As I sit here picking my brain for some inspiration, I turn to one of my fall backs. World of Warcraft. The realm of Azorath actually came as a follow up to my previous obline abode of Everquest's land of Norrath. Between these two games, my love for MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role playing games) has flourished.
Looking back, I begin to remember what brought me into this area of gaming. Many of my friends who are less approving of this hobby make it sound like there is a disease where you catch the "WOW PLAGUE" and essentially are addicted to the game regardless of it being fun. I'll admit, while I see quite a bit of people who do seem over the top with their gaming habits, I would argue with moderation this plague is really just like any other past time. And just like other hobbies it's even taught me a thing or two about life.
I started playing Everquest with my dad and younger sister probably when I was about 11-12 years old. It was awesome to have this video game as a shared activity we could partake in. I learned different lessons about dealing with people (being the only person between the three of us who was willing to set up groups, I quickly learned to meet and greet people). My typing and spelling skills skyrocketed and I also learned not to steal (after I had stolen someone else's loot for an item afterwards the incredible guilt and returned it with a huge apology and offered to comphensate them with gold). Ever since then, I never wanted to relive a moment of shame like that.
When my dad and sister put a hold on playing EQ, I wasn't exactly ready to give it up. This is when I tried out playing on a roleplaying server instead. For those of you not familiar with online lingo, on a roleplaying server basically you are acting out your character as you go through and level through the game. This would mean rather than saying "hey, stfu and gimme my loot" you could say "HARK. Unhand my loot you scoundrel or face the kiss of my blade!" (not exactly that melodramatic, but you get the idea). I joined a guild which was home to these evil sadistic vampire dark elves, and through my experiences with them I become alot better at thinking on the spot as well as improving my ability to write fantasy stories and dialogue scenes.
All good things come to an end, and when the server's prestige and guild's population faded away, so did I. It wasn't until years later I picked up World of Warcraft. For a month or two I tried out a roleplaying server there and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't enough to keep me in the game. It wasn't until I met my current boyfriend a year ago that I got back into it. With him and another friend of ours working together, I was able to raise my human shadowpriestess where now I'm currently level 85 (the highlest level available right now). This brings me to where now, side by side, I conquer adversary with my boyfriend as we continue to pursue defeat of more difficult enemies and gaining better armor leading towards the ultimate defeat of Nefarian.
This is where I pause.
You may begin to wonder what's with the biography sphiel about my gaming history, but it all leads up in my train of though to my point. I have just recently started to make my second character to level which made me realize I just stepped on the path to become of the people I typically judged most. (Granted, I have friends who are these people and they're still cool people regardless), but I always frowned up the person who put the enough time into the game to level up 8 separate level 80s. And while I am beginning to emphasize with them as I make my second main character, I also think that compared to some other players, I tend to draw a line between what is acceptable/innacceptable for gaming behavior.
This goes for any hobby, but I feel like there are two main elements that help me feel as though WoW isn't a waste of time. 1) Because I'm playing with my boyfriend and we're currently dating long distance, it provides a fun alternative to hang out. When you sit down at a computer and watch your boyfriends little avatar running around with you, it makes the distance seem less. 2) I considerably limit my game play. Coming from someone who watches no television and rarely a movie, I spend mainly Wednesdays and Thursdays on WoW later in the evening during the week. This comes in a balance where I need to keep my homework and studies under control in order to allow myself to play the game. And finally 3) play it while it's fun. You don't want to use WoW as a time waster otherwise you really will waste hours upon hours on it.
I've also enjoyed how it acted as another form of "people watching" (that activity you do when you go specifically to a park or a mall to sit on a bench and watch people.. sometimes for social anthropology classes). As one of the limited number of girls playing the game at high end content, I've gained an interesting perspective on how people act in the game. It's funny to hear how guys are in a dude realm, because most of the time I get away with chilling in the background on Ventrilo (a microphone/headset program which lets you talk with other players online). You also get caught up following along with guild drama (where I've experienced meeting people ranging from your regular annoying twit to a psycho ex-army solider who hacks into finding out other people's real life personas). In life in general, you have to learn to deal with a variety of people no matter what "world" you're in.
There's countless experiences and memories associated behind Everquest and World of Warcraft, which have overall led to a fun experience. I'd recommend it to other people to try out so long as you drag a friend of yours down the rabbit hole with you. I think the whole experience is alot more fun when you're sharing it with someone you share face-time with as well.
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