I played a good deal of World of Warcraft.
 
I began playing after purchasing the burning crusade at midnight on release day. I leveled a blood elf paladin, and I had a fantastic time. When I hit lvl 70 I joined a great guild and experienced my most memorable moments of my time with the game. Karazhan (fuck. yeah.), Gruul's Lair, and a little bit of serpent shrine.
 
Then it happened. The arms race.
 
Everyone got so caught up with gear, that the game was no fun anymore. Daily quests, among other things were new trends I was not fond of. I stopped playing until Wrath came out, then I picked it up again, lvled to 80, and found everyone doing the same thing again.
 
This time, I'm going to play my way.
 
Step 1: New character, New realm
 I'm playing a fun class (LOL @ PALLYS), maybe a warlock or a shaman. And I'll definitely be playing on a PVE, since PVP is just too hardcore for my "carebear noob ass" as one guy called me one time.
 
Step 2: Engineering
I've always wanted to be an engineer (in game that is). They make all the coolest shit. But what? They don't make any money? I don't care. 
 
Step 3: Cooking and Fishing
These two skills I never lvled up, and now I'm going to relax and catch some fish, maybe even do that tournament thing that I could never do, forgot what it's called.
 
step 4: New guild
Looking for a guild that isn't full of raiders, I'm interested in a lot of well tuned but not heroic ish 5 and 10 man instances, all the way from 1 to 80. Maybe I'll go play the content I never did when I was lvling, before, you know, it's gone when the world blows up in cataclysm.
 
step 5: Have fun
Seems simple enough, maybe I'll enjoy myself more this time. 
 
That's my rant. If anyone is apart of a guild like I mentioned please PM me sometime, I'll be starting in a week or so.

F yeah man! Don't let WOW tell you what to do! LOL@PALLY made me sad as I....play a ret pally :( 
 
I'd love to play with ya when you get your guild started up,although I'll probably be trying all new specs and skills :)

" Then it happened. The arms race.  "

Have fun with your second go at it :) 
 
Though the lol@pally makes me a sad panda. Prot Pally was by far my favorite class to play, and the only one I found that could rush headlong into Stormwind, kill the auctioneers, take out a few flagged players, and get away with it by bubbling and running into the Stockades.  Ahh, such fun. Oh and tanking was always a blast, too; pulling enough mobs for the healer to have a near heart attack, hehehe... 

WoW used to be fun imo, i think Cataclysm is going to ruin it

I haven't played since a month after Wrath came out, but what I hear getting gear is a joke now.  I ended with a 72 warlock, 71 mage, 70 pally, and a 69 DK.  I was that unimpressed with the new content that I leveled a DK instead of leveling one of other toons.  
 
Stop the pally bashing, I had gear for all 3 specs, and was a skilled player @ all three.  As ret if I wasn't top dps then I was always 2nd. 

" I played a good deal of World of Warcraft.  I began playing after purchasing the burning crusade at midnight on release day. I leveled a blood elf paladin, and I had a fantastic time. When I hit lvl 70 I joined a great guild and experienced my most memorable moments of my time with the game. Karazhan (fuck. yeah.), Gruul's Lair, and a little bit of serpent shrine.  Then it happened. The arms race.   Everyone got so caught up with gear, that the game was no fun anymore. Daily quests, among other things were new trends I was not fond of. I stopped playing until Wrath came out, then I picked it up again, lvled to 80, and found everyone doing the same thing again..."

I agree with what you said about end game in wow. I too have intentions sometimes to do what you are about to and start fresh. The problem i think is it all sounds good in theory, having fun your own way, but the game of wow is designed to push players towards its "end game". Unless one is willing to not participate in it entirely, everyone eventually end up grinding daily quests and raiding for emblems. I had one of my best gaming experiences playing wow as a newbie, but after 2 lvl 80's and countless alts, all the magic of wow introduced to me was gone and all that it is left is my addiction to the game. I quit almost six months ago, i have urges to go back every once a while, but I know its only because i remembered the fun i had with the game, and had forgotten how much i disliked the endgame. 

This would be better if it was in a blog.