I still love the idea of WoW. I just don’t like what it’s become in WoD.
My favorite part of the game has always been questing, and at max level, that has always meant daily quests. Even if it was mindlessly knocking out the same dailies for the same factions, at least it felt like I was doing something. And, in MoP, the dailies continued to be rewarding, especially the PvP dailies on the Isle of Thunder.
In previous expansions, if I got tired of doing max-level dailies, I could level alts. I had three 80s by the end of Wrath, seven 85s by the end of Cata, and nine 90s by the end of MoP. But in WoD … if I try to level an alt, I feel like I’m “goofing off” instead of “doing my chores”.
And frankly, lately I just don’t have the energy. I’ve had maybe four days off from work in the last six weeks since my previous manager quit. In his absence, I have been the department manager in all but name (and it appears certain that I’m going to get the job officially). I’m quickly discovering just how much more there is to the job than the cooking part. Paperwork, paperwork, is there no end to paperwork?
On top of doing all of the ordering, I’m discovering just how many things my previous four managers neglected. Like, there were monthly budgets for things like dishes, silverware, kitchen utensils, etc. They had the money to spend every month (albeit a fairly small amount), and could have kept these things up by purchasing a little something each month. Instead, they just left the money unspent. So now I’m trying to rebuild all this stuff, but I don’t have any bigger budget than they did.
Then there is the difficulty in hiring staff. Being that this is a retirement home, there are stringent government rules about who can work in a place like this. Once I’ve hired somebody, they have to pass a drug test. If they pass that, they have to wait until we’ve submitted their information for a background check and gotten the “all clear”. Half the time, the delay between being hired and being able to actually start working results in them just going and accepting another offer, somewhere they can start work the next day.
Then there is a server-specific problem: You’re not going to find experienced servers who know how to provide the level of customer service this company expects when you’re offering them minimum wage and no tips. So I’m saddled with a crop of teenaged girls with little work ethic, a “special needs” lady, and an apparently-depression-suffering woman whose main virtue is that she at least shows up and does her work.
OTOH, part of my job is going into the dining room and making personal contact with each of the residents after the meals I prepare, and the vibe I’m getting from them is that things have been steadily improving since I’ve been running things.
But I’m left with little time or energy for WoW. When I finally get home from work, all I want to do is crack open a beer or 12 and stare at something on Netflix.
