Realistic goals

Over my time of playing WoW I've learned a valuable lesson, and that is to keep your goals realistic in this game, because it's not worth getting frustrated over something you have no control over. The thing is, your goals for what you want to accomplish in this game depend mainly on your personal playstyle. In order to keep the hardcore gamers satisfied, the game has been made to be huge, much bigger than most casual gamers need, and because of that it isn't realistic to expect to see everything the game has to offer as a casual gamer.

When I first started playing I was excited about it and wanted to explore everywhere and do everything. I had never played an MMORPG before, but I had played the normal RPG games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Zelda (not really an RPG but it has the elements) and such, in which you could make it through the game relatively quickly by skipping the optional stuff, or take your time and explore everything, but it still didn't take too long until the only thing left to do was play through the game again. This was my impression of how this game would be, although I knew there was stuff to do at the end, I never expected the depth the game would have just on your way to getting to the level cap, let alone how much more opens up for you when you get there.

I remember first starting out as a gnome rogue and my friend as a dwarf paladin, in the middle of the snow, being told to go kill some wolves, which we gladly did and continued on to make our way through Dun Morogh, although looking back it seems like it took forever. We made a sort of competition out of levelling, although I was usually behind, but when we finally made it to level 60 I realized I had been playing the game for over a year already and had just made it to the level cap. Not only that but they had already announced the first expansion and the increase in the level cap and I was starting to realize just how little of this game I would probably ever see. By the time the expansion came out the only end game instances I had seen were Scholo, Strat and BRD, and with everyone racing to 70 I had little hope of seeing more than that.

Around the same time I had also grown bored of my first character and was in the process of levelling up my first alt, and realizing that I had a different perspective of what I wanted to accomplish in the game. Running instances was boring and tedious to me, and while I enjoyed some of them when I was able to get a good group together, I found that didn't happen often enough for me to stick with it. My playtime was erratic and my guild decided to go into hardcore raiding and I proceded to leave and continue on without them. I still to this day do not accept guild invites because I find them more of a distraction than a help. I was starting to realize the thing I like most about the game is the levelling process, working my way through quests, and becoming familiar with all the classes the game has to offer. Sure it would be cool to be at the highest level, have all the best equipment be able to lay the smack down on everything in my path, but the process of getting to that point just doesn't appeal to me, nor do I have the time to accomplish it.

At this point my main goal is to get a character to the level cap before the expansion hits, and if I decide to upgrade his gear at that point it will be through BG's and nothing else. I don't feel like joining a guild again because then I feel obligated to play rather than playing whenever I feel like it, which pretty much means I won't be raiding or doing arenas. In the future I plan on setting fairly small goals for myself, such as getting one character to a certain level, then switching to another and getting him to a certain level as well. In the long run my goal is to get each character to the level cap, but while this may be an unrealistic goal for me, the smaller goals along the way keep me motivated as each goal I meet is a small victory and will also provide to structure to my playing so I can stay on track.

Don't set your standards too high in this game, keep your expectations realistic and cater to your own playstyle, don't let others dictate to you how you should play. This game is meant to be enjoyable and the way you play it is up to you, so make sure to find the way that is the most fun to you and do it no matter what others may think, it's your $15 a month, just be sure not to take away from the fun of others in the process, they pay just as much as you do.