This past weekend I did something so embarrassing I’m amazed I worked up the courage to even post about it here. The evening started out innocently enough, drinking wine and watching old childhood favorite movies. When the movies were done and I had a mighty buzz going, I sat myself in front of the computer and was faced with the gaming funk I’ve been in lately. Lots of new things are coming down the line, but they aren’t here now and I’ve really been struggling with getting motivated to play any of my staple games.
What have I done? Curse you, delicious booze!
So in my drunken wisdom, in a scenario lamented by many other folks who have drunk-dialed that embarrassing ex, my brain decided to pay for a month of WoW time. Hilariously, I had uninstalled the game when I last “quit,” and so was only able to start the download that night. The following morning I woke up and soberly realized what I had done. And you know what? I’m ok with it. Yes it was a very silly thing to do, but sometimes when we’re drunk and nostalgic we seek out the things that used to make us happy.
Unfortunately, reality rarely holds up to the lens of nostalgia. I decided to roll a brand new alt, and since even drunk me had the wisdom of applying the game time to my 2nd account I had no heirlooms or anything to help me out. I love the familiarity of the game, and it has aged very well, but it still has noticeably aged. I instantly missed the smooth, snappy graphics and combat of WildStar. Soon, when I got high enough level to run dungeons, I missed the dungeon and encounter design of FFXIV. Also, the community is exactly like I remembered. The best runs were the ones where nobody said a word. The worst were abusive, some verbally, and one special group kept attempting to boot the healer because they were new and struggling. At least I had the moral victory of blocking the vote kicks.
My plan is to focus on the good bits and not sweat the crappier parts. It makes sense to just enjoy this trip down memory lane, and it is certainly true that there is something deeply comforting about the familiar embrace of leveling in WoW. The new baby alt is a mage, and I’m glad because it keeps me far away from the mental stress of healing or tanking for group content. I am hoping to see some of the new stuff that’s been added since my last visit, even if that means I need to switch over to my high level character instead of this baby alt. But when the month is up, I don’t see myself sticking around. Nostalgia is nice but sometimes it is nicer to be reminded how good things are right now.
