to hold off until Cataclysm (Which I always planned to play) but decided to play the old content again now so that I didn’t miss out. Kinda like a one last hoorah. I’ll be shocked if GW2 and FFXIV come out this year.
WOW is a decent fall-back plan in the face of FTL new games and apathy. I tri-boxed a several months back and didn’t tire of it mid 40s even though it was like my 6th time around the WOW-block. That’s a decent amount of time to be playing something that for the moment feels fun.
world of warcraft again? ouch.
I have re-subbed as well a few weeks ago. Much for the same reasons and also to see the old content 1 more time levelling going through dungeon that I have never seen. So far it has been a lot of fun.
Keen, you’re the true embodiment of “the grass is always greener”.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for GW2. That game has been used as the selling point for GW1’s final expansion AND an excuse for not doing anything significant to GW1. It’s a vaporware, really.
Can’t resist not posting when someone mentions GW2. Bad habit. Sorry.
I did the same thing around December and have been enjoying it since leveled a pally to 80 badge geared him, now leveling a hunter. It is a fun game to play until you get bogged down in the have to have the best gear/raid all the time.
“There’s only one way to play WoW now and I’ll stand by it being the only legitimate way to enjoy this game as a GAME and not diminishing it into a meta-game activity: Playing with good friends.”
I agree completely. Sadly I play MMORPGs to make friends and not to play with current friends. So while Vanilla WoW was amazing and I made countless friends in it, current WoW has removed that ‘friend making’ thing it had going. Hence why it is a bit of a glorified social networt game.
So Cataclysm will get goblins, but why did you start a character from scratch now, if you plan to roll a goblin later? You’ll be pre-bored of the content.
Last time I started a WoW character, I became aware of how slow and old school the combat was. I quickly lost interest.
I would have join you except i already did that, BEs on the Horde side when TBC came out and then again Draenai on WOTLK for the DK. I’m not about to go thru it again for the 8th time.
Have fun. I’m having fun w/ LOTRO now.
Im with textme, I’d love to jump in again and play with you guys. I have many 80’s but really want to start over and play the old content with fellows that feel the same way 🙂 We’ll see though!
I’m playing the Mortal Online open beta, and I’m very surprised that a simple task (in WoW) like having a pet does not work.
Looking at mobs in wow grazing peacefully until slaughtered, I don’t get it with those “next gen” MMO. How is that impossible to duplicate BEFORE implementing those supposedly “advanced” features ?
Meh, as a good friend said once about WoW and MMOs of late in general, “I’m not eating the shit and pretending to like it just to get to the Tic Tac inside.”
Fact.
The game is old and tired, and while its polished as hell, it doesn’t change the fact its still World of Warcraft.
I like MMOs too, but old stale game is still old and stale even with “friends” along for the ride.
There’s plenty of other great games out right now in different genres to mess with.
I don’t really understand why you feel you need a new MMO in the first place, unless it’s just because you have to have something “new” for the sake of it. If so, you are looking at a future of perpetual disappointment. A constant search for novelty is always going to leave you feeling unsatisfied.
Of course, new MMOs must be tried. New characters must be made. How else would we find the ones that will last? But it’s the characters that matter, not the games. The games are just the backgrounds.
I’m still playing MMOs I’ve played for years. Last night I was playing my first necromancer in Everquest. I created him in 2000 and have been playing him on and off ever since. On Sunday he dinged 46. I played my first Druid in EQ last week. She’s almost as old and she’s level 60. I’m working on her AAs now. She has 15 so far.
Both of them are characters that will be with me for life. They have long histories and are full of stories. I have many other characters in MMOs I’ve played over the years that I will come back to over and over. They bring a deep satisfaction that the thin excitement of a new game can’t hope to match.
Second to character there is gameplay. You might play tennis or chess or pool for most of your life and never expect or want new rules or variations. You just love playing the game. I feel the same about MMOs. Certain ones are just always fun to play. They were fun ten years ago and they’ll be fun in ten years time.
WoW didn’t really work for me. I found it a bit thin and uninvolving. But for people who clicked with it I would imagine it will be something they return to many times. Going back is a forward-thinking choice in many ways.
