Is World of Warcraft More Than Just A Game?

walnutmon writes "Newsweek has published a three page article asking whether World of Warcraft is more than just a game. Though some spend their time in WoW grinding, others take a break from the monotony of gaming to interact with others from the community in a meaningful way. From the article: 'Generally, though, players of the game enjoy a form of community rarely seen in the real world; higher-level players go out of their way to tutor newbies and accompany them on quests. Deep friendships are forged. Relationships begin that flower into marriage, with Tauren brides and Undead grooms tying the knot in some virtual tavern in Thunder Bluff.' I guess the question is, does a game become more when people do more than play to win, or is this just an added feature?" Raph Koster has been of the opinion, for quite some time now, that all MMOGs are virtual worlds; it just so happens you can play a game inside many of them. What's your view on this? Are Massive games just another kind of game title, or are they something special?

Nothing (new) to see here

[andrewman327]

Games like WoW have always fostered a feeling of community. Even back in the Dungeons and Dragons days (which live on for many of us) the games offered a feeling of belonging. The difference is a matter of scale. Wow is so massive that this community is much larger, more multifaceted, and has more sub-communities.

Yes, but..

[Large Green Mallard]

Yes it creates community, but are they real friendships? Do they share anything in common other than WoW? I have a lot of friends who play WoW (I do not). It's unspeakably annoying to be at a party with a critical mass of these people, because all they talk about is WoW.

I've had to institute a no-WoW rule for some gatherings, since it's simply too annoying for the small number of us who don't play WoW to be excluded from having conversations with these people who are theorhetically our friends because they don't talk about anything else for hours on end.

WoW seems cool, but seriously, try talking to your WoW friends about something other than WoW and see if you would still be their friend without it.

Excuse me?

[zappepcs]

**'Generally, though, players of the game enjoy a form of community rarely seen in the real world; higher-level players go out of their way to tutor newbies and accompany them on quests. Deep friendships are forged. Relationships begin....**

Its pretty conceited to think that only WoW would have a 'community' feeling to it... I call BS, not because I think WoW or other online gaming communities deserve being called BS, but because the story is BS. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of real world places and activities (not that slashdot readers or WoW players would know about real world) to find community experience, and develop relationships through a common interest.... fer christsakes, that is what the world did BEFORE the Internet....

All I can say is that it MUST be a slow news day... geez!

MMORPGS are crack to some people..

[brxndxn]

I play games to win.. to crush others and gain respect. Single player games can be beaten.. MMORPGs cannot be 'won' and they have no ending.

I got hooked on Shadowbane more than once in my college career. It's an mmorpg like wow where you just go around killing everyone pretty much (and you can knock down their cities too). It took a long time.. but eventually I had all the best gear for my character. Then I made a new character and got into the politics for the game. So eventually I ran a city.. then I ran a guild.. then I ran a whole entire alliance of guilds that comprised of half the server. Then I got burned out.. I must've played 14 hours a day at that point. I would go without food for hours until I was certain my alliance could function for 30 seconds without me.

So you'd think after all that I'd learn my lesson? No.

I went back into Shadowbane.. because it gave me a sense of accomplishment. Every day, I could find something new, kill someone new, find a new unique viable character build, etc. There is ALWAYS something new to do in an mmorpg. No matter what, you have NOT seen everything. I must've made over 40 max-level characters with the best possible gear. Granted, it only took about 20 hours of game play to get a character to max level once you were good at it - but still it was WAYY too much of a commitment. I began to think of 4-hour game-play blocks as expendable time. Now that I have an 8-5 job, I realize how ridiculous it is to just say "hey.. I can blow the next 4 hours helping a friend get XXX potion to make YYY item."

I'm glad I learned my lesson with just one mmorpg. I think I put multiple college degrees worth of effort into that game.

That game was seriously crack for me. When I was 'addicted' to it, I couldn't imagine my life without it. It depressed me to think of quitting that game.

