Playing World of Warcraft can be quite rewarding. It may be just pixels on the screen but those pixels make me happy. Blizzard implemented a feature called Achievements last year and it is very satisfactory to get those. Especially when the work sucks and nothing changes for the better there, getting an achievement in the game perks me up.
There are many different areas of achievements: questing, dungeons and raids, PvP, professions, world events, and so on. Some of these require other players' participation, some can be soloed. I've mostly concentrated on the solo achievements and asked help of my guildies when I needed it.
Yesterday I got nine achievements*, one of which I've been working on for a year: What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. It is a meta-achievement (a compilation of achievements) that requires the player to complete all achievements for seasonal world events. Those events take place during holidays such as Christmas, Midsummer, Halloween, Easter, and so on. They can only be completed during that holiday in the game.
The reward for completing this achievement is a violet proto-drake, an extremely fast flying mount. Just by happenstance Reea's hair is magenta and this "violet" proto-drake is exactly the same shade! It made the long, sometimes frustrating, work to get the drake all the more worthwhile. Besides, it's faster than the fast mount I had and has awesome animation.
The first time I looked at the achievements, I was certain I would never be able to get it. This achievement requires questing, PvP, raiding, help from others, and crazy amounts of dedication for a whole year; I would not have gotten this far if it hadn't been for the help I got from my guildies and BF. Thank you!
* Those nine are: Sweet Tooth, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, Fool For Love, What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, Champion of the Undercity, Exalted Champion of the Undercity, Champion of the Horde, Exalted Champion of the Horde, and Exalted Argent Champion of the Horde.