I think honestly what clicks (for most people obviously) with World of Warcraft is the fact that it just takes everything from MMO’s and puts it in the hands of casuals as well as the hardcore. Sure, it doesn’t have the depth and feeling of some MMORPG’s and I don’t think thats what it’s aiming after. People will call it stale, but as a rebuttal to that oddly and out-of-context comment, opinions are your own. I find the game to be highly playable still after 5 years of playing the same stuff. I would still play SWG if it were the same, and most likely Planetside if it had not been ruined.
I guess the reason I posted this as when reading this blog for a couple months now i see the same comments for World of Warcraft and other MMO’s that just sound knee-deep and uninspired by real events. Either its overly-exaggerated comments such as “the game has no depth and is boring the second you jump in,” (which, honestly, sounds idiotic and less than fat with facts) or friends of friends who have played it, but never experienced it themselves or only tried a limited 10-day trial and are trying to make a valid input on a game they don’t really know. It would be a long list of people I could easily point out that have (numerously) had negative comments on MMO’s they haven’t even tried!
But alas, thats the point that you can never make everyone happy. All MMO’s are going to attract different people and is why they are out there. Some play for the social aspect, others play for the gameplay, and there are some who honestly play for the novelty of what the box says (Ahem, im guilty of that for Aion). I guess just all the negativity in the world and these blogs gets me started and I begin to rant because I wish they could enjoy things the way I enjoy them :P.
Truth be told, I think I reached that point sometime last year. I sort of bounced around from free trial to free trial, desperately hoping for something to catch my interest. In the end though, I think the MMO genre has just gone to a place I don’t really care about very much, and the ones that I do like, I’ve played to boredom.
Currently, I’m playing Bad Company 2, Dawn of War 2, and Starcraft 2 beta, and realistically, I think I’m having as much fun gaming as I ever did when I was playing MMOs for years.
That sounds indeed really fun thing to do. I really feel like rerolling a char on thet server also. Can I just tag along ?
Our guild just resubbed to WoW after a 3 year hiatus. It’s funny how it all comes back to you when you log in. I figured I would be totally lost but within an hour it was all old hat. So far it has been pretty fun and that is what gaming is all about is fun.
Sigh… WoW.. When will people learn.
I was thinking of coming back to wow to , and Horde side as i was always on Alliance .. how would i get in touch with you guys .
I’ve resubbed with the folks in HFG and couldn’t be enjoying the game more. There is nearly always someone on to quest/instance/pvp with and like Keen said WoW is better played with a close-knit group of people.
Sure I’ve seen most of what the Vanilla WoW world has to offer, but I am still finding new quests to do and areas to explore. Not to mention all the changes to areas and game changes in general. I’m enjoying my time in WoW and based on how most mmo’s have made me feel recently it’s a nice change of pace. (Added bonus I know the rug isn’t going to be puled out from underneath me like it was in Allods.)
If you want to play with us visit our WoW board and introduce yourself or message someone from Happy Fun Guyz in-game (Emerald Dream server).
Not to sound like a dick here, but “people like you” water down the RP servers with stupid guild names like that.
I’m a big Blizzard fanboy, I’ve been to 3 Blizzcons too. I was in the WoW beta (I was paying for 4 accts) and I’ve played it roughly, non-stop, since launch. I agree though, in trying and playing other MMOs it makes you appreciate WoW and the butter smooth UI.
But the gear grind got to be too much for me. I was raiding 4 nights a week; 10-man and 25-man. Raiding all of those nights for months and months became a major chore. I was so excited about ICC but now my guild tells me we need to run some 10-man heroic stuff to gear up for ICC, I was like “what?”. We raided for 6 mos and now we need to raid so more before we hit ICC?!?!?!?! No thanks.
Good luck to you and your latest endeavor.
@Office Jerk-
I don’t see how the guild name could ruin ones immersion, if you don’t like guilds names shown then change the settings and don’t show them. I can see how a character names Optimusxxprime could hamper your RP fun, but a simple solution there is don’t interact with them. RP is all about what YOU put into it and a lot less about what other people are doing or at least that’s how I see it.
This is how some friends and I use DDO. There’s enough of us to fill a group, and since DDO is purely about running instances, when we want to do some instancing, we log onto DDO and knock a few out.
Other than that, we spend most of our time in Lotro similarly, since we all have lifetime subs there, and the game is fantastic at this point. On the whole, quite pleased with the strides Turbine has made across the board.
