These days it feels kind of… well, not really embarrassing, but weird to admit that I still play it. It’s like saying “I still write checks” or “I still have a VCR” or something. Isn’t WoW that game that everyone’s moved on from by now? Aren’t all the hip and happening gamers playing FFXIV and Dota 2 and Hearthstone and all that other stuff?
And yet eleven years after its release, I’m still here in WoW. Why? Well, I imagine everyone has a different answer to this question, but for me, it comes down to four main reasons:
1.) WoW Token
For me, this is definitely the biggie. If I still had to cash out real money for this game, there’s a good chance I would be either on hiatus right now or heading to hiatus very soon. But since I can make enough gold to pay for my subscription just by doing garrison stuff every day… why not stay subscribed?
2.) WoW is a Theme Park Game
In a way, WoW reminds me a lot of those games that were big in the late 90s. Stuff like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. The gimmick in those games were that there were a bunch of mini-worlds inside a big overworld, and you could go to whichever mini-world you wanted to go to.
WoW is similar. It’s been around for so long and there’s so much to do at this point that it just feels like its own mini theme park. Even if you don’t raid, there’s stuff to do. It’s a lot of entertainment for free (if you’re using the WoW Token).
3.) I Like the Lore and World
It’s probably a little silly but it’s actually one of the things that keeps me invested in the game. If I didn’t find the lore and characters as interesting as I do, I don’t know if I’d still be playing.
And, finally…
4.) It’s Just Comforting
Because I know all the little nooks and crannies of this game, I can sit down at the end of a long stressful day and shoot stuff without thinking or worrying. It’s pretty nice to have a ready-to-play comfort game.
So yeah. It’s 2015 and I’m still playin’ WoW. Hey, I’ve also still got a CD player in my car and I still wear a watch. It’s all good.