28 hours later, Warcraft gets its first Level 70

"go to colledge."

Is this funny to anyone else but me?

You are missing the point boy. Some people choose to spend $59 to buy every GoW game or shooter that comes out, and spend each night playing a different game, and others choose to pay the $15 a month fee and play one game. A gamer is a gamer.

Some people (like me and my wife) have been playing for almost a year now, and i just hit 60 last week, and she's barely 40 (alt-itis). Oh dear! I've wasted 400 hours over the last year! what to do! I could have spent that time reading a book or going to colledge[sic]! Again! Such flamebait.

Look at the HOURS played by Halo 2 players. Last i checked it was over a BILLION online games played? (that's just ranked, matchmaking) Wow, yeah, totally different from wow though.

Most people do other things. Get over those "who are addicted".

It only "occupies 99.9 percent more time" (double?) if you let it... "r-tard". Nobody gets punished for time spent away from WoW (thanks to the bg nerfing). You are just mad because your friend prefers WoW than hanging out and playing video games with you.

I could care less if people have "lives" or not from playing world of warcraft--there is a lot worse people could be doing, and really does not affect me, so why complain?
And repetitive--I do the same thing everyday. Wake up, go to work, hour lunch, go back, go home, eat dinner, go to bed. See my boyfriend friday nite, saturday nite, house work sunday. EVERY WEEK IS THE SAME. But someone once told me that that was a "life". So, slaying some silly dragon thing over and over with some friends does not seem so bad.

I love when people complain that their friend wont go play Halo or something with them because they're playing WoW. The thing is, when he doesn't go play Halo with you it ends up just you playing by yourself. He on the other hand doesn't give a shit that you're not playing with him because he's probably got another 60+ friends from wherever that he can play with.

Another thing is when people call it the World of Chatcraft then say people who play WoW have no social life. Lolz.

The achievement loses something by the method that was adopted. Tagging for others to do the job to level 1 character seems a little bit tacky.

As for the WoW argument - WoW is a great game that suffers from the need to repeat the same dungeons and mobs over and over which can take many many hours to HOPE that the item you want drops and that noone else outbids you on it. For some this makes it all the more addictive. For me it is why I quit playing. I got bored.

It's not that it's not enjoyable. Stupid people do lots of things they consider enjoyable - that's their prerogative.

The problem is, if you consider the range of actions available to you in WoW, and consider what impact any of it has on the ultimate outcome of your character's development, you'll likely begin to see a lot of wasted time.

Take achieving level 60 as a goal. Or even a full set of Dungeon 1 armor, as a goal. The actions that enable you to get there are the hoop-jumping quests, and running instances. In my experience, instances remain the only places where a certain ingenuity and teamwork is required to complete a goal. The rest (questing, grinding) can be accomplished solo. This is a Massively Multiplayer Online Game. Why is any content solo-able? If it's there for the community atmosphere, why don't the tasks require group effort, all the time? And if it doesn't take group effort, what is anyone doing? Sitting on their ass, chatting with strangers about the latest gossip? This may feel like fun, but it sounds more like TRL.

Even if you're not interested in learning or doing anything in real life, even if you're totally unaware of the goings-on in the world, even if you really feel totally useless (all of which are good reasons for giving up on yourself and having "fun" all day to the tune of $15/mo.)...it's got to get pretty boring after a few levels.

Consider a similar goal in another classic game: checkmating your opponent in chess. Every move you make, every piece you push across the board HAS to be focused on achieving your goal. There is no grinding. There are no pretty colored lights flashing in your eyes. There is no inherently materialistic hoop-jumping. Just an objective and actions...and the game has an end, clearly defined objectives, a very low cost, has infinite replay value, and usually lasts at most an hour or so, leaving you free to do something else afterward.

Anyone else see a disparity? WoW may be fun; I'm sure heroine addicts think their abuse of narcotics is fun for a while, until they realize they've lost years of their life, tons of money, real-life friends and seriously compromised their health.


It may not be relevant to say that it's a "waste of time" from outside the game, but very few things in the game give the player the freedom to choose their own path. Most games are not wastes of time, in that in the process, something is learned. Nothing is learned in WoW, because there is no process nor any actual freedom of choice.

I don't have a goal. I play WoW for the journey, not the end. For the experiences playing with others. The deaths and near deaths and pulling things off by the skin of your teeth, and then taking a big breath and saying "Wow, that was awesome, I can't believe we pulled that off".

