The only way to "beat" World of Warcraft
by Blake Snow 
{ Aug 31st 2006 at 11:25PM }
Slashdot commentors respond to Next-Gen's article on the smashing success of World of Warcraft. Just how do you "beat" the game? Contributor IflyRC may have put it best:"The only way to beat WoW is to cancel your account and start the arduous process of putting your life back together. Call the wife that left you and see if things can be worked out. Take your kids to a park and marvel at the sunshine - it's been a while since you've felt how warm it is. Apologize to all of those ex-coworkers that covered for you when you overslept from a late night raid or leveling. Look in the mirror for the first time in months and decide you might need to shower and shave."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
William @ Aug 31st 2006 11:33PM
Sadly... This can be applied to pretty much all MMOs... Oh so true...
reebo @ Aug 31st 2006 11:34PM
I've never played WoW, but I hear good things.
Anything with a monthly subscription fee kind of turns me away...
Eih'Beir @ Aug 31st 2006 11:42PM
Hey! I beat WoW!
Petrie @ Aug 31st 2006 11:43PM
I've never been able to grasp the idea of paying a fee for an MMO, something where there is no real end, and nothing other than the idea of more powerful items to help you go even further. I feel the need to have some kind of concrete plot and goals with an end in sight in most cases. Even with a game like Tetris I know that eventually it will end, but with MMOs that just isn't the case.
I understand the addiction and how the idea of being the "best" can keep people grinding and grinding, but I feel like getting into a game like WoW would just prevent me from playing far too many other masterpieces, and enjoying life outside of gaming.
on the fire @ Aug 31st 2006 11:46PM
Of course you hear good things. It's like crack for the middle-class suburbanite teenager.
skooby @ Aug 31st 2006 11:46PM
To quote Huey Lewis,
"I want a new drug
One that wont make me sick
One that wont make me crash my car
Or make me feel three feet thick"
video Games are turning into the new drug...
I got too involved in a game, dared someone I was playing with that I could snap the CD in two... Well needless to say I committed virtual suicide right there and then... NO REGRETS what-so-ever...
JUST SO IT... SNAP AWAY...
John @ Sep 1st 2006 11:43AM
Heh, I had to resort to canceling my account due to addiction. I don't care what anyone says about self control, it can happen to anyone.
I myself was a straight A student until I started playing WoW, then my grades declined in such a way I was in danger of failing my sophmore year in HS.
Addiction can happen to the best of people, and it does not only pertain to drugs.. anything that triggers the "feel-good" sensors in the brain can really be considered dangerous to an extent.. yes, I know what some of you are going to say ;)
But seriously, the people that are in the most risk of getting addicted are the many that really don't have a 'good' life.. the ones that use the game as an escape from everyday mediocre lifestyle.. which was me. The game became a second home that I enjoyed more than life itself.. sad to say that.
I also don't believe that every MMO can do this as WoW has.. it is put together so well that I really don't think any new MMO can surpass the success it has seen.
sam @ Aug 31st 2006 11:55PM
Wow. "EverCrack" is a term I haven't heard in four years... WoW is the New Hotness, but really the same thing.
Eric Fox @ Sep 1st 2006 12:01AM
www.wowdetox.com
It's a great site. Helped me cancel and sell.
Eric Fox @ Sep 1st 2006 12:02AM
www.wowdetox.com
It sa great site. Helped me cancel and sell.
Nite_Moogle @ Sep 1st 2006 12:02AM
I really thought a gaming site like Joystiq would be above buying into blatant stereotyping like this crap.
Pharaoh @ Sep 1st 2006 12:09AM
This is why I don't play MMORPGs. Games should have an ending. There should be a way to WIN!
udx @ Sep 1st 2006 12:25AM
While you boys have an addiction problem, I have a laziness problem.
I do play WoW. Only problem is, I have more of an addiction to news rather the game itself. That's why I play WoW less. I'm too caught up in gossip.
HotShotX @ Sep 1st 2006 12:29AM
How to truly beat World of Warcraft:
1. Play the game/make account.
2. Build up an Uber-character and Guild Leader (GL Optional)
3. Enter a popular town, and draw a crowd.
4. Destroy each uber item on your hero, in front of everyone, one by one.
5. Flip everyone off (as best as the game allows).
6. Delete Hero.
7. Log out.
8. Delete account.
~HotShotX
PS: "Optional Method to beating World of Warcraft":
Be an ass, and slaughter everyone holding a vigil in-game for someone who died in real life. GG NO RE.
