Good-Bye, Azeroth!

The Lord has been in the business of opening and shutting doors lately. He's quite the doorman, let me tell you. One of the doors recently closed was my portal to World of Warcraft, a game that I have been part of for over two years.

Yep, I've given up WoW.

Someone pinch me.

The decision to leave was bittersweet. I felt the Lord urging me to quit for months now, but how do you say good-bye to friends you've met, gotten to know, laughed with, and battled monsters with for two years?

Actually, deciding to cancel my account wasn't that hard. Logistically, anyway. Jason stopped playing in March, and somehow Azeroth wasn't as much fun without my gnome mage husband. I wanted to spend more time with Caleb, and maybe plan some fun art projects with him. I also wanted to pursue new hobbies, such as baking.

At the same time, over the last few months I've looked for full time work, been house-hunting, and taught Korean kids 8 hours a week. Life's been full. Busy. Not conducive to the playing of WoW.

The decision to leave the game behind seemed logical. Honestly, I haven't played much since April, only logging in now and then to check my mailbox. And with everything going on in our lives, I haven't missed it much.

Except that WoW isn't a game you play by yourself. It's a society, a culture all its own. It involves hundreds (millions, actually) of other people who you get to interact with in a fantasy world setting. And some of these people have become my friends.

This might sound funny, but I have lots and lots of memories attached to WoW. Inside jokes that only Legendary (our guild) players would understand. Late Friday nights spent in the haunted halls of Kharazan, battling the ever-infuriating Shade of Aran. Silly escapades into the obscure regions of Kalimdor in quest of a rare pet. Helping fellow guildies out with dailies and rejoicing with them as they reached level 70, then 80.

I introduced two of my best friends to WoW. They both still play.

Hopefully, you begin to see why this choice wasn't so easy.

I'm no good at good-byes.

But the Lord was in this; as He nudged the door closed, I gave Him permission to shut it and felt His peace that it was the right choice.

The door isn't locked, though. My toons still exist. If I wanted to, at some point in the future, I could reinstate my account. Imara, Ilyssa, and Ijandra would be waiting for me, right where I left them. So would my guild.

But honestly, I'm looking forward to life without WoW. To exploring the possibilities of RL (real life). There's a whole world out here, outside of Azeroth and Outlands. And I've only scratched the surface of what could be. :)

So good-bye, World of Warcraft! I bear you no ill will, and pray the rain falls in Duskwood, the snow in Icecrown, and that level 30s may always curse Stranglethorn Vale for the death trap that it is!