The funniest thing, is this argument is going on a game blog site, which ALL games are a "waste of time" (even your precious Chess, all that chess teaches you, is how to play chess).

If freedom of choice is "what is learned", good luck proving any game teaches anything.

Pretty ignorant arguments you are making. I know books are valuable for my knowledge, but what does my knowledge matter in this world, honestly. I'm probably not going to use the knowledge put into my head by these books to give a public dissertation on why Holden Caufield is still relevant to today's youth.

Anyone who says that CASUAL WoW players are wasting their time, should STFU if they play any other video game. There is no difference.

Well Nemo (origional name.. I like it...) you're complaining that the game is completely soloable which is partly true. However have you ever tried to play FFXI? It's an amazing team/party/group/get-with-some-friends-and-lick-your-balls-while-waiting-for-one-more-smacktard-to-join-your-party game. Then, you get to spend the next 30 minutes running to some location to do the quest only to find out an important member in your group has to go visit his grandma or something. The rest of the group gets upset and decide to play\do something else instead of spending another hour or so to get to fight a couple monsters. That's what blizzard was going for, in that hour+ you spend getting a group ready and running to the quest location in FFXI you could finish a couple quests on your own while looking for a group to do the instance at the same time.

You also talk of no freedom of choice. Lets see, in Halo you can either A: Shoot the guy in the head or B: Hit him with your gun while running on a set course to get to the next objective. Or you could take Mario, either A: Jump on the goomba or B: Jump over the goomba. In WoW you have A: Chose class B: Choose a zone from the 3 or 4 at any given level C: Choose a quest out of the 6+ in each zone. Six being the lowest number, usually found in the low level areas. You could by all means play Fable and decide to be evil or good and either kill people or help them. Or do the same thing in WoW by helping other players or killing other players. Or maybe do BOTH. At least in WoW you get the satisfaction of effecting other people instead of NPC's that have set lines they say after/during certain events.

I find the defensive comments about WoW to be very telling. Seriously people, try cancelling your sub and see if you can last a few weeks before resubscribing. WoW is just a skinner box, randomly rewarding you for repeating the same action over and over again. Just like a fruit machine. Sure, the game might make you walk from one zone to another or camp different monsters but the gameplay is the same damned repetition with random rewards from one end to another.

I played EQ for two years and while I wasn't hardcore I reckon I still played 2 hours a night, every night. Then one day Verant shoved a new client on everyone for the "Shadows of Luclin" expansion and constant bugs and crashes snapped me out of it. This wasn't a game, it wasn't even fun anymore. Levels 1-15 were fun. Beyond that was grind. I must have spent real life weeks sitting there healing doing nothing at all or killing mobs one after the other trying to get my exp advance one damned pixel at a time. The bugs were the last straw and made me cancel my sub. Once my sub was up I left my characters and walked away. And you know what? It really didn't hurt that much.

I still play the odd MMPORG, mostly on trial and virtually everyone of them duplicates the same grind found in EQ. Which includes WoW that I played extensively in beta and since for a month.

WoW is surely a far more beautiful and inviting game than EQ, with a slick UI. But it is no damned difference to EQ in the fundamentals. It still features lots of pointless travelling, lots of random drops, lots of repetition doing the same thing over and over for random rewards and gear. I wonder how many people playing are actually having "fun", I wonder how many could truthfully claim they even like playing. WoW is just a skinner box, effectively pushing the same buttons as fruit machines in gamblers. Break the cycle and get a life.

64 comments and crono141 is the only one that "gets it".

Not everyone who plays MMO's is an MMO addict. We play games because they are fun. MMO's are fun with my 2 best friends in the world, sitting in the same room together playing WoW.

WoW is about alot more than grinding. Sure, if you boil it down to its base interface, its the same repetitive motions and actions over and over. But thats not the meat of the game. Thats part of the journey, but not the whole journey. There's lots of story, lots of personality. Sure, its programmed personality, but its still there. And there are thousands of people on the same server as you at any time. There's an economy on the AH. There's comraderie with your guild mates.

MMO's are addictive because they fill multiple psychological needs for the players at the same time, without much effort, and with the safety of an anonymous internet.

After playing WoW, other games just don't seem as fun.

Thanks, uh, sad face man!

YES!

This story made my thesis paper for grad school -- "My exhaustive search for the world's loneliest virgin" -- all the more easy!

Thanks Joystiq!

My problem with WoW is that the actual gameplay is boring and not inherently satisfying. Walk here (slowly). Kill X guys to get item X. Deliver said item to this person. Rinse, repeat ad infinitum cum lvl. 70. Oh and pay $15 per month for the 'pleasure.'