So ya.. MMORPGs, imo, are more than just a game. WoW just happens to be about the gayest of mmorpgs one can get addicted to - but it still has all the addictive qualities of any mmorpg. If you can't beat it, DON'T PLAY IT (otherwise, you join it.)

WoW a Community? Sure, kinda like Prison is.

[Shivani1141]

To Start this off, I'm going to state that I played WoW for well over a year and a half, From release to just two months ago. I've been a Raiding member in good standing on Malygos throughout the time I played. Yes, wow does foster a huge sense of community, Yes, it does form relationships. Indeed, I know of THREE couples who met, engaged, and married during the course of playing together. (this taken from my ingame relations with... say 200 people on a semi-regular basis) However... Every person I know of who quit seems grateful that they did so, Acting as if they finally kicked some long drug habit, or Finally escaped from some prison. Mind you, I come from the raid game, but there are those who would say that is the entirety of WoW. Take a second and ask yourself why would they be grateful they have quit? geh. the Game is addictive, in the same sense that having a weekly game of pool is addictive. You make excuses to other people IRL to excuse the fact that you can't do anything from 6pm to 10pm mon, tues, thurs, sat, sun. (etc, your raids may very) This is why I think that many people are grateful they quit, and it's the reason I am grateful of such. It gives a sense of freedom from the scheduling of one's time. People will argue, rightfully so, that people schedule thier time for leasure and all sorts of other reasons.. But I think the situation is kinda different when you're trying not to let 40 other people down. ;p Don't Take this post wrong please. While I am grateful I quit, I met a great bunch of people while i did play, and can actually comfortably say that if I were to end up with just my clothes on my back in any number of about two dozen cities across north america (and one aussie city) I could find a friend that I made in game who'd be nice enough to let me crash there. So that's nice. I've also had my fair share of good memories with friends, Drunk in Strat, or just trying to push the envelope in PvP. the game has and does create a strong community, but it has it's downsides for sure.

it's like real life..

[macadamia_harold]

Are Massive games just another kind of game title, or are they something special?

What I think is ironic is that people play these games to escape the mundanity of everyday life; the boring, daily grind. And yet, a huge part of a lot of these games is just that, repetitive mundanity that's no different than the world already around us, save for the exotic window dressing and some fancy costumes.

Anyone who's been on second life for five minutes can see that... in a game with limitless possibilities and potential, what do you get? a distilled, amplified re-creation of our own superficial consumer culture.

Sure - but it's nothing new

[Registered Coward v2]

People have been building communities around games for quite some time - from play by mail games to play in real life (such as chess and bridge) to role playing (such as Chainmail and D&D); all without computers. They had factions, newsletters, magazines, romances, leaders, etc. - which mirrored "real life." Not that that was restricted to games - look at any hobby and you'll see similar social constructs. All that the computer did was expand the ease of reach - no more waiting for mail or conventions to "see' old friends.

It's somewhat amusing to think that computers and the internet somehow is creating new "stuff" that has never been before seen; when often all it does is increase accessibility.

Re:Its just like a MUD

[MidnightBrewer]

I agree. This story is at least 15 years too late, and that's just counting the electronic gaming communities. I suppose, however, that this is the first time that you're talking about a role-playing game, online communities, and how they result in real-life friendships in a *positive* light. Nothing like finally hitting the mainstream.

Addicts have no future

[Dark_MadMax666]

"In 20 or 30 years the technology will be here to create incredibly more realistic and immersive worlds," he says. "There will be a world that fits the fantasy of any life you want to lead." Those deep into WOW, of course, are already living that future. "Yes, it's just a game," says Joi Ito. "The way that the real world is a game."

In 20-30 years those deep into crack like WoW will have no influence on the real world whatsoever. There are still real life tangible resources (energy for example) and living in virtual world will not make you exempt from basic laws of physics and biology .When competition for resources gets harsher what mmmorrpg addict will have to show for it? Their ubah leet lvl capped characters in epic gear? Their skills of killing brainless mobs? -guess what those are all irrelevant skills in RL.

