You’re not going to believe this, but.. I’m casual.

I play WoW and I play often. I raid seriously and I take my performance seriously. If I’m not doing the very best I can, using the gear I have, including making good gear choices, I’m disappointed in myself. But I’m not hard-core. Wait.. what?

Look, I enjoy playing, a lot, and if I am in a team I want to give them my best show. It’s IMPORTANT that I do all that I can. I expect others to do their best and to try. If they don’t have time to learn their class, and/or get the gear, I expect them to do the raid a favor and sit out.

So why am I casual? It is because, I am here socially. My availability does not affect who I play with, and I don’t want to have guildies leave because they went to school, switched jobs, got married, moved somewhere, or whatever else. I advance as I am able, and even if I’m behind on my server, I enjoy being at the top in my guild and helping others along. It’s not about the gear I have, the gear is good enough for 25 man Ulduar. It’s not about the time I spent, more than I even like to admit. It’s the attitude, and the type of atmosphere I look for. I don’t want to be put down for making mistakes, even stupid things like standing in the fire. Heck, sometimes you’ll get a lag spike, sometimes you’ll just plain become distracted. Hard-core raiding is less forgiving, and less flexible with schedules or life changes, or ‘well my buddy wants to join the guild so we can play together’ type of issues that arise. I see it as a sacrifice both ways and in no way do I mean to devalue hard core raiding. They sacrifice something in the process of seeking the most finely tuned team for progression. We sacrifice something in the process of seeking an inclusive and relaxed environment where we can hang out with all our friends – high or low. Everyone plays for a reason, but I play to be social and I don’t enjoy the idea of changing the group I play with every time my availability shifts.

I think this epitomizes the type of guild I joined. I joined a guild who’s goal is to meet with friends and like-minded individuals regardless of circumstances, including which game they play. You read that right, they’ve stayed together not only despite serious real world changes, but also cross-platform. I’m not always going to know the people in the other game, but the point is, I’ll always be in a casual atmosphere that recruits in a manner emphasises attitude instead of skill and time. I love having a mature group to play with and, if another MMO comes along, I’ll hopefully be able to meet up with old friends as well as new. I feel pretty blessed that there is such a coalition so well suited to my own playstyle, and happy that I will be accepted no matter how my situation may change. So what can I say? Thank you, Asher.

~ by lily on June 30, 2009.

Posted in Uncategorized