Rave

World of Warcraft

Posted 41 months ago|3 comments|497 views

TAGS

World of Warcraft , WoW Online Game , MMORPG

Written by

Noxamanda
Lynnwood, WA

World of Warcraft. I'm not really sure if this will turn out as a rant or a rave, but I'm going with the positive vibe first because, well, it's the holidays..
Keep in mind, before you spam with with ridiculous accusations of being a geek, or resembling any one of the characters from South Park and that awesome episode about WoW, I am a totally well adjusted, normal middle aged woman. I've never been a gamer, the only game I've ever beaten is Diablo (I&II), and those were only on normal mode.....years and years ago. I am not living a secret second life, engaging in questionable role play, or spending my rent money on World of Warcraft.
That said, let me explain my love of the game. When I began playing, I was definitely looking for something new in my life. My boss at the time had a son who was age 17, and he heard me mention that I was looking "For something as good as Diablo". He suggested WoW, so I created a free account that night. Just figuring out how to move took me about a half hour, but I was too impatient to read any silly "how to's" or "for Newbies" guides. I jumped right in, and by the end of the week, I had the full version and was at level 10.
I was hooked. The online world allowed me to become something I've never been, will never be; a tall, thin, graceful creature, with built in bounce and a pet by my side at all times.
I met a ton of people, and this is where the ranting comes in. WoW is populated by, well, people. Other people. Some of them will prey on newbies. Some of them will ignore newbs, and some will help. Its just like real life. You have to weed through the crap to find a gem, someone you want to spend time with. It was a tough lesson for me, as I tend to be very naive and trusting, but I finally learned that in WoW, too, I had to be picky about my friends.
The heartbreak of trust broken online is just as painful as in real life. I have made and lost some really, really good friends in WoW, and I've also learned to be more careful personally when dealing with other players. Just like me, most of the toons in WoW have people behind them, with real feelings involved.
Nowadays, I play about once a week. I keep going back thinking I'll find something new and amazing, to recapture that jaw-dropping sensation of awe that I felt when I first started. Each time I log on, I realize there really is nothing new in that world, so if I decide to stay online, its because of the people I've met, not the game itself.
I miss the wonder of those early levels each time I go online. That passes as soon as I get a whisper from an old friend, someone I've grown to trust and yes, even love, saying that they missed me, and welcome back.

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Lady Rhyan

41 months ago: I agree wholeheartedly. I too play Wow and have for several years. There are times that I go on to play and times that I go on just to check in with friends. I have found that just like in life, you will meet great people and you will me jerks. I too have made some friends, even a few that are now part of my offline life. Yes, you must be choosy, yes online deception hurts as much as it does offline. It is easy for some to forget the rules of etiquette when they are hiding behind a toon.

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Devildog

41 months ago: It is clear that there are certainly a number of people who see all online interactions as purely fictitious. They forget that there are people behind those other characters, and they play the game much as they would any other computer game, but with the bonus that the other character have suddenly become a tad more creative or more argumentatitve.
It is a very interesting thing because I believe I would have been one who would argue that "hey, it's just a game, and what happens in it is all fiction." But I have been apart of these online communities enough to realize that while the characters, objects, questline stories and so forth that were designed for the game are indeed a fiction, the interactions between the players that take place through the characters can be very real.
I'm a roleplayer by hobby (I tend to prefer table top RPG's to computer games), and I realize that roleplaying can add an additional element of fiction. However, even when fictional scenarios are being played out, whether over a table or online, there is an interaction between players that occurs behind the scenes, and I strongly believe that the emotional bonds that can form through such interactions are every bit as real as the ones that people form through their direct face-to-face interactions "in real life," if both players see the interaction in the same way. Indeed, I have friends who I truly seem to have nothing in common with, aside from the fact that we all like to roleplay. Those interactions, through wich our friendships were formed, occured face to face, but they were no more or less meaningful than those that occur online, and in both cases the interactions take place (mostly) in a fictional world and through fictional characters.

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Devildog

41 months ago: I've seen relationships form online between characters that one player took more seriously than the other. In SWG, I knew a "couple" whose character's dated and married, but the two players had never met. Apparently, their online romance went pretty far, and the girl involved suggested that they should meet in real life. They guy decided that was going to far, and the drama that resulted pulled in so many online friends of both people in the town that it seemed like it was ready to tear town (online community) apart.
I'll sum up by saying that I think online interactions (even in the case of fictional worlds and characters) have become another way of socializing. It's a way that has its own problems and its own advantages. I suspect it will just take our society some time to adjust to this fact.

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