We all know that gaming is a trade-off. Time that you spend gaming could be spent learning another language, or meeting new friends, or climbing a mountain…a multitude of things. That is not to say, however, that it is time misspent. Oh, sure, you need to allocate the time you need for school, work, family, friends, housework…you learn to prioritise, and set limits.
And sometimes, you wonder if you are exceeding those limits.
I have a high-pressure job, a healthy relationship, animals, a horse, and so on. I also raid five nights a week from 7:00 to midnight. (Non-gamers are gasping in shock right now.) Raiding at that level requires a lot of work in-game to support it all, to pay for pots and flasks and repairs. Extra time, usually on weekends. There are heroics to be run for primals and gear. All in all, an awful lot of time spent playing.
If I keep a flask up all night, that is roughly 80g for two of the cheaper ones and 100-150g for the more expensive. Plus wizard oil every half hour. Plus up to 25g repairs on nights when we’re learning new bosses. It takes a lot of play time to make that amount of cash, when you can only farm on the weekends. At that point, you’re looking at scary hours, and you have to ask yourself if that kind of time investment is really worth it.
But what are the alternatives? Sure, I could tell my guild that I want to go on non-raiding status, or just raid casually. But that’s not me…raiding perfectly fits the success-driven type-A personality. I’m in the middle…I’m hardcore, but not hardcore enough.
Uh, I would consider that a pretty hardcore schedule. I game in groups maybe twice a month. I solo maybe once or twice a week.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. :)
Yeah, I know – it sounds horrible when you say it like that. But for me it replaces bad TV, or going to the pub – I still read constantly and have time for everything else. But it is a terrible amount of time. I like being in a progression guild, though. At the moment, the tradeoff is worth it…almost. Sometimes.
I was lucky… I found a very competent, mature guild that raids 3 nights a week for (pretty much) only 3 hours per night. We’ve made a lot of terrific progress in T5 lately, so I think it can be done! If you ever feel like getting back into raiding, look for a slightly more mellow guild. 25 hours of raiding a week just ain’t natural. :-)