I remember back when I first started playing WoW and holidays were basically my favorite part of the game. Children’s Week was the first ever holiday I participated in and I ran that kid all over the place, to places I’d never been before, so I could get the Speedy minipet (much to the horror of the significant other who couldn’t believe that I was passing up the option of a whole five gold!)
And all the holidays were like that, I went nuts over ’em. Got all the items, did all the little things you had to do. For the most part the only people who cared about the holidays were people like me who were dorks who were willing to fill up our bags with toys and candy and stuff, and that’s basically what I did. To this day my bags and bank are bursting from the seams– with holiday stuff. I could pull out that Valentines’ Picnic Basket while at the meeting stone for a raid or heroic and everybody would ooo and ahh over it cause nobody else had one. I could throw Jack O’ Lantern heads or snowballs at people in the middle of July. I was the crazy hunter with all the gadgets and minipets. And finally I was pretty content that I’d done all the holidays and could relax, and not have to worry about bagspace anymore.
So then this new thing comes out: Achievements.
Suddenly holidays are like THE BIGGEST THING EVER TO HIT WOW and suddenly I find myself in this odd position.
Do I follow the mass hype and fill my bags with even more holiday crap when it’s already rare enough as it is for me to have a precious *gasp* five empty bag slots? Do I do achievements for things that I already did, back before it really mattered?
The answer, for me, is no. I can’t bring myself to do it this time. I don’t exactly know why, I’m not trying to be elitist or a party pooper or anything of that sort. I guess you could say I’m like the stereotypical kid from the country who was used to quirky and personal Christmases and Thanksgivings on the farm who then goes to the big city to see that they’ve been all commercialized*. Doing it all for an achievement rather than for the heck of it feels hollow to me, especially because I already have most of the toys and stuff. Besides, it’s difficult for me to enjoy a holiday if I’m freaking out about meeting requirements for things. So, I’m not going to pressure myself into it. That’s all.
I will of course do the holiday achievements if they fall in my lap, or if they happen to coincide with something I wanted to do in that holiday anyway, or if they provide a nice bonus incentive (i.e.; rep for elder coins)… but I would’ve done that before the achievements. I guess I’m just not going to go out and “seek out” those achievements if I don’t want to. (Brewfest may prove to be an exception cause of a running joke that Tawyn is the guild drunk and thus needs the Brewmaster title, but we shall see.) In summary, I’m going to do the holidays for fun, and not have to worry about finding a particular somebody to /dance with in Dalaran or whatever.
So there you have it. That’s why I’m not going nuts over holiday achievements. Not because I dislike holidays or dislike other people doing the achievements. Not because I am Uncle Scrooge. But because for me, it’s all been doooooooone befoooooooore!
* I’m a country kid, I’m allowed to say this kind of thing >.> Oh, and I ride buffalo to work, and I don’t really have the internet, this is all just an illusion.
