I’m usually not big on making New Year’s resolutions.  That’s mostly due to the word “resolution”, which feels like it should mean “promises I know deep down there’s no way I’ll keep.”  Using the word just feels like an escape clause, and I don’t want to submarine myself before I even get out of the gate.  I am therefore not making resolutions this year.  I’m making optimistic predictions as to what I will accomplish in 2012.

• Keep finding reasons to play WoW.  I probably would have gone whole-hog into SWTOR if it hadn’t been for my brother, aka my online enabler.  He got me started playing Everquest, then he got me playing WoW.  He doesn’t play as much as I do, or as often.  He’ll pay for a month, let that month run out, then take a break for a couple of weeks before starting up again.  But he’s my brother, and my best friend, and so as long as he finds WoW interesting I’ll be that much more motivated to keep playing.  Don’t get me wrong, there are other reasons I enjoy playing the game.  I love the gold making aspect, the achievements, getting interesting outfits for my characters to mog.  As long as I can set a goal for myself, I can motivate myself to log in.

• Get a serious gaming rig.  I might have considered staying with SWTOR if I owned a computer that let me play the game without wanting to put my foot through the monitor.  The graphics moved like an old-timey flip-book animation.  I had to shut absolutely everything off or set it to the lowest level, then play in a windowed mode at 800×600.  I’d get frustrated just struggling through the cutscenes.  I don’t have that problem with WoW for the most part, small blessing for ancient graphics engine.  But most of my interaction with the game is solo, which leads to…

• Raiding.  I don’t even care about the loot.  Seriously.  I’m not a slave to purples.  I just like the fellowship that forms between people who raid together (I hear good things).  I’ve played WoW for four or five years now, am a member in one of the largest guilds in the World, and I still don’t feel that camaraderie.  That’s mostly my fault, being the antisocial butterfly that I am.  This year I want to change that.  Also, Deathwing set me on fire once.  For that, I want to chop off his balls.

• The AIE Podcast.  This is my way to interact with the community that I’ve been a part of for the past few years.  I’ve been motivated to do things I’d always wanted to do but put off.  Submitting a segment to the AIE podcast is one of them.  I don’t do public speaking, and I still feel a bit awkward when I record them, but I’m three segments in (“Ask Jeeves” for the win) and I’m really having fun.  A couple people seem to dig it too which helps with the motivation.

• Improve the blog.  Better url setup, a better looking page, and hopefully better content.  It has taken me a long time to find my blogging voice.  I feel like I’m almost there, so this year I want to make it happen.  Whatever it is.

• Go to Blizzcon again.  Blizzcon 2011 was my second time at the ‘con, and I went Lone Wolf the entire time.  I saw many people from a distance, but my heart really wasn’t in it this year.  My Mom had just started going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment for brain cancer, and literally an hour after returning home from Blizzcon I had to get in my car and drive over six hours to start college the next day.  Oh, and I had to buy a brand new ticket to make that flight, essentially burning the old one.  Mind and body were definitely elsewhere.  If I get another crack at Blizzcon this year, I want to get more out of it by interacting with more gamers, more guildies, and more people.

How about you?  Have you set any goals for yourself in 2012?