Funny, but ain't that the truth!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's modded funny and I laughed, but there is an insightfulness to it without a doubt. I won't touch any game where I read people talking about "virtual worlds", community, and spending massive hours a day playing it months on end. Real life is too important to risk losing touch with it on a game.

Shit, I have to be careful with freeciv as it is. WOW would lead to a divorce and the failure of my businesses.

Re:Yes, but..

[muridae]

Yes it creates community, but are they real friendships?
I can't speak for the people playing WoW, but from EQ experience, yes they are. I still keep in touch with people who havn't played in years, went to clubs with them, had them stay at my place when they needed a place to crash. Shared pot and beer with them. Cheered and cried with them.

Sure, only talking to people over IMs or mail causes you to drift apart. So friends you don't see in game grow distant just like friends who move to another state or country. But unless that distance makes them no longer 'real friends' then I would say that yes, games do create real friendships.

Re:A Full-On Society with Cultures and SubCultures

[Dark_MadMax666]

I agree with that . Problem is they are all waste of time - they are virtual politics and virtual communities. And while social and community aspects might be very real, said communities cannot accomplish nothing and are essentially meaningless. Who will remember uber guild XXX from game NNN who did "that first" , "owned" server or other such BS? -Really nobody in a few years .

  Problem is exactly that those pointless activity suck people in -like drugs .Instead of doing something in real world ( if you are into politics -there are plenty of opportunities in RL) they replace it with meaningless surrogate.

Re:Snow Crash is a work of fiction

[Fex303]

Um... You are aware that it's stressed multiple times in Snowcrash [wikipedia.org] that only the very elite members of society (well-educated, wealthy, etc) can afford to use the metaverse, right?

I'm not saying that WoW==metaverse, but a) you're trying to dismiss it on grounds that were acknowledged by the original author and b) there's certain parallels that are actually pretty damn close. The structures and methods of interaction (eg. object trading, avatars walking through each other, online meeting places, etc) in WoW would be familiar to someone who read Snowcrash 13 years ago. That's pretty impressive given the state of online communications back then.

My brother-in-law (for want of a better term) doesn't know my phone number or email address, if he needs to reach me, he'll just send mail to my WoW character. It's not quite an alternative reality, but it can serve as an appoximation of a social setting.

Re:Addicts have no future

[Dark_MadMax666]

I suppose most of the mobs you kill while leveling are 'brainless'. However that's not what this game is about. The teamwork involved in doing endgame raids is a very real skill to have IRL. When you have 40 people all in the same voice channel on Ventrilo, with one person leading, everyone has to have discipline and listening skills


    Oh I have that experience.- before I laid off MMORPG crack pipe I wasted a fair share of my time on them . And not only in raiding vs scripted mobs when all you can lose is one evening ,but participating in pvp battles with 100s of real people, when the stake is the city in guild members put thousands hours of their time (game was Shadowbane) . Guess what all those "teamwork skills " is still not applicable to RL.

It's very rare that you will need the ability to simultaneously work with 39 other people on the exact same goal in real life.


  umm really? How about playing team sports? Managing a buisness? Joining the army and leading men in combat? Leet skills of shouting "target player/mob x (depnding if its pve or pvp), heal heal me fuckers" on teamspeak does not apply there does it...

How come social interaction online has to be?

[Anonymous Coward]

How come there has to be some defining limitation between social interaction on-line and off-line? WoW is "more then just a game" because it allows people to interact with each other and form communities, the same way joining a soccer team does. How is this any different for the mind? People tend to get stuck on the "physical", and if you rule your life by exercise alone, then I can see how you would never understand this concept. WoW is more of a virtual world then Myst because of the dynamic context created by other humans interacting with the system. How is a friendship forged on-line any less valuable then a friendship formed with the person down the street? Reality is merely an interpretation of occurances : visual, kinestetic, auditory, etc. The psyche behind the interaction is no less real on-line then it is at the local bar. People can be as fake, or as honest in either world. People can be as open or as isolated in either world. Is WoW a community? Yes, as any game that allows extensive online social interaction is. People who are stuck alone on the "physical" context are limiting their understanding.