The music and the atmosphere and the art direction are all fantastic but the core of the gamplay is that you pay actual real world money to level a character online. That's really all it is.

It's a $15 per month Elven Running Simulator.

I find it ironic that people ridicule WoW players for having no lives when they waste their time commenting about it on a blog.

All games aren't the same and we have our own different tastes. Where is all the hate coming from? We're all gamers here... can't we all just get along?

First, read the interview. I'm not sure if this individual makes WoW his life but it's certain that this was a planned event. His whole guild worked with him to make this happen. This is like someone that crosses some desert with little food or water just because... you know, the mountain (or desert) was there. You're not going to stop people from attempting to cross deserts or climb Mt. Everest… and there will always be those that admire them for it. As far as I know any desert crossing or climb up Mt. Everest did little for the worlds overall problems. Mostly they are a “let’s see if I can do this” for myself type of deal, thanks for your support.

A game is a game… but we do admire those who can “master” these games. Chess is a good example… we’ve got that awful Poker thing on television now days. Shoot, we’ve got whole buildings dedicated to catering to people and their tendency to play games called Casinos. Point is… you can go to a Casino and have fun, drop your money and walk away at the end of the day… and you can go to a Casino and get addicted to playing and loose all your money. It’s sad… but it’s human nature.

Thank you #30 “Jeff” for your comments! His observations between the differences are important. Yes… some people who play WoW can get addicted and/or dependent on the game. Yes… some people who play WoW are not addicted or dependent on the game. We are arguing about the actions of an individual that we know nothing about and from any point of view this is a very weak position.

And the movement against nerd stereotypes was just set back 10 years.

An education, career, and family all take time and effort. Having a life is exhausting, and we need a break from our busy lives. We need a release. That can be playing video games, playing golf, watching tv, or even just browsing the web during your afternoon coffee break. The problem is, when that diversion starts cutting into your education, career, friends, and family time.

Most single player games can be played whenever you have time, and require sessions no longer than an hour. I can go home and squeeze in one game of FIFA, or a couple races of SSX, or continue a saved game in Gear of War, before dinner. They fit into my leasure time, without cutting into my life. But World of Warcraft is different. Guilds and their raids require that you be online during a scheduled time and can take hours to complete. They take more of your time, and they control your time.

it's intersting reading about the guy needs a life. do something else... blah, blah.

i am gamer, and enjoy playing games when i have time to. for me, gaming is a form or escapism... doing something outside of my "normal" life. i have a typical 9 to 5 job, a girlfriend, family and friends, a home and even a pet cat. i ride my bike to work, i'll go snowboarding in the winter and travel whenever i can (with my DS of course). but it nice to just stay in the comfort of my own home and play video games. with WoW i chose not to get involved. i'm a console gamer, as i can't be bothered to upgrade a computer every year.

my brother is an avid WoW fan, but has a wife and three kids. he knows when to play, and knows when to prioritize his life. his second daugheter is as old as his account (4 years).

now for the guy who achieved level blah, blah... all the power to him. i think the people who play and flame him are just jealous, as they wish they could have done that. for the people who don't play and flame him, just don't understand. no one ever knocks a person for climbing a mountain fast, or racing down a mountain or being the fastest in a marathon or the fastest to solve a cross word puzzle. sure those are great, but those are things i would personally not do. the only difference is that WoW was created by Blizzard - a company thats makeing money (which we all wish we had) from all of this.

anyway, my point is that you shouldnt knock the guy... so he did it, how does that effect you?

Arguing on a message board is like the special olypics...the winner is still retarded... I want my 10 minutes back from reading this!!!

"The fact is, that wow takes your life."

See.. this I can't agree with. It will take your life, if YOU let it.

/personalresponsibilitysurrenders

to quote Wombat "It's like paper dolls for boys"..

a lot of RPGs are this way, I love RPGs, mostly the ones that are story based and move along a path (much like a movie).. the non linear ones bore me because it seems like i'm going no where. While I would love to see a more skill intensive RPG possibly one where picking stats matter, picking the right spells matter, and skills and strategy matter, but then i'd just be playing Magic the Gathering.. If they could combine the customization of MTG with the story of a FF and make the gameplay repetitive yet skill intensive, it'd be a great game..

sorry I don't need to collect rings and swords online, thats why WoW is not for me..

but congrats on maxing out your character.. that must suck now.

