SYTYCB: The Dark Side: Expansion Syndrome

darkside

tulani-postThis is a SYTYCB submission from Tulani who made it into the top 7.

I remember back in September of last year, I was talking to a friend of mine. He had raided through Naxx pre-BC, and at the time resided in my hardcore progression guild. We were discussing the unnamed expansion, and he warned me of something that at the time, I didn’t – nay, couldn’t – believe, in my limited BC-only raiding experience. Now, however, it’s more than a reality; it’s an epidemic.

Expansionitus.

That’s right, I said it. I said what so many of us in our “expansion craze” refuse to acknowledge.

There is absolutely nothing that makes me want to scream more than pre-expansion lull. The length of time to get five people together increases to unbearable standards, and god forbid you try to slap a raid into a cohesive class balance. Recruitment slows to a crawl, and the only sign of life in your previously loudmouth guild is the discussion of what’s to come. Everyone turns to the future while shunning the present.

I’m talking to you. You, who’s read everything you can on the new expansion, and now you’re biding your time, leveling alts, and saving up your money, ready to sprint right up to the top all over again. In the meantime though, you’ve grown bored of this version, and you’ve started showing up less and less, and when you do, you couldn’t be more uninterested. And your attitude drags everyone else down with you.

Oh, you thought the quitters were the worst? No, it’s you – the player who’s far too lazy to put in the effort they did a few months ago, but still hang around anyway. You, the member who, had you acted like this before, would have been kicked without a second thought. These members litter raiding guilds as the expansion nears; as an officer, you won’t believe how infuriating it is to deal with the victims of this plague. Well, I’m here to administer the vaccine, and a swift kick to the behind:

Expansion isn’t for months. That’s months of new raids, months of new content, months of new kills.

Allow me to backtrack a second here: I am every bit as eager for a new haircut as the next girl, and there is nothing wrong with preparing and being excited. Expansion will surely be great, and with all the buzz, it doesn’t take an analyst to see how much it dwarfs what we currently play. However, I have goals which I need to see accomplished before I can enjoy something new.

My aspiration? To /dance on Kil’Jaeden’s corpse, plain and simple. I mean, it seems easy enough. You’d think with guilds who have cleared the majority of the game, the only way to go is forward, right? Wrong. Let me tell you my abbreviated story: the looming expansion has hit my guild smack in the face, right after we killed Mu’ru, the “hardest boss in the game.” And I’m not alone. I’m not the only guild experiencing the all-too-common symptoms: the sudden disappearances, the lack of concentration, the endless burnout… but one boss from the end? Your attitude, Mr. Waiting-For-Expansion, is a slap in the face not only to current members, but to everyone who’s given all they have to get us where we are today.

“But Lani, it’s all for nothing anyway. In a few short months, everything you do now won’t matter.”

Allow me to read this for what it really is: in a few months, all that nice gear, and your top dog reputation, will be insignificant, and you can’t handle that. Did you not join your guild saying that the joy is in the journey, not in the epics? It’s another reminder of how a lot of people lie on that question, and unfortunately, it’s those very people that see that the physical gain is going to be worthless, and they’re jumping ship quick. But me, I have a need to kill this big stinking Eredar, for pride, for completion. I don’t want to be “That Guild,” who we’ve all heard about when we’re clearing trash. The “yeah, we almost killed C’Thun, then Beta came out” guild.

We all know Expansionitus isn’t a real disease. It’s simply people who choose to lose sight of the world around them as they sit on their thumbs and wait for a new one. Maybe you’re already sneaking off from raids or your arena teams, or just showing up and watching some ESPN until it’s over. Maybe, like me listening to my guildmate long ago, you just don’t believe it. Wise up. If you want to have anything to come back to in Wrath, then when it comes time for your daily dose of raiding, do those 24 other people who rely on you a favor and pay attention.

So come on. This is the current game. Let’s finish it.

21 thoughts on “SYTYCB: The Dark Side: Expansion Syndrome”

  1. Can I get an AMEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

    Simply put, this really separates the wheat from the chaff as they say. Good post.

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  2. Our guild hasn’t had a full roster for non-farm content in two weeks. It’s really frustrating, BT is on farm, so we’ve got signups coming out the ears. Sunwell? 20 signups.

    My only comment: ugh.

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  3. What makes this even worse is that a number of other guild killers have come along right at the same time… some of which might not have impacted 5/6 SWP guilds like yours, but which have decimated guilds like mine…

    AoC
    Summer Vacation…
    and now Going Back To School ™
    Along with all the other things you pointed out (burnout, etc)

    Thankfully, there is a sunny side, and that’s that recruits that you get now can prove their worth in multiple ways… the mundane “am I good enough to be in a high end t6 guild”, and the just as important “… and I want to raid” vs “raiding is what the cool kids do.”

