The release of Mists of Pandaria has gotten me to thinking about World of Warcraft. I could never get into it – even though practically all of my best friends were playing it for several hours a day, and I think some of them still do. I liked it, sure, it had a humongous world to explore, and leveling up and getting stronger gear is always addicting (damned Skinner box), but I never really saw the point of it all. The longest I ever managed to keep playing was to level 60 (max at the time was 80), and I bought my flying mount, and then I stopped playing. For good. Even though a bunch of people have told me that the game doesn’t even really START until you’ve hit the max level – which makes absolutely NO sense to me.

I think my problem was that the game could never be beaten. Most video games nowadays have a clearly definable end-goal, like “Defeat the evil Zuzywuvuz and save the galaxy!” You reach that goal, and the game’s ending plays, followed by the credits. Simple.

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