Catharses

It's just a game. Intellectually I know this, but it only makes it worse. The changes brought in for 3.0.2 have destroyed my enjoyment of the game, until I can break out of this spiraling endless coil of despair.

Bear with me.... I'm venting. It's really not that bad. Being dramatic is going to bring catharses for sure.

I was having a ball in Burning Crusades. I've been guild master of a social guild, The Ancients who have, for their size, been kicking ass and taking names. We got Kara on farm, with a 3h22m clear. Our 2nd Kara group had just got Prince down a couple of weeks in a row. We got our first two chests in ZA too. We don't have enough toons for 25 mans, but we still managed to do Gruuls and Mags with a partner guild.

I wanted to see some higher level content. So I leveled up Zenborg, my shadow priest. With craftables, he was good to clear Kara from day one at 70. Some Kara, Mags, Heroics later, he was full epic. I took him to a raiding guild, and got 4/6 SSC, 1/4 TK, 2/5 MH and 4/6 ZA. That was a hoot until the raid schedule started to fall apart due to senior raiders heading to another guild, and the patch starting to draw nearer. I think I managed 7-8 weeks in the guild, built up my DKP, but there was not a drop to be had (particularly since at that stage we would manage only 1 or 2 bosses each night). I did have a hoot seeing the content, but it was pretty clear that wheels were falling off.

I managed to get Champion of the Naaru on both toons - even organising a full pug of Mags to get it done on Borgthor (it was very satisfying to hear the surprise on vent when people that had never grabbed a successful pug got him down).

I learnt a lot, and had a lot of fun.

Bringing up a DPS gave me a real perspective on what I was putting up with as a tank. There were bosses that we couldn't do because eventually even Jondy would OOM after 18 infernals on Prince, or the High Botanist would heal to full each tranquility phase. When I started melting faces... it all started making sense. Getting Kael down in Heroic Magister's Terrace before he even popped his shield was the least I could do.

Joining another guild with an alt was a great experience. The Ancients was the only guild I had ever been in, so it was great to see how another guild (particularly one with a greater focus on raiding) is run. The relief I felt when it wasn't me putting the raid together. When I just had to turn up and do my job. I got to explore and learn from all the things they did well (and there were a lot), and not so well. It really crystalised for me what I like about guild life, and gave me ideas about direction for WotLK.

Then the patch hit. 3.0.2 started out AWESOME! New talents, new abilities. I got a haircut!

Then the novelty wore off.

The first heroic was fun. Wow, look at how cool shockwave looks. Ooooh thunderclap affects all targets in range. Aaaahhh revenge is hitting HUGE, and it's even refreshing my shield slam cooldown.

The second heroic was unsettling. Hmmmm I don't need CC anymore, but here have a sheep target so you can turn it into a penguin. Ain't that cute. Oh dear, no one is even remotely close on threat, and I can't go a minute without seeing that misdirect icon above my head.

Then we owned Kara in 40 minutes less without breaking a sweat. Single target threat was trivial. Multi target threat was a joke... and the hunters cackled maniacally as their AOE tore shreds through elites and non-elites alike. Curator pulled with the last trash mobs? No problem, and you'll still break him out of his first evocate. It felt like a hollow victory.

Now, as I sit here, I can feel the pathology of my personality pulling me back to WoW (but the servers down, again). Achievements. I feel compelled to complete all the heroics I've already done... but the achievement is now worth nothing. I enjoyed tanking Heroic Shattered Halls because everyone wanted a Pally tank. Over geared or not, there was some sense of achievement, which is now gone. It feels like a long list of chores to be done.

Snap out of it Borg! Actually I'm feeling a lot better at the end of this post.

I finally understand all the QQ when things get hit with the nerf bat. The stories about walking 5 miles through snow to school, only to be met with corporal punishment the likes of which would be child abuse by today's standard are universal.

Blizzard have given everyone with an adictive personality a big wake up call. If the nerfing and mind boggling list of potential achievements hits hard, maybe your gaming habit is already very close to unbalanced.

So for the rest of BC, I'm going to get back to having a blast. I'm going to see ZA crumble, and charge (literally) through a stack of heroics. When WotLK hits, I'll be ready to enjoy it at my own pace, and surround myself with friends, both old and new in the World ... of Warcraft.