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  4. I, too, am seeing more of this, and I don’t really get it. Fortunately, my progression guild seems to be avoiding it, for the most part. In fact, we’re working to down more of the bosses we haven’t yet finished off before we all start the dash for 80.

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  5. Our guild has been lucky. Other guilds are having expansionitis and we are gaining a key player here and there. We have lost a few players due to school starting but then also gained some veterans that fish all summer instead of play WoW. The result is our guild is still moving forward on progression. We are still just in SSC/TK/ZA but we have been making solid strides. We probably won’t see Sunwell before the expansion (other than in trash mob PUGs) but hopefully we’ll get some bosses down in Hyjal and BT if we stick with it.

    Personally, the less I hear about WoTLK the better. I’m not even sure I will play after the expansion.

    Tankettes last blog post..Tidewalker, Kara, ZA, Sunwell Trash

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  6. Good post, and a great wake-up call. This is a much-needed reminder for a lot of folks, myself included, that while we may look forward to the future we must still live in the present.

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  7. Personally my guild’s 25 man progress was going less than well and was only possible due to a guild alliance. Having expansionitis hit hard enough was enough to stop the raiding which honestly was a godsend. Greatly looking forward to 10 man progression in Wrath.

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  8. Thanks everyone for the comments! And Crutch, that is so true; while my guild managed to dodge most of those issues, I know it hit many others hard.

    This post actually turned out to be a great outlet for me, in fact; I felt much less frustrated and more focused at the next raid. 🙂 Ranting helps!

    To all of you who truly want to raid before expansion and are going through similar issues…good luck!

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  9. As all have said, great post! I’ve been so tempted to rant about this on my blog, but I wasn’t sure how to do it without sounding as though I’m yelling at my Beta-testing friends. 🙂

    But yes, my guild is struggling with…something…right now. I don’t have a lot of faith that we’ll put together 25 people tonight, or at all this week. We even had trouble filling a Kara badge run last night!

    Kestrels last blog post..How Many Have YOU Read?

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  10. I hate to be the dissenting voice, but I must admit this kind of annoyed me.

    Speaking as a guild leader whose guild has had to stop raiding pre-WotLK due to loss of numbers, I understand the frustration – I understand it very well. But ultimately, people play WoW for the fun and reward it gives them, and you can’t really expect people to stick around when they’re not having fun. Burnout is a real factor, it’s not just an excuse of the ‘lazy’.

    Sihas last blog post..Inscription Still Not In

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  11. Bravo! You’ve put words to what I’ve been seeing, furious herbing, farming, saving gold. It’s been hard pulling almost anything together lately. I’d like to see some of this end game content before it becomes much easier (ZG, anyone?)

    Great post – you’ve got my vote for the day.

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  12. While I haven’t experienced this yet personally (my guild is still doing fine for numbers in MH/BT), I have seen it hit other guilds hard, especially coming with the well known summer slump.

    Very well written post, and about a subject that could affect a great deal of this blogs readership. =)

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  13. I hear ya! My guild is dealing with our own expansionitis issues. Except with us, it’s our leader who is never around! There’s still lots of people who want to see ZA in my guild, but nobody there to lead.

    It’s frustrating.

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  14. Thanks again for responding everyone! It really means a lot.

    @Siha/Tufva – Two sides to every fence, and I always love to hear the other side. While I too agree that burnout is a very real thing – leaving the game/redirecting your focus because you’re not having fun – my post was aimed more towards those who don’t enjoy the game, but still hang around in raids and just don’t try (and usually end up not showing up half the time, and sometimes wiping the group, etc). I, usually at least, have respect for those who can step up and show the respect for their guildies to say, “hey guys, I’m really burnt out. I’m gonna bow out for now, but I’ll probably be back in Xpac when it’s a whole new game again.”

    Hopefully that cleared that up from my point of view. Of course, I value your dissenting opinion, you don’t have to agree with me! As I said, I love to hear the “other side.”

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  15. Our raid is starting to feel the pinch now although we’ve managed to avoid it for a long time. Hopefully once we step up recruiting again we’ll snag some good folk, although we manage to make the 25 need for each raid it’s usually from our pool of subs who can’t commit to being regulars.

    Great post, well written I enjoyed reading it a lot.

    The only niggle I have is probably more for Wyn/Matt. Please, please, put some padding on the right hand margin of the image so that the text doesn’t butt right against it 🙂

    jezraels last blog post..Looking for regulars for T6 raid

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