That's not to say everyone who plays WoW is also playing a Dwarven Hunter with a pet Pig, but there does appear to be quite a few people embarrassed to admit that they spend a lot of their leisure time playing a computer game.
WoW Insider wrote a very short article on this topic, and asked for readers' comments, and some of the comments were very interesting, very interesting indeed.
In my opinion the most thought provoking comment, if you follow the above link, was #9 by Mekias:
"The weirdest thing is that, at one point, I was obsessed with internet poker. I got less hassle from people about the poker than I do about WoW. In fact, most people wanted to know my strategies and tips on how to play poker.
How is it that a gambling addiction is somehow cool and playing an MMORPG is considered pathetic?"
Now I'm still not going to turn my Blog into a "What I did in WoW Blog" because that would be boring. "Today I killed 53 Kobolds and looted 10g and 3 stacks of Linen Cloth. One of the Kobolds had an Uber Hammer of Thumpiness which I later sold to a Paladin for 25g! After that I sat on the pier at Steamwheedle Port and fished for two hours, maxing out my Fishing Skill."
Yah, enthralling stuff, but that's pretty much what I do, in-game. I also chat with my Guildmates, either in-game or via my headset and a VOIP program, and sometimes I Raid a Dungeon (called an Instance by WoWers) with them.
If I were to turn this Blog into a What I did in WoW Blog, it would be much the same thing, day after day.
Now I also have a coworker who is hooked on one of his X-Box Live games. I'm not sure what one, but he apparently spends a lot of his leisure time playing that game, too. So sometimes we'll talk games because he knows I play WoW, a lot, and I know he plays his game, a lot. But strangely enough we both seem to get a little embarrassed if someone walks past and overhears us.
As Mekias said, why is it socially acceptable to have an online gambling addiction, but playing video games is not?
*Edit*
Here's a better picture of my pig, "Cyboarg".
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7 comments:
that does seem kind of odd, now that you mention it.
thats weird.
heh... does your pig have a name?
mogs
I want an Uber Hammer of Thumpiness. And I thought Paladins were supposed to be all non-violence and good and happy?
cyboarg... LOL!
somehow, that is totally fitting the look, the game ~ heh :)
mo
I play WOW... what server are you on?
So sometimes we'll talk games because he knows I play WoW, a lot, and I know he plays his game, a lot. But strangely enough we both seem to get a little embarrassed if someone walks past and overhears us.
I have felt the same thing. once.. And then a comforting thought came over me: My fellow talk about their favorite sports team not performing the way they would like, and how they would fire QB X and Coach Y, all the time. They act like they are the stars of the team when in reality, they are nothing more than lumps of matter sitting on the couch staring blankly at a box for hours. They contribute nothing to the team other than maybe the 60+ dollars they spent on a Jersey with..... someone elses name on it.
When we play and talk about MMOs, we are doing more than just talking about a game. We are planning a virtual conquest where WE are the heros. Instead of watching others, we step up and perform (or not haha). The only difference is that there is no audience to say our characters dominated Rag, and there are no jerseys that say "Wolfgangdoom" on them.
Don't let anyone make you feel bad about doing what you love, because chances are, what they are doing isn't much better.
errr my fellow co-workers that is. haha
I always love finding a post like this. What it comes down to are the standards of normal behavior. That standard is a moving target that is constantly being recreated by all of us.
In the olden days when I was just a geek in training - a copy of The Two Towers clutched in my hands and a felt sack of AD&D dice buried in my book-bag - a conversation like the one you and your buddies are having around the water cooler just wouldn't have happened.
First off - there just weren't any MMO's back then and the small crew of courageous 'gamers' that existed were harried role-players stamping together worlds on stolen copier paper and sharing their creations with a tiny circle of friends.
Nothing I knew back then would have ever prepared me for just how huge and mainstream that quiet little world of gamers and fantasy/sci-fi buffs would truly become.
So stress less - if you want your blog to be about *you* then let it be about you. All the different versions of you...real and virtual.
If you give in to the pressure of feeling self-conscious about the simple things you enjoy - you limit your ability to allow that sliding scale of normalcy to encompass even more of the WOW world than it already does.
No one I know that runs a fantasy sports league at work feels the slightest bit of shame about it. The desire to empire build and roll-play the part of a powerful sports team owner or coach is one that thousands of perfectly 'normal' people share.
So's this hobby. Be proud :)
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