For many players WoW is Heaven, for many it is Hell.
For most of us, I think it is a balance (maybe the only balanced part of the game), 7 heavens and 7 hells.
Seven Heavens
Ease of play
Whether you’re a hardcore player or newbie, the interface is easy to use. Sure there will be a few stumbles at 1st, but soon enough you can focus on the world while your fingers do the work.
It wasn’t always this way. There is a reason there are so many UI mods. These days it’s for convenience, back in Vanilla it was for playability.
I have 10 thumbs, so I have always struggled with WASD games. Keyboard turners are laughed at in WoW because there are much better and easier ways to do it.
Magical places
Once the interface settles into your unconscious, you get the opportunity to look around. Unless you bought your toon on eBay, you will see a wealth of graphics, some magical places, and some awesome encounters.
A storyline worth following
Particularly in WoLK, but even before that it was worth doing the quests if you like playing a storyline game.
- Some people PvP
- Some people Raid
- Some people Quest
It’s worth questing for many reasons, and storyline is one of them.
Gnomes
What can I say. Heaven = Gnomes. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!
Enemy Faction
It’s great having an enemy faction, at least on a PvE realm and many people enjoy PvP realms as well.
It adds an extra dimension. Will that red player attack me, or can I continue to collect my Gnoll ears.
Soon you will be able to defect and even now you can reroll.
Raids, Instances & Battlegrounds
Questing can become a drag, but of course what makes a MMO is the M for multiplayer.
The ability, nay need to group for this content is awesome. The places themselves while occasionally frustrating make the game fun.
A role for all
You don’t just have to be Conan. You can be Merlin too! Different strokes for different folks, and WoW has them all.
Seven Hells
Laaag
Probably my worst WoW hell isn’t really about the game, it’s about the connection to the game. Dome nights you are just left wondering why you even logged on.
Collect 7 hells
Collection quests are a form of purgatory. It’s punishment for having fun in the rest of the game. Many people avoid them like they are hell itself.
Ganking
Having an enemy faction can add flavor or induce tears. Spending an hour being corpse camped is a never-ending nightmare.
Bag space
He he, I had to insert this somewhere. There is never enough and it forces you to make decisions you would rather not make.
Forget the ethically difficult decisions in WoLK, deciding whether to delete that novelty item will be the hardest decision you ever make.
Grind
Eternal slavery? Blizzard has done well to remove the need for traditional grinding.
Still, rep grinding remains, daily grinding remains. If you want a turtle mount, go on and grind till there are tears in your eyes and you are prepared to repent a lifetime of sins.
Chat
Trade chat, Barrens Chat… It’s worse than Mother-in-Law chat. Admittedly you can turn it off, buy it’s a hell to be endured before you discover that… And god forbid you actually need the channel.
PuGs
This is all sorts of flavors of hell in it’s own right. To be fair, a guild or regular group can be as much fail as a PuG, but it’s a rare day.
Some PuGs just make you wonder who you crossed in RL earlier in the day to deserve such damnation.
What’s your WoW heaven and your WoW hell?
Gnomer and Out!
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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/07/13/ the-7-heavens-and-7-hells-of-wow/
Isn’t it the 9 Hells?
I had an issue over the weekend that kept causing my Mouse to crash and required a PC reboot…. So Annoying, even more annoying than Gnomes!
Looks like you are living with 9 hells… my 7 + mouse + Gnomes…
But really, Gnomes don’t have to be your nightmare… just faction transfer and we can all be friends… can’ help you with the mouse though….
I was bugged for ages with a mouse (or usb slot) that would intermittently shut up shop… happened on a couple of boss fights… luckily ones that didn’t require movement and were single target… still frustrating as all hell
Hmm, does this mean I’m insane? I actually like the collection quests and grinding. (Feel free to blame my weaning on the Pokemon games – NOW that is grinding!)
I don’t know if I can (or should) define anyone’s (else’s) sanity (or lack there of)…
I don’t mind collection quest per se… but there are definitely some that are driving me insane…
Those empty wine glasses in Dalaran… thank god I found some new spawn points (4 of them near the quest givers in VH)…
The collect stone and wood quests… too much travel.
They are worst when there is competition, which is why they are worst when they are dailies… not so bad when they are old quests.
Grinding at times can be fun too… but a lot of it depends on the person.
I love quests… if I had time for more, I would be constantly questing…
Zupa hates quests, much preferring grinding… but he has discovered his most efficient way of leveling is questing.
Depending on the person, they will be one of your heavens, or one of your hells
I have to concur pretty whole-heartedly with this list, except that I’d add Guild Drama to both columns :p
I have a special place in my hell for the Nerfbat as well.
Oh and Thanks for the Blog Roll <3
(NobodyReadsThis)
Ahh yes.. Guild Drama… how could I forget that one… I dare say Cathy & Bre would add Guild social events to the Heaven category too.
NobodyReadsThis.. you know, yours was one of the 1st blogs on my blog roll… in part because I wasn’t into the feedreader back then, but to be honest I haven’t visited in ages…
I think the last time you were on a WoW break, moving and in GrandTheftAuto… or something else…
I see you have some more WoW posts up… I will have to slot you into my daily read!
Thanks for coming for the read!
I think my personal favourite brand of ganking is the /wave, followed by a ride-by so you drop your guard, followed by a death grip-holy-hell-what-just-happened death. That has to be like, level 7.9 of hell or something. ^_^
Ahh the sucker-gank…
They probably have a Macro…
/wave
/cast Deathgrip
/spit
/lawl
Couldn’t agree more.
Especially when the ride-by lulls you into enough security to take on a revenant in Wintergrasp.
Guilds themselves can be an interesting one – being in a guild with a bunch of like-minded people can be one of the most fun and rewarding things about WoW. Equally, guild can become a personal form of hell for folks that don’t get on well with guildies.
Griefing would be another hell – there’s nothing worse then people griefing you just for the sake of being mean – corpse camping comes in under this aswell, but I heard a story recently where a hunter was in the process of taming Loque only to have Loque nuked down by a member of the opposite faction. (Loque is that gorgeous looking rare spawn spirit cat)