"The only girls you'll ever impress with that "lifestyle" are fellow WoW nerdgirls who probably also weigh 250 lbs and eat chips off their gut all day."

I personally take offense to this comment implying that all WoW nerdgirls are overweight and lazy. I LOVE to play WoW but still manage to find time for a 'life' ... go out with friends, go to the gym, hold a fulltime job (yes ... in IT) ... etc.

Contrary to popular opinion, not all WoW players are addicts, and not all casual players are terrible at the game. You CAN play WoW as a casual player and be good at playing AND eventually even get some really cool gear ... it just takes more real time.

So, I choose to play WoW instead of watching American Idol or Grey's Anatomy or any of the other popular TV shows out there ... if that makes me a loser ... so be it. I don't think it's really any more or less productive than watching TV ... it's just an entertainment choice I have made and I bet there are a lot of other casual WoWers out there just like me.

Much can be said for these comments, but I believe one phrase works best.

Do what you want.

You cannot tell someone that their choice of life is "incorrect". Society has a thing called "mores" (that's an accented e). You were all taught different ideals of "right and wrong". Different ideas of what "normal" is.

You think that people shouldn't play WoW all day, or post comments on video gaming blogs? THE WORLD IS DIVERSE. There is no better time than now to learn that. I have friends that play WoW, play sports in school, and have "girlfriends". They choose their lifestyle.

An hour ago I was writing a feasibility report on stem-cell research. Before that, I was playing Starcraft and Battlefield 2142 for two hours. In another hour I will be eating lunch with a group of friends and hanging out with them for the rest of the night. I'll come home around 10:00, play some more Starcraft and BF2142, and go to sleep. I'll wake up in the morning, get in a plane, and go flying for two hours.

I chose this life. Some may think of me as weird for it (whatever that means), most probably wont. Get the idea of "normal" out of your head, because normal doesn't exist. Existence is your choice and you don't choose to be normal. You choose to be YOU.

Still at Level 0 in World of People, I bet.

In the time I played WoW I didn't get even closer to lvl 40, and I played for some months.
I'm awestuck.

So, the fact that I play warcraft as well as having been married for over 4 years; own my own home; have a professional career; have family and friends i keep in touch with and spend time with regularly; and have 3 level 60 characters does what to your summation?

Lets go look at all of the trolls posted here and replace "warcraft" with say "golf" or football. So... you losers spend all your time walking around chasing a little while ball just so you can get a smaller number next to your name. You've accomplished nothing! GET A LIFE!

Not a comparison? How many people do you know of that have spent thousands of dollars to take a vacation just so they can play golf on a different course? Or have spent thousands of dollars so they can watch their "local sports team" play against the "rival team"? What have they accomplished by doing so and spending all that time and money? You can't sit and play a game for 7 hours? well, how much time out of your life does it take to go to and return from a football game? yea.. your day is pretty much consumed isn't it? And what long lasting goals have you accomplished in your life by doing so? Yea, same as us. You've made friends, you've had a good time, you talked and joked and basically, entertained yourself.

Am I missing the huge glaring difference that makes your pointless waste of time more “important” or more “meaningful” than our pointless waste of time? I won’t debate that it’s a pointless waste of time. It is. It’s a game. So is football, so is golf, so is going to the movies. It’s not ABOUT accomplishing something. It’s about having fun.

So all you pathetic trolls who seek out these blogs and public forums to anonymously proclaim your self righteous superiority have no ground to stand on. I have no delusions, it’s a game. You, however, seem to be confused about what your choices of entertainment are accomplishing in your life. What little number are you trying to get next to your name?

I don't play football 23 hours a day. I don't know anyone else who does, either. And even if I did, I'd need at least 9 (and preferably 21) other people to play with.
And no matter how focused I am on playing football, I'll inevitably be distracted by who knows what -- a dog running onto the field, random passersby who wanna watch, an ice cream truck, a beer break, any number of things.

Not exactly the same as sitting in my room, by myself, staring at a monitor and planning some raid on what amounts to a bunch of polygons for who know what kind of reward. I hear people call WOW addicting all the time, but I've never heard anyone describe it as exciting, rewarding or even fun. I know some folks who treat it like a job. A job THEY pay to have rather than the other way around.

So yeah, I make fun of you and your pathetic hobby. And you just have to live with it. It's not like we'll ever run into each other anyway, since we live in different worlds.

im in his akount
sharding his purplez.

Wow.

Just, wow.

I'm not even going to bother responding to those too ignorant to be open-minded.

