I can no longer deny the truth. I have tried to push it aside, I have tried to weasel my way around its edges. But it’s there, and it’s undeniable. World of Warcraft, at its core, is a game about time. 

Given that "time" is part of my blogs title, and I’ve deftly plugged another piece in this sentence as well, time is something that is often on my mind.  The way I approach the game is largely an attempt to wrestle time to the ground, and bend it to my will.  I try to divvy up my time as efficiently as possible, assigning as the majority of my game minutes to "important" activities.  I schedule raids and instance runs at times that are convenient to me, because I know if I just log on randomly the chances of me getting anything significant done are slim and none.  If I cannot do that, I will have a specific plan for what I want to accomplish alone and how I want to accomplish it.

With Wrath right around the corner, I’ve begun to put together my plans.  Who will I level?  Will I level one character, and at least try to keep up with my guild?  Should I level 2 characters in tandem to take advantage of rested XP, knowing full well I will fall behind?  I just don’t know.

And the fact that I have to think like this makes me a little sad.

Allow my arrogance to surface for a second.  I consider myself a pretty strong player from a skill standpoint.  I have a good feel for healing, and manage my GCD quite well.  This often bears itself out in the overall healing charts for T6 raids.  Though not the best geared, I am often at the top.  I would go toe to toe with any healer I have come across with no reservations, if there was any way to truly do so.  I expect this is due to quite a few supporting factors, including my console gaming history that goes back to the Odyssey2 and my tendency to want to know EVERYTHING about any subject that interests me.

Heck, that’s a big reason I started this blog.  I’ve learned as many things as I have taught, I assure you.

Since there is no real way to quantify it, let’s assume that I am a very skilled WoW player, for the sake of argument.  I’ve recently realized that skill, though a big part in my eyes, is not so big a part overall.  Let me explain.

Skill is only part of the equation, in order to truly succeed in WoW, and see all there is to see, you also need a lot of time to play.  I’m not just talking about raid availability, either.  Try to think about any aspect of "progression" in the game and what it requires.  We grind mats.  We grind primals.  We grind levels.  We grind badges.  We grind reputation.  We grind trade skills.  Heck, it might be easier to try to think about what we DON’T grind in WoW. 

Let’s see.  We don’t grind…umm…well…

I can’t think of anything.  Can you? 

That makes me kind of sad.  Any skill I may or may not have will almost always be secondary to how much time I have to grind.  WoW is just plain set up to reward people based on the amount of time they can devote to the game.  Think about a game like Mario Kart.  You can get an edge through experience, but as far as the raw TOOLS go, everyone is on the same playing field.  You can’t level Bowser to 80 and blow away all comers. 

Is there any alternative?  Sadly, I haven’t been able to come up with anything.  Not yet, anyway.  I’m hoping a flash of inspiration will hit, but I’m not holding my breath.  So I will have to play within the rules just like everyone else.  I will have to resign myself to the fact that I can only go SO FAR in WoW.  I will never approach the upper echelon of gear or progression.  Not because I don’t have the ability, but because I don’t have the time. 

In a way, this makes me appreciate those things I can do just a little more.  I’m glad that I have managed to see so much of Serpentshrine Cavern, Mount Hyjal and the Black Temple.  I’ll never see Sunwell, at least not at an appropriate level, but I got pretty darn far for someone who can only play a handful of hours a week.  As long as I remember that I will most likely never sport all the best gear, and down whatever the present "last boss" in progression is, I can still have a great time in WoW.  There is also a way in which I have an advantage over those with more time to play the game.  I rarely burn out on WoW like many of them. 

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under Meta WoW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.