Spring Break
'WoW,' haven't we had enough already?
Cody Boland
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: The Edge
Growing up in the world today can be a tumultuous time. Children are offered a number of potentially harmful choices, like free 10-day "World of Warcraft" trials. As a former user (after all, college is the time for experimentation), I can safely say that "World of Warcraft" is not for me.
While an endless fantasy world full of avatars controlled by a group ranging from pimply teeny-boppers to pimply 40-year-old basementdwellers has seemingly become a mass epidemic, spending a day of clicking my mouse button to get my orc +1 in strength makes about as much sense as kicking a wall till my shattered foot levels up.
Nevertheless, "WoW" is huge - mammoth huge. With players numbering in the multi-millions, an entire society has been created where "grinding" no longer means being outdoors. While I have merely dabbled in the bastard child of Tolkien and the Teletubbies, people close to me demand their fix on an endless basis. As such, I have noticed a few things about how these gamers interact.
Some players are intensely proud of their alternate life. These people laugh at those who are not chasing their fantasy dragon and will try to force their "WoW" addiction onto others, if only to see the new player struggle to understand why the undead mage is not, in fact, invincible.
However, a startling amount of players seem to be intensely self-deprecating. They are smart people, so they are quite aware of the oddity that is spending important years of their life pretending to be an elf.
They will be quick to point out their geekiness and the futility of spending an hour in Wailing Caverns waiting for a quest to get started. Knowing they are odd outcasts from a normal gaming society seems to make them want to yell it to the heavens in order to let the rest of the world know they think of themselves the same way the conservatives of the world do.
It is odd hearing people sarcastically talk about "pwnin n00bs," then going online and doing just that. They mock what they do, and then amuse themselves for hours after making fun of the very actions they draw so much enjoyment from.
But does this suggest that we live in a society of self-hating geeks who beyond slowly (and I mean slooowly) gaining power in an arbitrary fantasy world, also love to tout the fact that they couldn't be getting less done if they tried? Yes, it means exactly that.
Like "Everquest" before it, "World of Warcraft" has grabbed a generation of the world's youth and has turned them from the neighborhood rascal to a power leveler whose biggest moment of happiness is typing "ding" after slaughtering the 900,000th beast in order to level.
I don't blame us for not seeing it sooner. After all, who could have guessed that a simple online fantasy world would turn an average individual to a self-deprecating albino? But it has happened, and there is nothing we can do about it until somebody programs "World of Reality."
While an endless fantasy world full of avatars controlled by a group ranging from pimply teeny-boppers to pimply 40-year-old basementdwellers has seemingly become a mass epidemic, spending a day of clicking my mouse button to get my orc +1 in strength makes about as much sense as kicking a wall till my shattered foot levels up.
Nevertheless, "WoW" is huge - mammoth huge. With players numbering in the multi-millions, an entire society has been created where "grinding" no longer means being outdoors. While I have merely dabbled in the bastard child of Tolkien and the Teletubbies, people close to me demand their fix on an endless basis. As such, I have noticed a few things about how these gamers interact.
Some players are intensely proud of their alternate life. These people laugh at those who are not chasing their fantasy dragon and will try to force their "WoW" addiction onto others, if only to see the new player struggle to understand why the undead mage is not, in fact, invincible.
However, a startling amount of players seem to be intensely self-deprecating. They are smart people, so they are quite aware of the oddity that is spending important years of their life pretending to be an elf.
They will be quick to point out their geekiness and the futility of spending an hour in Wailing Caverns waiting for a quest to get started. Knowing they are odd outcasts from a normal gaming society seems to make them want to yell it to the heavens in order to let the rest of the world know they think of themselves the same way the conservatives of the world do.
It is odd hearing people sarcastically talk about "pwnin n00bs," then going online and doing just that. They mock what they do, and then amuse themselves for hours after making fun of the very actions they draw so much enjoyment from.
But does this suggest that we live in a society of self-hating geeks who beyond slowly (and I mean slooowly) gaining power in an arbitrary fantasy world, also love to tout the fact that they couldn't be getting less done if they tried? Yes, it means exactly that.
Like "Everquest" before it, "World of Warcraft" has grabbed a generation of the world's youth and has turned them from the neighborhood rascal to a power leveler whose biggest moment of happiness is typing "ding" after slaughtering the 900,000th beast in order to level.
I don't blame us for not seeing it sooner. After all, who could have guessed that a simple online fantasy world would turn an average individual to a self-deprecating albino? But it has happened, and there is nothing we can do about it until somebody programs "World of Reality."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Joel
posted 1/30/08 @ 7:39 AM CST
Generalizations as a general rule are never a good idea. I and everyone I know that plays this game lead full and productive lives outside of the virtual world. (Continued…)
Kevin
posted 1/30/08 @ 8:16 AM CST
Sounds like the author got killed one too many times by Hogger.
So apparently WoW is taboo now? I guess I'll have to pick up a more socially acceptable hobby. (Continued…)
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