As I ease myself back into blogging after my literature-teaching-enduced hiatus, I figure I’ll start with something relatively easy to write about to get me back in the swing of things: World of Warcraft.
Well, my Paladin is level 80 now. I spent some time in instances and got him a 4600 gearscore, which—while not great—is more than enough to PuG anything that Malygos-US is capable of pugging. I have been doing a little of this and a little of that for the last couple of weeks.
And then I got bored of running random dungeons just after I became “Beej the Patient.”
So I started to PvP. Paladin PvP is neat; I have a lot of tricks. Counterspells and Silences are my bane, but I was having a pretty good time. Honor grinding was a much needed and enjoyable break from the monotony of the random dungeon finder (which I still hold is the single greatest feature Blizzard has ever implemented into World of Warcraft).
One day not long ago, I see my best friend log on his Druid. He’s in Arathi Basin. At level 74. We chat for a few, and he convinces me to join him in some low-70s PvP on my level 73 Priest by recalling days gone by where we had such a good time and made such a good team.
After two or three hours of completely supporting the Alliance team with our healing and winning every BG we entered, I decided that I missed my Priest and needed him to be 80, too.
Sigh.
Now I’m the kind of guy who absolutely hates the idea of alts. That’s why this bothers me so much. I pretty much abhor the leveling game and my playtime is so limited that I can really only focus on one character at a time if I want to see any kind of real progress.
However, Lesserheal will be my fourth level 80, which prompted my GM to say on Twitter that I have character ADD.
Despite my insistence on focusing on a single character, I always tend to bore of the one I am currently playing and move onto bigger and better. I have a Warlock and a Druid sitting at level 70, destined to never gain XP again. A Death Knight was my first 80. I thought being awesome, 2H DPS would make the game more fun. But then after I kill Sarth-3D before Ulduar comes out, I bore of him and start working on my Shaman so I could heal again. I get him to 80 and geared effectively and realize that I honestly don’t like the class too much. So then there’s the Paladin and my trial of leveling him.
But to be honest, the Priest has always been (and likely always will be) my favorite. So I don’t feel too bad about spending some time over Spring Break getting him to 80. Or close to 80. I don’t want to outlevel my buddy’s Druid just because I have extra time to play.
Now, I can’t help but feel as though I’ve wasted my time on the Paladin, especially after I went through such deliberation choosing him to level. Sure, I have an 80 Paladin for whatever I want to do with him from now on, but I only have time to really focus on one toon at a time. I don’t enjoy being forced to run 4 randoms just for Emblems of Frost every day 
before I can start having fun. I have fun playing the game however I see fit, which is why altoholism has never fit me.
Or at least I never thought it did.
Looking at my login screen, however, I have a number of high level alts in various stages of repair. I wish I could be like those people who have an alt for every occasion, but I don’t find that fun. And now, with my focus on PvP, the Priest seems to be the most enjoyable.
I know many people who have 5+ 80’s and do just fine making sure they are all outfitted. But to me, that never sits right. I want to be able to devote myself to a single toon and make him the best he can be. I believe it’s a spinoff of my pseudo-hyperfocusing. When I get my mind set on something, I am single-minded until it is finished. The ADD comes in, however, when I hit a milestone on my goal of “finishing” or simply realize that another aspect of another character is more appealing for X, Y, or Z reason.
I do feel bad, too, because this constant attention-hopping between characters means that I never get a chance to raid (as if my schedule allowed that kind of thing anyhow). I can’t (or won’t) make a commitment to my guild on a single character because I have no idea how I will feel about my raider two weeks down the line.
So where is the line between ADD and simply having a healthy enjoyment of alternate characters? Is there a line? Or am I—as usual—simply overthinking the way I play a videogame?
What about you, dear readers? How do you divide your time in MMOs: across multiple characters or do you devote yourself to making all you can out of a single character?
Thank you for reading Do I have WoW ADD or Am I an Altoholic?, a post from Professor Beej.