Good night, all you ignorant trolls.

Why do so many people find it necessary to come down on these people? This a lifestyle, like any other lifestyle, that they find comfortable and enjoy being a part of.

If you want to judge people to make yourselves feel better then spend your words on a hate group or someone else who inflicts pain on others. Someone who plays a lot of video games is hardly deserving of your scorn.

"There's a difference. Some games challenge you to improve your skill. With games like Halo and Street Fighter, you start a match with equal characters, and your own ability to play the game determines the winner. With games like Katamari, each level becomes more difficult but your character stays the same, challenging you to improve your skills. And the Wii makes gameplay even more directly linked to your skill! However, in World of Warcraft the game decides your skill level. You don't need to become better skilled with the mouse. There's never a question of - can I improve and master this game - it's automatic that you will level up and eventually reach the maximum level regardless of your skill."

The more you go outside and throw a baseball or football around the better you get, and it's action, just like the Wii!!!! Wow (no pun intended), who would have thought that you can increase your skills on something in real life. I'm much happier throwing a football in a perfect spiral outside then gaining this 'skill' on Wii.

I don't play Warcraft, but that South Park episode was really great. Nice shot.

At least people in hate groups socialize. There, I said it.

Well, perhaps he hasn't got a life, but at least he got 91 people (so far) talking about him... I'd say they have even less life than he does :D

Frankly, I don't think very highly of comments that start with a completely unjustified assumption, but there are some things that I would like to point out.

Playing WOW for 40 days is, as some have suggested, little different from watching 480 movies. If you watched just one movie each month, you'd have done this by the time you were 40 years old. If you watched a movie on TV each month to go along with it, you could achieve this by 20.

If you watched 2 hours of TV everyday, you could achieve this in 1.5 years.

One other thing I'd like to bring up is that many of my friends (myself included) treat wow as little more than a glorified instant messaging system.

Add up all your hours when you were online on IM, or ICQ. Even when you were afk (I go afk ALOT in wow). More than 40 days yet?

There's so many people here using the phrase "Get A Life". Define what having a life means? Cause to me it simply means being alive, and has absolutley nothing to do with how you spend your own time. Dosen't sound like that phrase has any merit anymore, now does it? It could though, if directed towards something dead, like a zombie maybe. The saddest part about this though is the fact that GAMERS, and yes I said gamers, are using this term against other gamers. Everyone who uses that phrase is discracing themselves by using a phrase used against nerds for years, and if I got the scent right, I sure do smell some casuals.

At #50

Interesting rant.. however your doing the same thing EVERY WoW basher is doing in here... making generalisations based on poor knowledge

I play WoW.. I have a girlfriend, I run my own business which takes a lot of my hours, I have a lot of real life friends and a lot of online friends. I go out maybe 3-4 nights a week. I play WoW a few hours a day the other days. I can lvl my character up around 2 lvls every 4 hours and thats while Im not even paying much attention to whats going on. I sit, and chat with my girlfriend sitting next to me on the couch (PC is in the front room for my business and has WoW installed, plus it acts as a media server) and watch TV while I grind.

Now with 8 million people playing Im DAMN sure not every single one of them has no life, or loses his job/girlfriend because of WoW. If your mate did, then I'm sorry but the guys a loser with no discipline in his life and your just as bad for not getting together with friends and his family and intervening to help him. Instead you make generic comments on a blog thread to try and anger other WoW players because trolling is your sport.

Your comments that people respond in anger is completly wrong.. do you really think if you call someone a loser and a nolifer and to go get laid for doing something they enjoy that there not going to respond badly?

Your comparisons are out of whack also.. Halo 2 is played JUST as much if not more than WoW, Gears of War has ONLY just come out. Add that to you taking my comment out of context, what I meant by beating Gow in 3 hours is that its a painfully short game to spend what £40-£50 on? As oppposed to the constantly added to World of Warcraft where even years into the game there is still things for people to do.

I own a 360, a PS2, and a PC, I play WoW, I know people who play WoW responsibly and know of many more the same. You base your comments on what? You know some idiot who doesnt know when enough is enough? the comments of a bunch of trolls in forum threads?

..and sorry, it does take skill to play WoW my uneducated trolling friend. Watch an inexperienced player go through an instance or PvP against someone who knows their class well. Knows the tactics needed to beat other classes... your out of your depth in a conversation that you can only add insults and trollish comments to as most of your WoW bashers are. You all seem to think everyone playing WoW does so at the expense of their lives and all have some story about "this guy I know" to back it up. A) if it indeed is true then your mate has a problem that goes beyond WoW and into addictive personality problems... and B) how sad are you that your choice of friends are the type of people to put their lives on hold for a game?