Playing with friends is and always will be the best way to enjoy any MMO.
Ridiculous post…the ridiculous part is that you got me thinking about resubscribing as well! Why is it so easy? I am not there yet but the sudden thought popped into my head…must…resist!
Living in an MMO wasteland? Nothing of new of interest coming along and all the playing all the oldie MMO’s making you just long for the good times long since past?
Well then sounds like a great time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and face to face human interaction. It is spring after all! 😉
If it’s all about the people then game is secondary so try something new, eq2?
This post has gotten me really excited to dip my toes back into WOW. Recently started playing LOTRO, looking for something different, however I quickly realised that it doesnt matter what game I play, it’s the people I play it with that make it worthwhile!
Looking forward to rolling a toon and seeing about joining you guys in the wilds!
I’m with Mahlah — I think I’m just burned out on MMOs in general. I still play STO as I got a lifetime sub but it’s more of a single player game that I occasionally play with other people than a real MMO. I’m still playing Allods very casually and feel no commitment or need to play as I haven’t spent a dime on it yet.
I will admit this had me reconsidering going back to WoW for like the 38479283rd time but I know after a month I’ll be bored of it again. Plus, I’ve given Blizzard enough money already. If I’d spent that money on shares I’d be on their board of directors by now.
@Rybnik
the standard old tired anti-RP response. *sigh*
It’s been our name for a couple years now Office Jerk. Not changing it because the server we rolled on has an RP preferred tag on it.
Given what I see on our server though, our name is the least of Emerald Dream’s guild name worries.
Nothing could drag me back to that game at this point. I’m fine with just playing console games and fps’ until a decent MMO hits. WoW is just boring now. No amount of nostalgia would ever make me want to devote any significant amount of time to picking it back up again.
zOmg i think we have our first KeenandGraev troll! office jerk!
Stop feeding the troll, please. He only posted here to cause drama. Anyone who comes to a blog to complain about a guild name ruining their roleplay experience in a game like WoW needs to get out a little more.
Got tired of WoW long time ago. May resub for a month later (waaay later) to see how things are, but frankly… I lost the drive to play that game. In fact, no other MMO feels interesting. Well, APB is fun, but I’ve only played it 3 hours (2×2 hours of testing the server-load etc)
Other than that I’m playing NwN2 multiplayer. Great fun.
Well I decided to resub and so I made a Tauren Druid on Emerald Dream and am awaiting someone to log on so I can get an invite! 🙂
@Office Jerk
sigh all you like but I stand by the response, and I’m far from anti-RP.
Our guild name is ruining the great theater that is a WoW RP server?
Standard RPer behavior.
Howdy,
Some friends and I re-subbed/re-rolled when the dungeon finder came out and so far we are having a blast. We gotten to our 50’s only running instances and Battlegrounding to level and are having a blast not having to quest!!!!
If you missed it…great Deadmines movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX7ehxyYRQc
Doody
lol @ Bartlebe!
@ people saying WoW is too old and boring.
I felt that way too. I still raid a couple of nights a week (25 man Sindragosa down – yay!) but it was getting hard to log on.
The horde reroll idea has put new life into the game for me. Good people and a fresh start. The game has changed so much.
Yes it’s casual friendly. But that’s ok for me. I know the challenge is ahead if I want it. Hard modes are NOT easy. And tbh, the thought of pushing through 80 levels at the old leveling speed would be a bit daunting.
I’d join but I’m having waaay too much fun in allods. The possibility of a future game meltdown in no way keeps me from enjoying something. Also, populations are steadily growing in the 15+ range pretty large crowd on there, who cares what happens in six months!!
I actually considered resubbing to WoW but i have to buy TBC and WotLK to do it so i am unsure i will do it.
I’ve also been accepted in APB Beta so i’ll give that a shot while waiting to be invited to SW:TOR Beta.
Well, most of us left because we did see bad things coming. It kind of makes trying to do anything in Allods pointless when you know it’s all going downhill. If we were oblivious to these things then it would be far different. However, we know the basis of what Allods will be getting. Anyone who thinks that AN is going to release a complete separate batch of patch es for us is delusional. It would require an almost complete reworking of intended game development mechanics.
Wow. I’ve done the exact same thing! Only not horde and not on that server 😀 I’ve decided to see vanilla one last time 🙂