I feel torn. I’ve had nothing but positive interactions with players and the community. But the state of the lore and story depresses me to no end. Part of me wants to play and RP, another wants to unsubscribe and tell Blizz to shove it.
Part of me knew it would come down to feeling like this. WoW was always an escape from a dark place for me. Now that feels tarnished in a way that feels wrong. But at the same time, all the RP I’ve had has been extremely fun and rewarding.
Sorry for venting. Just needed to get it off my chest.
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I feel you, man.
I keep mentioning it in a memey way like Gwyneth with the Lion King, but in all seriousness taking up FFXIV is what lifted me out of this state. The lore is actually well-written and makes sense (mostly) and the community is very welcoming. But regardless of whether you find another home, it’s never any easy thing to feel this way about a game and a world you’ve invested so much in.
Ultimately I’ve been pulling away from WoW for a while, because it has too much of a hold on me to just go cold turkey, and because I’m increasingly getting the sense it’s never again going to go anywhere that makes me happy.
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I was going to recommend giving FFXIV a try.
Even if you don’t like it over there, just taking a break and playing a different game will give you a new appreciation for WoW when you do come back to it.
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I feel ya, man.
I’ve honestly been tempted to put WoW down again and try FFXIV again.
If ya do want to try it, I’m willing to join ya, our playtime willing.
(Heck, if you do, may I strong-arm you into using their version of recruit a friend? I’ve played before, so maybe we can have recruit benefits. 
)
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I think there’s quite a few discords for WoW and RP communities. Lot of folks often ask for RP there as they might be short on time.
Takes me back to the old forum days of RP, really.
But yeah, you’re welcome to try FFXIV. Free up to level 60, so that includes base game and Heavensward which is a bangin’ expansion in of itself.
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Brand loyalty is so 2000s, feel free to branch out and find what makes you happy. Sometimes a change of pace is what you need, I’ve been learning how to play MOBAs and it sure is a learning curve but I’m having fun and it’s helping to stave off burnt-out from playing nothing but WoW since the pandemic started.
Also I really liked your character, thanks for stopping by last night! Hope you find that balance that makes you happy.
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Video games are meant to be fun. WoW is different for a lot of us that it’s not easy to put down and walk away, but sometimes that is the best thing to do if it’s not fun anymore or causes too many negative emotions that the good times aren’t worth it anymore.
I’m lucky in that I find the fun aspects of the game to be when I’m surrounded by folks who like the same things as me, so I’m never without fun. If that’s not the case for you, finding that somewhere else may be the best thing for you.
I hope you find fun soon, because I know how to feels to want to play a game that isnt fun for you anymore.
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On the FFXIV note…where do ya’ll play? If I go back, I don’t wanna treat it like a single player game again.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions and kind words. I have until next week until my subscription runs out to make a choice. Until then I will focus on RP as that is what gives me most joy in-game. You have all been so very wonderful and considerate.
I’m on Mateus. A lot of WrA folks ended up there. It’s tricky to get into, though; the server’s full. I can only make alts there at like 3 in the morning on a weekday.
I ended up on Balmung server, and I think an alt on Mateus.
Balmung is harder to get into, unless things have changed in the last few years.
I feel the same. Stopped playing for some two or so years and did other things — FFXIV included. Returned and the lore is just a mess. It’s terrible. It’s silly in places, and not everywhere is ridiculous but parts of it? It feels strange and I struggle to RP in it.
But if you do give FFXIV a try, feel free to poke me and I will offer you some gil to get you started. It’s a good game. But it also has its hiccups and issues. Player housing, (and good luck getting a house as a new player, it’s a toxic state of affairs to say the least) does see a huge portion of the RP community “hidden” inside houses. However, inns, RP hubs, guild buildings do exist and offer a slice of RP we can build ourselves, which WoW does not. You can make anything, everything, and find a community who will RP to your taste, but it is hidden. It took me a long time to crack into FFXIV’s community when I first joined, so keep that in mind.
As for WoW—honestly, same. I feel exactly the same as you. Some pieces of the lore is just silly and I am expected as a good RPer to put up with it. Chunks of the lore I loved so much and the atmosphere it created has been tarnished due to Shadowlands. Religion, the Light, Elune. WoW drops things after a hot topic—what is even happening with the Illidari? But this happened to death knights, once upon a time. And they’ve been revived. So it makes me feel really fickle with this. They’ll shine again. Right? The Emerald Dream — that will get some more love rather than a slim, little raid now ignored from a few expansions ago… right?
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I ended up leaving Mateus to join more friends on Cactuar/Aether DC because I found I didn’t RP all that much in the game and mostly just did content, so it was a better choice. I will… cry about losing my house later.
I’m Mateus, as well. I just got burnt out on the WRA FC I was in devolving to harem RP drama every 6 months.
Streaking Bird on Mateus here. If anyone needs a hand, it’s offered. No promises on what I can deliver though.
Stepping away from that to comment on the more general mood, one of the best things I’ve done in the last year was decouple myself from MMO’s. They’re… Not healthy, frankly. Pick up some games you can safely put down without struggling with an ever present looming threat of being left behind or having to relearn every other patch. Mine is a personality incredibly poorly suited to the social elements so distancing myself from RP in general was also a boon, but that’s a personal thing.
Find things that you enjoy, find ways to enjoy things you might not be, and if you can’t, don’t labour and struggle to keep at it. It sucks so much more than anything else.
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I feel the same exact way. It breaks my heart. Without even discussing the pvp aspect. This really doesn’t seem all that well. Although, I did like the raid. I mainly stay for rp and pvp so to see all this happen makes me want to violently shake every night elf druid in existence and cry in a corner! clears throat I just want my game back.
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Suyo has a good point, too: I’ll probably always play MMOs off and on but I feel like I play them in a much more healthy manner when I don’t do so exclusively anymore. I go in cycles, play my online game for a while, then go get into something else for a time. Do a playthrough of an older game for nostalgia, or try out something new I picked up in a Steam sale.
It’s all about balance.
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Reading this thread definitely is making me resub to FFXIV again, if anyone wants to add me on discord feel free to (DwarfDude#1481). Might xfer myself to this Mateus server if it’s the best idea for RP. Any opinions on that?
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Which server are you on? If it’s the crystal server, it doesn’t matter as you can just use the aetheryte to slip over to Mateus or Balmung, which are the main RP realms on the crystal group. Imagine being able to casually and easily shift from WRA to MG whenever.
Looking at my account i’m on Aether. How much would a data center transfer be? I forgot lmao