World of Warcraft: Living a Life in a Game
Published by ConnorrBah on June 2, 2009 in World of Warcraft
World of warcraft can be an addiction.
World of warcraft is the biggest online multiplayer game there is, it has millions of players and too lots of people, this game is there lives! I as a world of warcraft player, know how addictive it is but why is it so addictive.I think people take this game too seriously as you feel a sense of great achievement when you reach level 80 , the games top level.For instance the other day people were saying they were going to meet up to fight as one stole someone elses loot.This surely is too far. it is just a game right? Please tell me on what you think.
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wow is addictive because it forces the player to feel obligated to play, whether it is to level up in order to reach the cap (80), or it is to grind out reputation or learn new difficult bossfights to acquire better ‘loot’. the guild system only reinforces this notion because it connects you to other players that will in essense babysit your wow playing, and if you are not playing wow, will be upset that you havnt been there, thus making one feel obligated not only to play this game, but to play it just to keep your e-friends happy with you. at the higher levels of play in the world of warcraft this is only multiplied, due to the stricter ‘raid schedules’ set fourth by ‘endgame’ guilds, not only that but you must consider the amount of play just to maintain that level of play, due to the emergent nature of the blizzard software, (constant updates = constant playing just to keep up). many would also agree that at some point the world of warcraft transitions, and becomes less like a game and more like a job, as you have to continuously farm gold and items, are forced to pvp to maintain your ‘rating’, and held to raid schedules that can sometimes be as often as 5-6 times a week with 3-4 hours dedicated to raid on each of those days. personally i feel that i have broken away a little bit… after months of dedication and hard work. i dont use the highest tier of pvp gear so i cant compete with the ones that do, but can still ‘pwn some nubs’, and i have found a casual raiding guild that only goes into ulduar25 twice per week, and keeps a strict time limit on those days as to never be raiding longer than 3 hours or so. we are still very endgame, one of the top5 guilds on my server, and i am currently 3/5 tier 8.5 and heavily geared with other nice purples from uld25, needless to say i put in my playtime and now that i have in essence almost ‘beaten the game’ i can relax, new content is coming soon however and i would not be suprised if it resparks my want to wow. when i think about wow i think that it is probably one of the worst things to happen to the world in awile… for it is distracting 11 million people from REAL issues in the REAL world. it is also causing REAL problems with families and syphoning billions of dollars out of millinos of peoples pockets through its ingenious subscription, (you feel like you have to play, but you gotta pay to play, some people even support multiple accounts). what good comes out of wow? it is a source of endless entertainment, the character devolopment and number crunching at the highest levels can be intellectually stimulating, if you do reach the pinnacle of wow you can usually sell your account for 500-1000 dollars (done it twice), and in some cases it can bring families closer (dad starts playin wow with his kids happens A LOT), and in some cases can create real life relationships (personally know 3 married couples that met in azeroth). HOWEVER i think that the negatives HEAVILY outweigh the entertainment value and hate this goddam devil game.. but still log on every wed/sun for raid time =/
I think WoW is only as addictive and distracting as you let it be. Personally I’ve played for over 2 years been level 80 since a week after wrath came out currently raiding toc hard modes. Despite my “addiction” to the game, the rest of my life still takes priority. If someone gets so into the game that they are forgetting (or neglecting) to go to work or class, the I would say they need serious mental help. All in all World of Warcraft is a great game and a few isolated incidences should not steer people away from it.