Its the same thing from you WoW bashers and its a joke! One or two examples of dumbasses without self discipline does NOT proove that all 8 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS are no lifers. Get over yourself and pull your head out of your ass!

“I don't play football 23 hours a day. I don't know anyone else who does, either. And even if I did, I'd need at least 9 (and preferably 21) other people to play with. “

First, I guess you missed the part where there are thousands of different real people on each server? If you take the other people out of WoW.. it would be an incredibly boring game.

Just because a few people decided they wanted to play for 28 hours straight, you automatically assume that the rest of the 8 million-plus people that are playing the game are, obviously, playing to that same degree? Typically, by the time I get home from the office, have dinner with my wife, do whatever house chores I need to do, if I log in that night it’s likely around 6-7pm. I usually put in 2 or 3 hours so I can get to bed because, this might surprise you a little, but I have life and need to get up for work in the morning. So on the nights I play I spend 2 or 3 hours. From the people I know in-game, that’s a pretty typical average.

Let me ask you, do you know anyone who is obsessed with baseball? They watch every single game they can, know every single stat and historical game story there is to tell and share it with anyone who will listen just to boast their level of knowledge? Does that mean that just because there are people out there who are that way that every single person who plays or watches baseball acts the same way?



“And no matter how focused I am on playing football, I'll inevitably be distracted by who knows what -- a dog running onto the field, random passersby who wanna watch, an ice cream truck, a beer break, any number of things.

Not exactly the same as sitting in my room, by myself, staring at a monitor and planning some raid on what amounts to a bunch of polygons for who know what kind of reward. I hear people call WOW addicting all the time, but I've never heard anyone describe it as exciting, rewarding or even fun.”

Again, you seem to be equating WoW with some sort of single player console game. “planning some raid” would be coordinating 40 different real-world people. It’s hardly “alone-time”. WoW is, as much as anything else, a social avenue. I play with old co-workers who have changed jobs; I play with old friends that moved out of the area and I have made new friends from around the world. Yes, I consider them friends. Just because someone isn’t within driving distance doesn’t lessen the value I put on my association with them.

You say you’ve “never heard” anyone say they’ve had fun playing the game? I think you couldn’t have been paying very close attention. I think the game is a lot of fun! If it wasn’t fun I wouldn’t be paying a monthly fee to keep playing. And it can certainly be exciting. I get my heart pumping in a good PvP battle or narrowly escaping the death of my character. lol’ing? Well, have you ever found an action movie exciting? Ever find a scary movie thrilling and get your heart pumping a little? Explain to me the difference that makes that thrill from sitting inertly and watching a movie better than a thrill someone gets from playing a game.

No, I didn’t say it was rewarding. I don’t think it is. I also don’t think football or baseball is rewarding. No game or sport is, in my opinion. To me, rewarding is Christmas morning watching my family open presents. My vacation to Ireland; now that was rewarding! You know what, when my sister comes over to visit and my nephews are excited to talk to me about their exploits in the game and the funny things that have happened to them, that is rewarding. Not that we’re talking about WoW, but that I have an interest I can share with the next generation of my family. I find that really rewarding to be honest with you.




“So yeah, I make fun of you and your pathetic hobby. And you just have to live with it. It's not like we'll ever run into each other anyway, since we live in different worlds.”

It’s these kinds of comments that really make me smile. You and your closed minded attitude will get you nowhere in life. You might want to reconsider how often and where you make these kinds of comments. While I may not be a big shot in life (I’m not afraid to admit it) there are 2 of the VPs of my company who also play WoW. That’s just in my little corner of the world. But if you think that only lonely losers play these types of games, you might not want to bring those kinds of comments up in your next interview or the next company party. You might take some misplaced comfort in the thought that we’re all virgins living in someone’s basement but the truth is we do share the same world as you. I could be your neighbor. I could be your co-worker. I could be your boss. There are over 8 million people playing this game world-wide. You never know who you might be insulting. If it’s not them it could well be one of their kids who play. So, yea, you make fun of us and our choice of entertainment. I’ll deal with it. I’m not all too concerned with the opinions of people like you. I’ll just continue to dismiss you, and people like you, as ignorant and narrow-minded tools with a superiority complex. And you’ll just have to deal with it.

Well... I kinda AM a big shot in life. So you can dismiss me, I'll continue to dismiss you, and world will continue to go round and round.