Dizase of Western Education System

[Delifisek]

Current education of western education system teach kids to win at all cost. New generations thinks life was soccer game, they want to win at all costs.They want see great success in their life time even in 10 or 5 years period.

Because they want to be prove their values.

So in real world there was not enough wars to prove themselves, then they jumps virtual world. WoW was best of the best.

Ps:Please do not argue my english, I just learn that much by myself...

Re:MMORPGS are crack to some people..

[QuantaStarFire]

Not really -if you read non-fiction books you get some bits of knowledge (while it may not help you at least it is real) . I can say that I am addicted to wikipedia and slashdot - difference from WoW that here and there I actually get some useful info . Is there anything useful I got from a dozen of MMORPGS? - very little. Some insights into human psychology and online community but everything related to actual games is pure junk. And actually those insights are better if you just study those games - not play them .

I think you're a tad foolish in your views. EVERYTHING has something of value that we walk away with, including MMORPGs. Besides insight into psychology and community elements, a game like WoW is going to show some people that they have leadership qualities, while others will find out that they can, in fact, socialize with other people without coming off as some creepy person or a pretentious cock, or that, yes, they can assert themselves and make their opinions both known and respected. All of these are valuable things, and you're cheapening them by suggesting otherwise.

There are various forms of entertainment and some of them are bad and addictive(like drugs, excessive alcohol, tv , mmorpgs). It is better for example to do sports as entertainment -as it keeps you fit. It is better to go fuck random girls every night as it builds up your social skills and friends network. It is better to play chess/bridge /etc -as it keeps your brain busy.

You're giving each of these far more credit than they're due. Participating in sports may keep you fit, but if you can't pull yourself away from the football field or the golf course, you're still going to have problems.

If all you can do with a girl is fuck her, you're going to have a difficult time building a relationship with her that doesn't revolve around both of you taking your pants off.

You can spend a great deal of time playing chess and such, but again, if you can't moderate it, it's no better. A smart chess junkie is still an idiot at heart.

What you don't seem to realize is that ANYTHING can be regarded as addicting in nature. The whole purpose of entertainment is to give ourselves a break from the rest of our lives, and most people have a lot of shit to deal with. If it gets overwhelming and they become depressed or anxious or just can't handle it, they're going to take longer breaks so that they can have more entertainment and experience less of whatever is bothering them. However, if you can figure out what's bothering them, and help them solve the problem, there's a good chance they'll be able to get back on track.

And yes in fact I think everyone should devote 100% of time to productive work -problem is humans are not build that way, majority of us cannot be happy working 100% of time ,we need "entertainment". -There is no solution for this ATM as it requires changing human nature (or ,which is preferable, replace humans with something better). And while humans are not perfect - solution is to work around those things ,not get hooked up to next drug( chemical or psychological) .

So what you're saying is that, rather than be human, you'd wish for us to be tranformed or modified into something else, like the Borg or some other soulless entity obsessed with work.

You do realize that working too much is just as detrimental to one's physical and mental health as any other thing taken in large quantities, right? A workaholic has worries too, and those are going to keep him working, even though the wife wants him to come to bed, or little Timmy wants to play catch with his dad. Of course, once we're all drones in your little world, families and shit will be a thing of the past, and we can all focus on being addicted to the office. You'll forgive me if I don't jump for joy.

Re:Plague in the digital age..

[bky1701]

I think that they should enforce laws, like in china where your account only lets you play 3-4 hours a night max.

So you like China's way of regulating what people do in their free time? So, if China is so good, why not move there? Hmm? Because you only like when you get your way totally. You are what people call a "busy body" - the type that run HOAs that measure the neighbors grass and charge people 3000$ when their driveway has a crack in it.

