Sunwatcher
Legend
TL,DR: I'm leaving Azeroth, for a long time, possibly forever, and I want to say thanks to all of you, and tell you that you're all unique and fun people. I wish you all futures in real life full of real gold with as many bag slots you can imagine.
Sinu' Amenore!
It's with both sadness and excitement that I bring news of my leaving Azeroth. I just graduated from the university, and I'm off to do fun and meaningful work. I don't think I'll have the time for WoW in the near future. Maybe some day...
I originally started playing as part of a research project on game design and behavior for a design internship (I'm an anthropologist, so studying groups of people is what I do
). I left WoW at the end of the project, but decided to check back in a little over a year ago, just to see what was new. That's when I made a new toon on a quiet little realm called Anetheron. It was there I stumbled upon Kibbies (at Guru) who invited me to fight for the Horde, and…. well that's where I've been ever since.
Truth be told, I should've left WoW long ago. I had tons of school and work projects that I barely managed to do. I know I've spent way too much time here, when I could've been bettering myself in some way. But I stayed because all of you were here. It's not that the game was irresistibly, insanely amazing. (Hell, at times this game is a horribly frustrating time-sink) It's that there was a small group of people who were passionate about something silly, something that was impractical, and just plain fun: a video game. It was cool to know that there would be other people looking for a little escape on the other side of that login screen. I loved how little real personal information people shared, and yet how clearly distinct personalities emerged. I don't know who any of you in real life, but I feel I know the characters you play.
But I'm sure parts of yourselves have snuck through, and managed to embed themselves in your toons. To whatever parts of you that are there, I want to celebrate you, and say what a fun and honest pleasure it's been to share these adventures with you. Whether we were speed-running dungeons for those rare drops, decimating the high-level Alliance in the Vale, doing intense arenas, having fun exploring, or most often setting the standard for amazing no-voicechat teamwork in WSG, I enjoyed every minute of the game, when it was spent with you. This game would just be a boring, frustrating, waste of time, if it weren't for you.
It's true what many say: WoW keeps us from doing things we probably should be doing, things that would make our lives better. But in some way it's also false. We're social creatures, and the things that make our lives what they are most, are each other. So yes, it's a silly video game. Yes we could be doing something more productive, perhaps even more fun. But this is where our community is. And that's no small thing to snuff off. It's THE core aspect of being human. This community is different things to different people, and that's wonderful. I wish everyone could experience what we have here, outside of Azeroth. They'd probably all be a lot happier. Just look how great we made even the worst parts of this game! Imagine that in the "real world"!
Eventually, some of you might find yourself having to make decision to leave Azeroth as well. Maybe you meet a special someone, or are entering or leaving a university or a new job. Life is full of interesting changes. To those of you, I say don't feel guilty about how much time you've spent here. Don't feel it was wasted. Yes it was a video game. But it was also a journey with fellow travelers. It's only a waste if you didn't learn something about yourself, if you didn't enjoy it. We change, we grow. It doesn't mean the things we used to do are stupid, or useless. You don't shit on your 8 year old self for loving whatever stupid cartoon you loved do you? I don't know, maybe you do. Maybe some of you loved really shitty cartoons. But that's beside the point
If you eventually feel like you could be a better person if it weren't for all the time you spend in Azeroth, guess what…. It was going through Azeroth that helped you find that out So don't hate on Azeroth, don't hate on yourself. It's all good. Enjoy your path, enjoy your journey, and most importantly, enjoy the time you have with your fellow travelers in this strange and magical land. Treat each other kindly. And really, hostly think about this: you're choosing to spend time with people who themselves are choosing to spend time with YOU. That's amazing. We are all lucky for each other.
You all have amazing dedication and determination. Many of us have achieved what some considered impossible in this game (at least for f2ps!). If you put even half of that into your lives in the future, your real-life achievement score will far surpass your game one. I will think of you fondly and often, and never forget any of you and the fun times we've had.
I'll be sending a PM to some of you over the next few days. Might even try to have one last goodbye BG or something in the next week. Keep an eye open.
One gigantic, huge, massive, ENORMOUS THANK YOU to someone who I don't think I've ever even met in-game: Yasueh. Thank you for the work you did to make the f2paddon. Without your work, we'd all still be trapped in the dark ages of f2p; huddling cold and naked in the basement of some Inn or cave. I hope once in a while you feel warm fuzzes thinking about how so much of what this community is, IS because of what you made. Thanks.