You know, I've seen people act like this before. No sleep, constant attention to one thing that is utterly pointless but they can't tear themselves away from it, friends and family that are literally shut out of someone's lives completely... Although that was called cocaine...

If WoW was something you snorted, shot up, or smoked it would be banned by the FDA by now. I am an avid gamer -- I've played three hour fragfests of Gears of War and I've blown an entire saturday playing OBLIVION, but I've never seen any game eat people up the way World of Warcraft does. Its honest to god scary. The only parallel I have seen is with drug users who slip into drug abusers.

Of course, drugs are BAD, mmmkay, and Warcraft is socially acceptable to a degree, mmmkay, and carries a "T" rating.

Lets face it. This is what Western Society has become. A nation of rich, bourgeois empty souls that are spoonfed socially accepted, corporate addiction. Cialis, Levitra, Prozac, Xanax, World of Warcraft, a Suburban, a Prius. All the same crap...Heroin for the masses.

I've never played WoW and I never will to be honest. MMO's don't really appeal to me but I don't mind if others like them. I like classic RPG's like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Secret Of Mana. I guess with Warcraft you're actually playing with real people but the RPG's I like seem closer to a book/game combination to me. There's appreciation for the artwork, writing, character designs, gameplay, etc. So whatever people like playing it's all good. At least playing games is more productive than watching tv all day. You're mostly working your mind and improving your hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and reflexes. A friend once told me that Gran Turismo literally saved his life because he reacted to make a turn fast enough before a car hit him in real life. No joke. And I believe him. Had he never played a game in his life, I doubt he would even have one right now.

Besides the truth is, everyone here has lives. We just have different choices and opinions. The only people who don't are the thousands of others out there dying in some stupid war or starving to death. I bet they wish they could be playing a game all day and not worrying about what's gonna happen to them next.

Ok, here is the thing, no, I do not play World of Warcraft, but no, I can not justify flat out flaming everyone who does, and stereotyping them into the group that involves every trait mentioned in this blog.

So, we have proof that a large number of people(yes a large number, not just the one person), teamed up to get someone to level 70, just to prove that they could. There is a sense of accomplishment in that, being the first to do something. If you are the first to do anything, being benificial to society or not, will give you a sense of accomplishment.

I know people that stay up until 6 in the morning playing Halo 2 on X Box live. Because its a different game, does that make them different from WoW players? No, it really doesnt, its all a matter of your personality, and if you know enough is enough.

But fine, flame away, make yourself feel bigger by convincing yourself that you have more of a life than people that play WoW. You talk about accomplishment? Have you accomplished anything right here? By throwing around insults?

I dont play the game, but I can see that insulting people that do isnt right. You guys have to lose the complete tunnel vision and open up to things. Just because you dont do it, doesnt mean its wrong.

Ok, I never post on forums when things have started to explode (I rarely post on forums at all) but the posts here were pretty interesting to me and I just wanted to say really quick, that it seems obvious that this is a very emotional issue. My personal feeling is that while all video games can be addictive, world of warcraft is potentially worse than a lot of other games. (Of course, recent games in general are more addictive than games from ten years ago, so maybe WOW is just where games are going. The question I ask myself is, is this really where I want computer/video games to go in the future?)
I thought Spongebob was right on with the amount of time WOW takes. Whereas I can play warcraft 3, final fantasy whatever or Medieval 2 for forty or even sixty hours before I'm done with it (usually forever) I've played world of warcraft for probably about 15 days, maybe more, and I have friends who have played for at least three or four times that.
Maybe it's a pointless comparison to make. What makes WOW so different is the social interaction: if it isn't the point of the game, it's at least integrated into the game in a way to make it part of the essential point. When I play WOW I step into another world, a place with its own real people -- it's the true beginning of virtual reality. (Well, I guess ultima online and Meridian 59 were the real first MMORPGs.) Anyway, you have to make sacrifices to take part in another world like that, don't you? Sacrifices that affect the energy you are able to put into the rest of your life.
When I was playing WOW, I definitely felt addicted. I would head home for the day saying to myself "I'm not going to play today" and then I'd inevitably end up sweating at the computer seat, trying to figure out how I'd gotten there for the next five or six hours while chatting with old and new friends with names like "Uldan" and "Tassidaru." What eventually started to dawn on me was this: Maybe how much something makes me want to play it and how much I actually enjoy playing it are two different things.
What do you guys think? Assuming WOW does take maybe ten times as much time as other games, maybe more, and has generally repetitive gameplay (like many other games), is there really a payoff for all the time? I can see how playing with a spouse or good friend (from real life) might make the game much more rewarding. Has anyone else who has played regularly found themselves wondering whether it's really worth the opportunity cost of all that time, whether it would go into some other silly hobby or not?


