One month out

As I got ready to leave on business Tuesday morning, it occurred to me that my WoW account was expiring that day. It had been roughly a month since I'd started LOTRO and now the hammer was falling on WoW. Did I miss it? Will I want to go back? Is LOTRO going to be as fun? All those questions ran through my mind.

Truth is, though, I don't miss WoW. Not in the slightest. Presently, I am having as much fun in LOTRO as I was in WoW, perhaps more at the moment because of the newness of the experience. I've got three toons now to level 20+ and a couple more catching up fast. I've discovered which classes I love (champion, hunter, warden) and which I don't (minstrel). I'm loving the crafting system, which is far more complicated and involved than WoW's but also more useful.

Will I ever want to go back? I can't say. Maybe if the next WoW expansion (Maelstrom, I believe) is really cool, but maybe not. It'll likely be more of the same dumbed down content that killed Lich King for me: Show up, fail, and still get epics.

I've heard rumor from a long time LOTRO-playing friend that LOTRO is not the place to go for challenge, so once I hit end game I may feel differently about some of this than I do now. But for the time being, I'm enjoying the ride. WoW will still be there and there's always the new stuff coming down the pike.

Do I regret playing WoW for almost four years of my life? Not in the slightest. I had some great times in game: Beating tough bosses, getting cool titles, causing a few wipes (with the requisite laughs). It was a good game for its time, but I think the truth of the matter is that I've outgrown it now.

So farewell to the World of Warcraft. Middle-Earth and perhaps worlds beyond await.