William @ Sep 1st 2006 12:30AM
"""" I really thought a gaming site like Joystiq would be above buying into blatant stereotyping like this crap.
Posted at 12:01AM on Sep 1st 2006 by Nite_Moogle""""
Night_Moogle... What Joystiq did is in no way a stereotype. Many many many people are getting addicted by WoW, it is not a joke or some stereotype. Articles like this are probably really helpful to those who might actually have a problem. Take your fanboyism somewhere else.. wherever that is.
Ps. I'm also too lazy to get addicted to anything lol. I just... want to sleep... haha I can't possibly get addicted. Played Everquest and WoW and nothin. I decided NOT playing was more fun than PLAYING hehe.
obo @ Sep 1st 2006 12:33AM
The other way to win is to get permabanned. True story.
obo @ Sep 1st 2006 12:34AM
"I'm also too lazy to get addicted to anything lol. I just... want to sleep... haha I can't possibly get addicted."
Sounds like you're addicted to sleep.
ultimatecinema @ Sep 1st 2006 1:18AM
It is just me or did i not find wow that fun. I mean, sure i played and can make you sit down for a couple hours straight, but i found it too slow paced and boring. I HATED walking back and forth.
www.ultimatecinema.com
Cry Havoc @ Sep 1st 2006 2:44AM
I beat WoW by never playing it, ever.
And I'm very much happy this way.
cheezedog420 @ Sep 1st 2006 3:17AM
Oh... If you quit WoW, can you mail me your gold?
DarthTator
VooVee @ Sep 1st 2006 6:35AM
I was addicted for almost a full year. It's true, the only way to really beat this game is to cancel out.
While playing in hardcore mode, you'll think it'll be impossible to stop. You're more used to the in game world then you are to real life. But it IS possible. Just cancel out, break the freakin' CD's. I know someone who was loosing their girlfriend and job. He had to cancel, break, then burn the disks. This really goes for the "leet" players. I know you've spent months raiding for your gear, and farming the battlegrounds for honor... It's not worth it. Sorry doods. Just get out now.
Once you cancel out, it'll be like smoking. You'll want to play so bad, but if you hold out a week you'll never think of the game again. Actually, you'll start thinking about all the freakin' time you wasted playing it. I'm done with mmorpg's for now. If you can call Warcraft an rpg...
I was so addicted that I felt like a new person after quitting. I'm not joking around.
azesino @ Sep 1st 2006 4:56AM
I Seen people addicted to Joystiq, They are here 24/7 leaving post
Cabcru @ Sep 1st 2006 6:22AM
It's funny to see gamers react so wildly when an outsider points to our pastime and implies it's harmful and yet, when talk of WoW comes up, all the gamers have their own little tales of how it's maliciously ensnaring them in it's evil trap.
People should either own up to their own feeble willpower or finally admit the campaigners have a point :)
Andreas Berg @ Sep 1st 2006 8:11AM
But don't forget to wear sunglasses and sunscreen the first time out in the daytime. Your WOW-all-nights body might not be used to daylight anymore.
Scaught @ Sep 1st 2006 8:56AM
I have a friend who said that he never looks up porn on his computer anymore because he is always playing WOW. That is when I realized how addictive it was.
Evan @ Sep 1st 2006 9:14AM
I have a friend who plays WoW. We'll call him "Greg".
Greg came into town to visit us, and we got together at "Malcolm"'s house. (Malcolm also plays WoW).
So, Greg says he wants to check something in the game, and starts playing WoW on Malcolm's computer! And he keeps playing, his back to us, ignoring the people he came to visit!
We planned to go out to dinner at Greg's favorite restaurant. But Greg declines dinner. So, we all go out to dinner, leaving Greg playing WoW alone in Malcolm's house all evening!
Greg's still playing when we get back, so we all go home. Sometime during the night Greg stops playing WoW, sleeps on Malcolm's sofa, drives home the next morning, and Malcolm has to deordorize his chair.
Nice. Thank you WoW.