p.s.
I apologize for such a long, rambling post. Sorry if there were any misspellings -- it's five in the morning here. Hopefully no one will see fit to mock me for it, especially not with the kind of spite that seems to surround discussions like these, discussions which I think have every right to exist out here in the perhaps much-more-full-of-possibility piece of virtual reality we call the internet. Don't get me wrong, I think people are serving selfish emotional needs by posting angrily on what you could call "both sides" of this discussion. But when you get someone who is probably older and (at least posturing as) wiser, making fun of someone else for putting an extra d in college, and using that as the predominant strain in a post which closes by saying "You are just mad because your friend prefers WoW than hanging out and playing video games with you" I find myself wondering why someone would care so much about a game basically being called something that "takes your life." And then I realize -- if someone called the world I choose to live in pathetic and not worthy of existence, I'd be pretty pissed myself.
Another interesting question: Why do people get so pissed of at WOW?

If you like playing games such as WoW its your choice noone can change that.

I can't believe I spent an hour reading this forum... I could have been playing WoW. Oh wait that could suck my life away. Then I couldn’t dedicate my life to other things like going to work for 8 hours a day... 40 hours a week. Well I guess I could do that school project on XML and XSLT but I did that yesterday. Maybe I could read a book. Well reading 40 to 100 pages a week of college studies in Computer Science is mind numbing enough. Besides I like the visual effect… I use my imagination enough writing programs and solving people problems day in and day out at work. Well there's the wife, but she's busy cooking. Besides I have all night to spend with her. Hmmm what’s a person to do... Guess I could go hang out with my friends. Darn they are all married… most with children. Besides we are going to all get together in a couple weeks and throw WoW on the 42”r and watch the kids play (us too LOL). My single friends would just get me in trouble and possible ruin my marriage not to mention all the money I would be spending that could have been used for something more useful, like paying bills. I guess I could go to the gym, but sex with my wife 6 to 8 times a week, and dragging my lazy butt through the malls and grocery stores is enough exercise for me, though I still have that member at 24 hour fitness at my disposal. I think I’ll just go play WoW…

Getting to level 70 is pretty intense but then again now he can go PvP and have some real fun. As for me I’m not in any hurry to get to level 70. That person, I don’t care to remember his/her name, that says playing WoW is just a bunch of button pushing, obviously never really played. It takes strategy to accomplish some of these major quests. I’ve done some quests where I thought I’d just run in blazing and everything would be okay and 8 seconds later I’m running back to my dead body. Also you can’t just PvP and think you can just push a couple buttons and the person on the other side of the computer will disappear. If that’s what you are doing then I can understand why you would get bored and quit. Try watching some of the movies at www.warcraftmovies.com players made and you’ll see some pretty exciting scenes… even my wife will site there was watch.

Either this person tried to get to level 70 because he wanted to see if he can do it or he just loves the game that much. Me I’m still trying to get to 60 and it will be at least a few weeks.

I just ran across this site because a friend showed me the article and at first glance this looks like a gaming site and so I would assume everybody here are gamers. If not what’s the point in you being here, so you can waist your time and ours telling us how you feel about WoW and those that play? In the end by the time I close my browser I would have forgotten what you said anyway… this is one of the reason why I haven’t mentioned any names because I’d have to go back and look.

Well now work is finished and I get to go home and spend time with the wife then play Wow for a few hours. :D Or maybe I will go home and create a site called WoW and everybody else and put a blog on there so I can amuse myself over others comments… nah I think I’ll just go play WoW. LOL

I haven't read all the posts, the first 50 were good. This started out as a piece onsome French guy who spent 28 hrs playing WoW, wow big deal. I wasted 20 minutes reading a bunch of posts. Calling things addictive is a crutch, maybe people like the game more than real life. Maybe your friend who plays all the time just thinks you're a d*ck. I have WoW and so does my kid, the Southpark episode was what made me want to get the game.
The game is not addictive, I play it if I want or GRAW2 or Rainbow 6 or solitaire or my guitars or I'll go play catch with my kid. It is funnier to me to watch the smack talk in the game, if you guys who don't play think you are getting to those who do you have never watched the ingame chat. It is classic flamer stuff.