outside the matrix

ok, it has officially been 5 months before my last login to WoW - yes, i do miss it, i will oftentimes visit my guild's website and check their progress - and wish that i was there during those moments. But time really do pass, and my guild has stumbled and rised through different dramas - yet i am still here, unplugged from the WoW matrix.

I came across this blog of a guild master who recently quit playing wow and somewhow i do understand his thoughts.First of all, WoW is a really great game, hands down, the best game I have ever played - but that was until i hit the level cap of 60. WoW has become this world where people with purple loots (highest ranking of items in WoW) are the people who think highly of themselves. I do not blame them, i for one has been sucked into this kind of thinking before.

WoW becomes so tedious once you hit level 60 - it is a grindfest. Grinding is the term they use whenever you try to do something for 4+ hours a day, 7 days a week - and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem with WoW is that for you to get the best items - you have to grind, not just grind, but i do mean GGRRRIIINNNDDDD.

My guild for example started out as your typical carefree guild where we just get together for the hang of it - but then our gears started to get better, people started to develop - suddenly we are one of the best guilds in our server. The growth spun out of control, people are starting to rave about purple loots more and more. This has caused some people to burn out, as if they are forced to login to the game at least 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some people who have more time on their hands are starting to request for more instances (places inside WoW where we get purple loots) - and this has caused some heavy drama on the guild which has caused a lot of people to leave.

Believe me when i say that this game can easily destroy one's life - and im not joking. I have heard of students failing, employees getting late to work *COUGH*COUGH*, people skipping school, friends losing their "REAL" friends, and most importantly - people losing their loveones. It is hard to imagine that this game requires more time than work, can destroy someone's life, and still get people to crave for it.

My statements may be exaggerated - but this is happening. I personally experienced being up till morning light just to get that extra point for the next level. But do not get me wrong, WoW, if controlled properly has benefits. I have gained friends because of this game - i have met friends on my guild which i never thought possible. It has also given me a sense of fulfillment - whenever i accomplished things inside the game no matter how trivial - i can still remember the days when we first kill the easiest bosses. I have invested a lot in this game that I became the assistant GM and a class leader just before i left the game.

Looking back - i am glad that i was able to control my WoW urge. Sure, there are times when i want to login and just see what has happened to this alternate universe since i left. But yeah - i have much bigger things to do in the real world, yeah - much bigger.

"Time, yeah time - everyone is asking for more of it"