World of Warcraft: Altaholics anonymous

Altaholic: Someone who can not focus on just one character in an online game...

This is something I struggle with, so I’m reaching out here. I had previously posted about this subject on my personal blog: No re-rolls in real life, but  not in the way of looking at this topic from another perspective. Alts are, to most gamers, what comes next. You quest, grind, and level your way to 40/50/80. Three to six months go by and if you have been dedicated to your main character then you should be well equipped…and most likely bored, or getting there. Maybe bored isn’t the right phrase or word I’m seeking here. There’s lots to do in end-game content, then why do some (I, being one) seem to never fully stay satisfied with just hitting level cap and doing all that there is to do?

If you’re like me, you would have started an alt about ten or fifteen levels ago and really have been banging out the levels. Now you’re all excited, and the thrill of leveling and world PVP is in reach…you can smell blood in the air, every mob is an obstacle in your path to reach the level cap!  You’re ripping them apart, every combatant that foolishly stumbles across your blood soaked path; you’ve got tunnel vision with the goal of reaching end-game content. You might be desperately seeking to catch up with friends or fellow guild mates who have alts that are near the finish line.

So now a few weeks have gone bye, you’ve been distracted. Maybe you’ve logged in on your main to run a few heroics or do some dailies, your alt no longer seems appealing…something changed. Maybe it’s the feeling of just wanting to raid, or getting that last piece of gear from honor points or what have you. For a short time you dive back into your main character, and then, you get tired of all the grinds, and slowly begin to feel that treadmill for gear start to slow down, ever so slightly…coming to a creeping halt. What now?

Do you tighten the reigns and tread on. Do you find new life in re-rolling another character? Do you take a break from MMO’s for a bit, and go fire off some well aimed head shots on some noobs in DoD or CS:S?
Something I’ve learned and am applying to my gaming life is simply “enjoyment”,  for me its turning on the tunes and grinding out half a level and running around picking fights with alliance, that I know I’ll regret after I kill them a few times (oh yea, BTW camping lowbies=bad, camping your level or above= pure enjoyment).

How do you deal with end-game fatigue, are you the type to set goals or go after every achievement in the book? Are you an altaholic who can’t stop creating characters? Post your ideas and thoughts and if you’ve been here, done that.  Lets know how you trekked through it all and anything you feel is relevant. Oh yeah, post your most played alts and what server you hail from.

- Kaldeem