Be careful what you wish for. I think people like you spouting off at how others are so unproductive and useless is nothing but annoying and useless, but you don't see me saying I want you to go back to the plastic plant and put in 4 more hours just because your spouting is pointless fluff. But maybe if you had your way, I would be more inclined to force my views on you. Then all we have is a holy war of busy bodies each thinking each other is useless, wasting their time fighting. How does this get things done, again? Oh right, they are killing each other and wasting time, not playing a damn game and doing it, /sorry/.

I hate to tell you, but life itself is a game. And not a fun one at that. If your mom has found some type of meaning in a MMORPG, then go her. It's more then she would have had listening to you whine about how you got a B on math I would guess.

But no, you push her aside. I am seeing a patten: "you are doing something pointless" (push away), they do it more (push away), repeat. You are not helping. Your Maoist laws, not helping. Need to see how your laws failed? Look at Stalin, Hitler, that Japanese guy.... and yourself. What have you accomplished that is so righteous and good? Nothing.

And with your closed mindedness and dislike of things you don't do, you will keep doing nothing. And then you will look back, and say "my life sucked... I have this big house... I am respected by all... but it sucks", then you are dead. Game over!

Have fun while you can, life is only a game, if you are not having fun, you are doing it wrong. Those who spout self-righteous BS normally are the type of people who can't understand what fun is, and are those whom in the end fail.

*Waits to be modded 100 feet under*

Re:Plague in the digital age..

[quintesse]

Hahahaha, so it's okay to spend 8 hours a day working but do anything else for more than 2 hours at a time and there's something wrong with you? Boy do you have some silly priorities.

Re:WoW is more inclusive than D&D.

[modi123]

If we are going to play the stereotype game, let me inject a thought here. When I meet someone who says "I play WoW" I immediatly lump them in the pile of "junkies, addicts, and freaks". Really, 40% of all WoW players are addicts, and addicts are inherently untrusty folks because their addiction over powers their reason.

Additionally, WoW reinforces the computer geek stereotype... people leading solitary lives, sheltered from the sun, staring at their monitors. Zero human contact; all lost in a fictional realm.

Side question, have everyone seen the Wizards of the Coast new paper ad campaign? "If you're going to sit around and pretend to be an elf all night long, you might as well do it with friends." Gotta love it.

Don't forget, no matter how bad D&D might get, LARPRs are a thousand times worse. *smirk*

Expert: 40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted [twitchguru.com]

Re:A Full-On Society with Cultures and SubCultures

[edremy]

Problem is they are all waste of time - they are virtual politics and virtual communities. And while social and community aspects might be very real, said communities cannot accomplish nothing and are essentially meaningless. Who will remember uber guild XXX from game NNN who did "that first" , "owned" server or other such BS? -Really nobody in a few years .

While I basically agree with you, this is also true for about 90% of all leisure time activities. Who's going to remember the time you eagled the 9th hole in a few years? Who's going to remember the 18lb bass you caught once? How about the last second shot in that pickup basketball game? None of those accomplishements are "meaningful" either past the time you spent with some friends having a good time. (Well, at least in basketball you got some exercise.)

People build up elaborate political structures around goof off activities- ask anyone who's organized a sports league. WoW is no different. None of it "means" anything- it's just relaxation.

Re:WoW is more inclusive than D&D.

[I_Love_Pocky!]

A. D&D is still very much looked down on by people who have never played it. B. WoW is still very much looked down on by people who have never played it. C. A & B will always be true, because fantasy will always be looked down on. D. To those who don't play the games, fantasy is considered to be associated with a desire to live a life different the one someone is currently living. To those in the mainstream, this desire is a sign of weakness. E. The reality is that both D&D and WoW are probably more about socializing than fantasy, but people who have never played the games will never know that. Disclaimer: I played D&D a couple of times when I was a teenager. I've never played WoW, but seeing as people wont shut up about it on Slashdot and Digg, I feel like I have some idea what it is.