Years and years ago I discovered an online game. World of Warcraft. This game completely took hold of me and I was severely addicted to it for almost a year. Most days I would play for up to 16 hours and do nothing else. I loved every possible thing about the game. The questing, characters, lore, raids, dungeons, and my biggest favorite - the sense of community.
I stopped playing it for a while, but missed it terribly. I now play it again, I currently play it a lot, but I don't find myself craving to play it. I know that when I move to Summerside and start working, it won't be an issue.
Now, on to the main point of this entry. So many people "diss" me because I play WoW. Yeah, I agree, I am a nerd. I am a gamer and I love it, whether it be WoW or Mass Effect. The worst thing someone can say to me is "Why don't you try making some friends and being social." This comment is said by people who do not understand gaming, whatsoever. It really bothers me because it makes it sound like I have no social skills and have no friends.
In today's world, having friends, does not mean they are there in flesh and blood. I have friends "in real life", why is it SO wrong for me to have friends online as well? Some of my closest friends are people I've never met. Years ago when I first started WoW, I met some awesome people in game. We formed a guild together and always had a fun time, sometimes, we wouldn't even be playing the game, we would just sit there and talk. We use a program called Ventrilo which allows us to actually speak to each other, rather than just typing. I got so close to many of these people that we would text each other and add each other to Facebook. Why is having these types of friends, a bad thing?
A lot of people have asked me to do something and I've turned them down because I was busy. They asked what I was doing, and I would proceed to tell them that I am having an important conversation with -- for examples sake, we will call him John -- John and couldn't bail. I would then get shunned for turning down my "real life friend" for someone I've never met. Here's the problem with that. These friends are human beings too. We've been online/gaming friends for years and we know each other really well. When one of us has a problem, we can go to the other and talk about it. Some of these friends have even helped me through some really tough times. Just because I can't physically see them, doesn't make them any less of a friend.
Now on to another social benefit of WoW. There is a sense of "brotherhood" amongst WoW players. Here is an example. An old friend of mine started dating this new guy (years ago), she wanted me to meet him. I had heard rumors about him and had made up my mind that I didn't like him. I put up a fuss but eventually agreed to go play some pool with them so we could meet. I was quiet most of the time, until two little words were spoken. He said something and I heard "night elf". At this point, my facial expression changed and I asked him if he played WoW. Luckily for me, he did play WoW. The rest of the night we barely shut up because we had so much to talk about. Especially since he played a different faction then me. This sounds really lame, I know. But, he is now one of my best friends (despite no longer dating my other friend), and we are room mates. If he hadn't played WoW, we likely would never have become friends.
It has a "secret club" kind of feel to it. You can get a group of 20 people together, 10 who play WoW, 10 who know nothing about it. The 10 WoW'ers will talk all night and if someone from the other 10 people were to listen in, they would have literally NO idea what was being said. It is almost like talking in code. Words like, HoT, DoT, lock, retadin, huntard, Org, Dal, UBRS, pron, DK...etc. To us, it makes sense. That is another thing I love about it. My room mate and I can sit here and have an hour long conversation while my other room mate has literally no clue what we are saying.
Playing WoW not only makes you some amazing friends online, but it can lead to even better "real life" friendships. This doesn't just apply to WoW either. The point I am trying to make is this...just because someone chooses to have numerous friends online -- whether it be from games, forums, or chatrooms -- they shouldn't be called down for it. I guarantee I have more close friends than most of those who diss me for me. With technology these days, people are going to continue making friends this way...so get over it.
The 7 million people who log on to WoW everyday, is a pretty close knit group, both inside and outside the World....of Warcraft.
