Blizzard has certainly hit the jackpot. The mother lode. The big enchilada. They figured out how to transform the “loot lust” of Diablo into an endless loot chase that brings them $15 a month from millions of people. THAT was real magic.

I’ve played WoW for just over a year now. My sons got into it and they brought me in. I have enjoyed it because the world is so big and beautiful and there is so much to do in it. The game does indeed change at level 60. If raiding the same instances repeatedly isn’t fun (it isn’t for me) or grinding rank or faction in Battle Grounds is too boring (as both are for me), you can always start an alt. Learning new classes has been fun for us.

Last winter my paid time ran out unexpectedly. After a shocking pang of disappointment that I would not have predicted, I had an epiphany. WoW had become important to me. I didn’t want it to be so important that I needed it and I wasn’t certain that I didn’t need it. So despite not saying adios to my guild mates I decided to take the opportunity to quit for a while. For a few days I found myself wondering what was happening in Orgrimar. What great deals did I miss in the auction house? How many gems did I not mine today? I became determined not to go back until I knew that I could do without it.

After 6 weeks I did go back. I enjoyed it and I missed it. I had never planned my RL schedule around WoW. I never got into raiding on Friday and Saturday nights in the first place because there is inevitably a concert or dinner party or movie or some such event I’d rather do, in large part because when I last formed a real addiction 26 years ago I married her. So long as the boys and I enjoy partying up and blazing our way across Azeroth once in a while I will remain a subscriber.