A Simple Request.

I notified several people about my newish job. I say newish because I had previously had employment with this company. I've been off work for nearly two years for two big reasons, but it feels good to get back. Of those notified, only a small few congratulated me on my return to work. Those "friends" I maintain online through World of Warcraft immediately responded with "So you won't be raiding anymore?" and even one response as melodramatic as, "You're killing me."

For those of you who did respond in what I would consider the proper and unselfish way, thank you. For those of you who not only didn't cheer me on, but instead thought about their own schedules, you can all go straight to Hell.

The move back to work is the first step in getting my life back on track. Soon school will follow, and with that, the rest of my life. To have such selfish and impudent responses angers me to no end. These are people I have befriended online when many of my friends were unable or unwilling to see me at my house during my hardships. I thought of them as confidants and life savers. To find them not rooting for me to do my best is really hard to swallow. It certainly sets our relationship in a new light. Clearly I was the Swiss Army knife of raiders, being able to do every role and do it very well, and nothing more. Illusions of comradery and alliance rapidly dissolve. All in all it's made me not even want to play the damn game anymore.

What acted as my virtual world to hide in, World of Warcraft is charged with an energy that makes you believe what it wants you to. The relationships feel real, the progress feels tangible and all the raids and accomplishments seem as though they're really quite something to be proud of. It's this narcotic quality that has led to the millions upon millions of subscriptions to the game. I myself have been a patron since day 1. What first served as a game, became a distraction and then an obsession. After a while obsession gave way to a sort of habitual routine, and finally the routine lost any original purpose it may have once had, and now I feel obligated to play. It's a chore, a demand placed on me by myself and other people playing.

I've officially cancelled my subscription as of today. The timer will tick down on remaining game time left until it's dried up and the end of an era is upon me. There have been comparisons made to drug addictions for WoW, and while I can understand the extremist mentality that requires, I don't feel that's the case. It's a substitute for a lot of things. Communication, relationships, entertainment all that good stuff.

When you start to fill those gaps in with the real thing, WoW runs out of places it can service you until finally you and it no longer have a need for one another.

I'm at that point.

And I can comfort myself in knowing I'm not leaving a slew of friends, but rather a team of fellow players who will quickly fill in my raid spot with someone else, of that I'm sure.

The World of Warcraft will not crumble without my presence.