My arcs are very very similar Saate, or at least hey used to be. When I took a break from EQ back in the day I played about $400 worth of games in the next 2 months, lots of little arcs. I remember thinking to myself, wow, this gaming thing is getting very expensive. So I decided to take up WOW. This saved me heaps of money as you only have the one big arc that you describe above, but it is all consuming as you know.

Back when I played EQ I was at uni so playing 8 hours a day was fine, but as you grow up and get higher jobs , and busier families, you just cant spare the time. I did have a good balance in my last year or so of wow. I did about 4 hrs of pvp per week, raided 2 to 3 nights for 3 hrs each and messed around for another couple of hours.

This year was just a bit too busy for me with work and uni (back at uni) so I just didn’t have any spare time… so now I’m back on those expensive little arcs that you speak of. At the end of the day I’m just a button pusher as well, I just need something to keep my mind busy. Weather its imobster, world war (iphone), HOMM6, Skyrim, I’m still finding a little bit of time each week to play games.

Nothing has really captured my interest like WoW or EQ did, but I’m hoping that I get hooked on Diablo 3 next year.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all, and best of luck with what you’re doing.

I too grew tired of the trolls and the jerks. So much so, that I paid tons of $$$ to move my ten eighties out of Hydraxis, where the conversations on trade were vile, hateful, sexist, pornographic, racist, all at the worse level imaginable. Conversations while on PUG’s were no much better.

I pretty much play own my own now. I enjoy leveling new toons (Have 15 85′s, LOL), and professions. I hardly ever go into dungeons, and I can usually tell even before we go in, if the PUG is composed of complainers and as*les, and then I simply leave.

So between leveling, collecting pets and achievements, Warcraft still keeps me hooked. Yes, it is sad that what is meant to be a social game, at least for me has become the opposite, but I hate arguing and I hate the hate spewed out by many.

One thing I think Blizzard did wrong, was to allow faction changes. That truly killed the competitiveness between the Alliance and the Horde, I think. That was, I think, a great part of the game at one point. Now, nobody cares if the Alliance or the Horde comes into their cities and attack. Everyone just goes about their regular business.

Well, enjoy life without Warcraft! I enjoyed your ‘article’.