The Shared Topic over at Blog Azeroth comes from Deyndor of Swift Retribution who wonders:

So I was talking with Eda on twitter tonight and she mentioned that she’s had 4 raids in the last 2 weeks get canceled. And that got me wondering, what do people do when their raid is canceled?

I’m sure there will be the mundane like farming stuff or running heroics, but I’m sure there are a lot of people with some really interesting and fun things too. Maybe you invade an enemy capital by yourself. Maybe you go play an alt. Whatever it is, share it!

You know, as I started putting fingers to keys and my thoughts spilled out, my response took a slightly different path than what you might expect from the question. Some of you out there may relate, others will just mutter “loser” and move on.

Casual Player

For me, Deyndor’s question is better asked after twisting the object around: What do you do when you don’t have a raid? Not having a raid is my norm. I fill my time with instance runs, achievement collections, reputation whoring grinding and the like…  I basically farm emblems or achievements. I’ve alluded to it before, but I’m not a raider. Yep, you guessed it, I’m one of those dreaded casuals. Why?

First, I travel for work. WoW is an “unauthorized program” on my office PC (any machine connected to my corporate network is scanned to check for said unauthorized programs). If my corporate sniffer locates any illicit programs, my manager is emailed and HR is copied. That would not be a good thing. Given the jobs climate today, you can be assured I will be in full compliance to office policies — despite how much I’d dig playing from the hotel at night. So, when work calls, I’m offline. And yes, all you that are saying “Jeez, just get a laptop”?  Feel free to send me a paypal contribution toward that fund moneybags, because I already have the home desktop (and as much as I love it, it wasn’t cheap).  Justifying a second laptop for gaming while facing braces for the 3rd grader?  Nope, not gonna happen.  Besides, have you ever had to check two laptops through airport security? It’s not pleasant!

The second reason I’m not a raider is that when I’m home, I’m hanging out with the family. I actually like my family and want to spend time with them! Gasp! The only person in the house that expresses any interest in WoW is my son, and he’s a bit young to unleash upon the player community. Until the little ones are all tucked into bed and I’ve caught up with the Mrs, I’m offline.  Usually after 10 pm East, she’s calling it a day and I have a few hours to log in and tune out.

Choices and circumstances in RL make me an unreliable raid member.  I do not — nor should not — expect 9 or 24 other people to just hang out waiting on my sorry buns to log in and have an insta-raid. That would, of course, be awesome, but it’s not very realistic.

The Casual Raider

Still, raids are cool. They represent content that a solo player can not experience, and it’s a whole element to that game that I’d like to see.  Being invited to a planned raid? Well, that’s a Big Deal. Big enough that I will plan real life around occasional raid events.

On the weekend, this means hiring a babysitter.  Yep, if i want to WoW during daylight on the weekend, there better be someone there to entertain the kids. That’s my job on the weekend; I try to give the Mrs some down time since she takes care of them all week — by herself as she likes to point out — while I’m off in factories teaching people to use software. And asking her to stick in the house again so I can game? Will not increase my spousal faction!

What about at night? Well, again, for me to log in early requires some familial support. That’s good occasionally, and it usually requires something in return from me. It can cause strain (Mrs doesn’t get — at all — the lure of MMOs).  In fact, it’s safe to say she hates all video games. But, I too hate chick flicks and tofu, but I’ll still endure them from time to time because you have to support your partner by doing things together. Holy tangent, Batman!

Anyways, you get the sense that me participating in a raid requires a bit more than the average player?

So consider that all of the above planning has taken place… and poof!  Cancellation!

You know what? When that happens, I’m pissed. All that effort to be available is wasted. All of the real world stress is pointless. At that point, I’m done with the game. Time to grab a book, catch up on some DVRs or removing some of that marriage stress by checking to see if “going to bed” meant “going to sleep”.

See why I’m casual?