Reboot

Starting is always the hardest thing to do. 

If you have previously visited this blog, you will have noticed that all the previous posts have been expunged.  I was tinkering with the idea of doing something totally different with the blog.  I wanted to use my adopted pseudonym of Eccentrica Jones, but didn't want it associated with gaming.  I've since changed my mind back.  So here we go.

I've flip flopped in the past about how I play the game.  I've been a soloer, I've been a progression raider and I've been almost everything in between.  I've even given PvP a go.  What I finally admitted to myself was I am happiest playing WoW alone.  A bit of company is nice from time to time, but I tend to place the well being of others before my own and go the extra mile to help or be supportive to my own detriment.

By the end of Cataclysm this caused me to feel very used and abused and I would often end my play sessions angry.  I don't know about you, but I don't pony up my sub fees to be angry.  I realize that this situation was completely of my own making, because I find it difficult to say "no".   It's always "yes".  Yes, I'll switch toons to run that Heroic.  Yes, I'll pass on that piece of loot.  Yes, I'll look up that info for you.  Yes, yes, yes.

No more.

The other thing which has drastically altered my playstyle is the realization that contrary to what a lot of people think, the game doesn't actually start at level cap, it only gets grindy there, and expensive.  Replacing all of my hard earned (loot rolls are not my friend, but that's another story), highly coveted, well cared for and very expensive raiding gear within a zone or three of Pandaria hurt.  The sheer amount of man hours those pieces represented, both in the acquisition and the finetuning by way of reforging, gemming and enchanting (and the time spent making the gold to do the aforementioned) makes me ill to contemplate.

You see, the one thing I abhor above anything else, with all my little heart, is having my time wasted.  Money is easily replaceable.  Time is not.  I have X hours on this earth, and no one can give me more or buy me more.  So when others waste my time I get angry. 

Gear (and progression) is a Hamster Wheel of Futility.  I for one am D.O.N.E. with spending hours, days, weeks of my life on something that has the longetivity of a kleenex.  You see, this is the worst kept secret of WoW.  Everything gets cheaper and easier over time.  Why bust my ass on each tier when I can wait several months, get gear as I go along, and then breeze through the content later.  Why kill myself to do something with a group now, when if I wait I can do it myself and save so much aggravation.  Why buy something now, when I can wait and it will be cheaper (Dual Spec says 'Hi!').

The other thing that occurred to me is that I am not Sheeple, and I don't really give a crap what the Sheeple think.  If 90% of the players think something is 'de rigeur', it's probably not.  Everyone has a flying disc, everyone has their reps maxed, everyone is raiding .... I don't care.  I am not everyone.  I am me.

Contrary to the utterings of Ghostcrawler and the brayings of the donkeys who populate the official forums about how this 'isn't a single player MMO', I say it is.  I say it's whatever the hell I want it to be.  Some days it's a fishing simulator.  Some days it's a collecting game.  Some days it's a social media platform. Once you create something and put it out into the world, it becomes whatever it is used for.  You can sell me a rock and tell me it's an exercise device, but if I place it on my desk it's now a paperweight.  Blizzard can pound salt.  I pay my $15 a month, just like everyone else, and if I choose to eschew all company and groups I will.

So I do.

I decided that I wanted to start over, fresh and clean and shiny, and wring every moment of happiness and satisfaction out of the game.  WoW isn't going anywhere.  It's not dying or on it's deathbed.  The expansion doesn't end with this tier.  We have at least 20 more months until the next expansion if history is anything to go by, which leaves plenty of time to tinker my way to cap, several times over.  In the next expansion, upgraded quest and vendor gear will ensure that I am powerful enough to solo any Pandaria content I don't get around to and that trend will continue indefinitely.

I cancelled the subscription on my account and created a new Battlenet account.  I am exclusively playing this new fresh account for the foreseeable future.  I am redoing everything, and I love it.  There is so much to do it's almost overwhelming, but I relish logging on now like I haven't since I first began.

Eccentrica Jones is now about the art and science of soloing, and about all those little things that lie in the forgotten and bypassed corners.