Kevin @ Sep 1st 2006 9:42AM
Yeah, the only way to win is to quit - which I did. I was crazy addicted for about four months there. I was always tired at work because I stayed up until 4am. School was suffering because I'd find myself playing WoW instead of studying or doing homework. My fiance was pissed because I was on the computer all the time. I finally just had to go cold turkey - didn't tell anyone I was leaving, just decided not to log back in anymore. My life has been better ever since.
Curtis @ Sep 1st 2006 10:32AM
you COULD always just learn some SELF CONTROL.
things are so much more enjoyable with just a little bit of SELF CONTROL.
Stoof @ Sep 1st 2006 10:33AM
Eh. It was easy for me to quit. I played a LOT for two months and got to 58. Then I asked myself, "What will I gain from this?" NOTHING.
I will gain everything from console games. Why? Because they end. You will have beaten the game.
Chris Taran @ Sep 1st 2006 10:53AM
I played WoW for about a year and loved it. I only quit because I got tired of trying to level on the PvP server I was one.
I thought and still do think the game is fantastic. I plan on returning to the game at some point in the future. I'm currently playing FFXI again so that's taking up any time and money I have for an MMO.
I really don't see why people can't play games like this and still lead a normal life. I put time aside for this just like I would any activity. I play for about 2 or 3 hours a night while I'm watching TV and having dinner.
Even if I wasn't playing an MMO I'd still be using those 2-3 hours for TV and dinner, so it's not like it's taking away from other things I do.
Paperclip1 @ Sep 1st 2006 11:52AM
@26,
I would've punched "Greg".
unimental @ Sep 1st 2006 12:03PM
I won't play WoW, or any other MMO game. I can't let myself do it due to my addictive personality. I learned this the hard way after 3 months of non-stop Sims Online. If I can let a cheesy game like TSO take over my life, I know I would allow the deeper games like WoW to basically steal my soul.
espionage @ Sep 1st 2006 12:42PM
I loved WoW and played it since closed beta until earlier this year. I made characters on different servers and after finally reaching level 60 on one that I would decide would be my main, I began the end-game raiding and was able to join a hardcore raiding guild.
After 20-30 hours of raiding every week for a few months (pretty much every night and all day on weekends), I burnt out. I woke up one day and came to the realization that the best items I kept trying to get would only be replaced by new items Blizzard would come up with. What fun is sitting in a 40-man raid for several hours each night knowing that the gear you're working towards will become obsolete anyway? I also got annoyed with how the amount of work I needed to put in went dramatically up (getting exalted with different factions, etc.) while the actual improvement the items provided to me was very minor.
It felt like work with no real tangible benefit. I could have taken a break for several months, came back, and worked towards the best gear in the newest raid dungeon. I could wait until the expansion and get level 70 gear instead of all of the level 60 gear that everyone is raiding for now. I could wait until next year's expansion to start and get gear better than Burning Crusade.
Maybe the only way to "beat" WoW is to just burn out like I did. Stopping cold turkey while you're still addicted to the game seems pretty painful. Can't one just let the game go through their system and be done with it completely like I have, completely free of the game with no desire to play it again? Or is it rare for people to actually "burn out" and wake up from the game?
Alkaiser @ Sep 1st 2006 7:38PM
I had a friend who was hooked on WoW, so I was threatening that one day, I would boot up his machine on one of the rare occasions when he was out, and remove the WoW shortcut from his desktop, and set the icon & shortcut for WoW to point to a WoW image/movie I would have Photoshopped to look like an end game sequence.
Someone needs to do that to a WoW-addict and put it up on YouTube.
Kinkkong @ Sep 1st 2006 1:46PM
Even World War II had a ending!
Lansing @ Sep 1st 2006 2:33PM
Any game that can get a player to spend weeks of time just to see a number in the top left corner increase is addictive, dangerous, and should not be played.
I laughed at my dad who told me that years ago, but now I understand.
Mascolous, 53, Stormrage
D-5 @ Sep 1st 2006 4:25PM
Gee, it wasn't that hard for me to quit at all. I only played for like, 3 months, and while it was tremendously fun playing (Especially with your friends), it eventually does get a bit stale. I wouldn't mind going back once I have more time, but really, this game is no more fun than say, Halo 2 co-op and 2-player Super Mario World (At least for me).
Tammy @ Sep 2nd 2006 3:01PM
WoW didn't really take away my social life, but it did keep me from playing through a ton of other games. The only reason I wanted to quit was so I could play the huge amount of console games I had sitting in the corner collecting dust.