To be honest, I don't know why I'm surprised, especially because I have to admit guilt to it too. These demon invasions are, frankly, awesome, and I love that they're supposed to increase in frequency on the run-up to the expansion's release, and while it's true that everyone will have all the rewards by then, I think it's more for the sake of atmosphere. After all, the Burning Freaking Legion is coming.
But I've noticed a trend is emerging: people heading to the invasion sites and just sitting there.
Like I said: I have to admit guilt to this. I actually started doing this on Friday, not two days after the events began on EU servers. Invasions took about 10 minutes, so they were nice and fast, and because I wanted the gear rewards as well as the transmog, I would move everyone over to where the invasion was happening at about 9, 10am, and I would log in, have my character sit in the inn, and I'd reap the benefits on WoW while seeing to my at-home workout. It takes me about an hour, so I'd back and forth very quickly between circuits to swap characters over every 10 minutes, then bugger off and AFK through the invasion.
I do participate properly when I'm not exercising, but I've noticed that other people have cottoned on to the fact that, as long as you're in the invasion zone, you can get the chests without getting in combat once. And because of that, invasions are taking about 20 minutes now because no one is doing anything.
Do as I say, not as I do. It's irritated me seeing it, and when I set my characters up before my workout yesterday morning I saw other people doing exactly the same, running into the Crossroads inn and AFKing.
I got this screenshot when I came back to the Crossroads today at about 64% of Stage 3 purposely to see if many people were leeching.
I've decided to stop doing it now for a number of reasons:
1: it takes too long for everyone else
2: to set an example
3: to save Azeroth.
And, no, I've not completed any of the sets, I've actually had seriously rotten luck with drops and I would still benefit from 'playing' the game like this until I've managed. But I'm not going to.
This event wasn't made for the sake of it, and while, to a degree, it is filler content and a means to build hype for the expansion, Blizzard knows that most people who are getting the expansion already pre-ordered it. They're under no obligation, really, to provide us with new content three weeks before something like Legion is released, especially when most of us have already paid for it, but it's for the atmosphere, the severity, and to get the story where it needs to be. And, I suppose, maybe to draw in an extra month of subs, but a lot of people probably would have resubbed in the month leading up to Legion to dust off their characters.
"I don't want to play the game, I just want the rewards" - it's the kind of mentality that encourages the fast-track 'unlock collectables' for 89p and stuff that Ubisoft brought out for Assassin's Creed. For people who 'don't have the time' - it's a freaking video game, it's not life! You play when you do have the time; games are, by definition, 'hobbies' and 'passtimes'.
*Ahem* Anyway.
I'm writing this post, really, to make a vow not to use this crappy tactic for the sake of gear I'll be replacing in a fortnight, and especially not at the expense of low level alts who are trying to avoid questing and dungeoning for the upteenth time to get to max level. I've been getting about 10 levels a day on my dwarf mage (yes, I made an Alliance, and it feels so wrong running towards blue flags for safety) through the invasions, which I've been using as an alternative to the neutral questing zones, and it's starting to irritate me when I see arrogant level 100s sitting on their flying mounts over Westfall doing bugger all while I'm running around killing everything at level 45 so they can get all the rewards. So when I went on Daeaye, Atherya, Spinegrinder and so on, I've been making a point of doing as much damage and killing as much as I can, to make a point. Even if all I end up doing is helping the AFKers get their rewards quicker.
Well, that's not all I'm doing. I'm saving Azeroth, yo.
How many of you are guilty of the same thing? Come on, confession time. Hang your head along side me.