It's been an honor and a pleasure to play with you all. Perhaps one day we'll meet again, when the fighting stops in Azeroth.
For the glory of Quel'thalas!
Sunwatcher
Sinu' Amenore!
It's with both sadness and excitement that I bring news of my leaving Azeroth. I just graduated from the university, and I'm off to do fun and meaningful work. I don't think I'll have the time for WoW in the near future. Maybe some day...
I originally started playing as part of a research project on game design and behavior for a design internship (I'm an anthropologist, so studying groups of people is what I do
). I left WoW at the end of the project, but decided to check back in a little over a year ago, just to see what was new. That's when I made a new toon on a quiet little realm called Anetheron. It was there I stumbled upon Kibbies (at Guru) who invited me to fight for the Horde, and…. well that's where I've been ever since.Truth be told, I should've left WoW long ago. I had tons of school and work projects that I barely managed to do. I know I've spent way too much time here, when I could've been bettering myself in some way. But I stayed because all of you were here. It's not that the game was irresistibly, insanely amazing. (Hell, at times this game is a horribly frustrating time-sink) It's that there was a small group of people who were passionate about something silly, something that was impractical, and just plain fun: a video game. It was cool to know that there would be other people looking for a little escape on the other side of that login screen. I loved how little real personal information people shared, and yet how clearly distinct personalities emerged. I don't know who any of you in real life, but I feel I know the characters you play.
But I'm sure parts of yourselves have snuck through, and managed to embed themselves in your toons. To whatever parts of you that are there, I want to celebrate you, and say what a fun and honest pleasure it's been to share these adventures with you. Whether we were speed-running dungeons for those rare drops, decimating the high-level Alliance in the Vale, doing intense arenas, having fun exploring, or most often setting the standard for amazing no-voicechat teamwork in WSG, I enjoyed every minute of the game, when it was spent with you. This game would just be a boring, frustrating, waste of time, if it weren't for you.
It's true what many say: WoW keeps us from doing things we probably should be doing, things that would make our lives better. But in some way it's also false. We're social creatures, and the things that make our lives what they are most, are each other. So yes, it's a silly video game. Yes we could be doing something more productive, perhaps even more fun. But this is where our community is. And that's no small thing to snuff off. It's THE core aspect of being human. This community is different things to different people, and that's wonderful. I wish everyone could experience what we have here, outside of Azeroth. They'd probably all be a lot happier. Just look how great we made even the worst parts of this game! Imagine that in the "real world"!
Eventually, some of you might find yourself having to make decision to leave Azeroth as well. Maybe you meet a special someone, or are entering or leaving a university or a new job. Life is full of interesting changes. To those of you, I say don't feel guilty about how much time you've spent here. Don't feel it was wasted. Yes it was a video game. But it was also a journey with fellow travelers. It's only a waste if you didn't learn something about yourself, if you didn't enjoy it. We change, we grow. It doesn't mean the things we used to do are stupid, or useless. You don't shit on your 8 year old self for loving whatever stupid cartoon you loved do you? I don't know, maybe you do. Maybe some of you loved really shitty cartoons. But that's beside the point
If you eventually feel like you could be a better person if it weren't for all the time you spend in Azeroth, guess what…. It was going through Azeroth that helped you find that out
So don't hate on Azeroth, don't hate on yourself. It's all good. Enjoy your path, enjoy your journey, and most importantly, enjoy the time you have with your fellow travelers in this strange and magical land. Treat each other kindly. And really, hostly think about this: you're choosing to spend time with people who themselves are choosing to spend time with YOU. That's amazing. We are all lucky for each other.You all have amazing dedication and determination. Many of us have achieved what some considered impossible in this game (at least for f2ps!). If you put even half of that into your lives in the future, your real-life achievement score will far surpass your game one. I will think of you fondly and often, and never forget any of you and the fun times we've had.
I'll be sending a PM to some of you over the next few days. Might even try to have one last goodbye BG or something in the next week. Keep an eye open.
One gigantic, huge, massive, ENORMOUS THANK YOU to someone who I don't think I've ever even met in-game: Yasueh. Thank you for the work you did to make the f2paddon. Without your work, we'd all still be trapped in the dark ages of f2p; huddling cold and naked in the basement of some Inn or cave. I hope once in a while you feel warm fuzzes thinking about how so much of what this community is, IS because of what you made. Thanks.
It's been an honor and a pleasure to play with you all. Perhaps one day we'll meet again, when the fighting stops in Azeroth.
For the glory of Quel'thalas!
Sunwatcher
