Earlier this weak, I was speaking about game with a friend. We were debating about the balance of teams in video games and we ended up speaking about WOW (or World of Warcraft for the neophyte). I found it strange and interesting that he was shy to say that he really loved WOW. I asked him many times to explain his feelings and he confessed that the game swallowed his life and he lost too much time playing it. He was explaining his undesirable addiction, but at the same time he was proud of his accomplishment in this fictional world.
I started to think about all the gamers who had this feeling of double identity. One real identity with a family and friends that has to go to school or to work every morning and a second identity that kicks ass in the dungeons and is respected by his peers. They are addicted to a game world where they feel more accomplish than in their real life. They can escape the bullying and problems of their life in this perfect world.
I was surprised to realize after our discussion how jealous I was about this experience. In fact, when I was in high school, we didn't have Facebook and online gaming. Internet was a newborn and we barely spoke about it at school. When I was coming back home after my day being a student, with a head full of social frustration and with homework to do, I was the same as my friend; I wanted to escape.
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The options I had at that time were different, but I consoled myself anyway telling me that tomorrow would be better and that one day people would respect me for my work. I found an activity and I stuck to it hoping people will love it, but the opposite happened and I found myself alone with my passion.
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Listening to my friend and his passion for WOW, I was envying the relationships he had with the other gamers. Like me, when he was tired of the world, he was escaping in his activity. Like me, people laugh at him because of his passion for it. But at the end of the day, when he was joining the people online, he was respected and appreciated. Being accomplish and respected by a community was the drug, not the game.
It is the social part of WOW that made people addicted to it, because they could showcase their ability and skills to the world and be important. You start as a noob ( new and inexperienced player), you learn some skills and knowledge, you bring it in combat, and finally you win the recognition of your colleagues. You become important for them, then you are important for you.
WOW is an opportunity for the players to showcase their skills in a world, there are thousands of games like this on the market. When you subscribe to the game, it's like you were subscribing to a social or a sports club. You commit yourself to the rules of conduct and you have a chance to prove yourself to the community. If you were acting against the convention you become excluded, just like in real society, social clubs, or sports.
So, why are WOW gamers are so ashamed by their activity ? If we admit they are a social club, why are we laughing at them in the schoolyard ?
I think there are two answers; the first answer is probably the ease of accessibility. Anybody can play and can complete the objectives. It is not like in a sport club where the players has to prove is capacity by exercises and challenges to be a part of the team. In game, if the player paid, he can play. This easy accessibility suggests that anybody is able to be the best. Even if this argument isn't true, society sees the WOW player like a very common player. There is nothing exceptional in having a WOW account as everybody has one, because it is easy to access. It means that the WOW player is someone banal without originality or interest.
The second answer is the stereotype or the image of the nerd. Yes, you know what I mean. The picture of this huge guy sitting in front of his computer in a room tinted in blue, the color of his computer screen, eating chips and drinking beer. I'm not telling there aren't players who look like that, but I'm telling you that a lot of people believe all the players of Word of Warcraft look like that.
The truth is WOW is a game that takes a lot of time. When you are playing, you don't feel like being interrupted by anything, I promise. You don't want to go to bathroom. You don't want to make food. You don't want to answer your phone. This is a feeling I'm sure we've all felt at least once in our lives. As I'm writing this article right now I don't feel like doing anything else, not even eating. So yes, when a player plays often and eats pizza from the corner restaurant instead of fresh vegetables, he gains some weight and feel less energetic. It isn't the game, it isn't the community, it is a habit problem. And surprising as it sounds, this bad habit is not coming from the game, it is a personal problem.
OK. I hear you. Let's be fair. The game isn't the main cause of the bad diet habits, but the game maintains this bad habit. I mean, if the player was susceptible to this kind of trouble, the game won't help him to fight against it. But the game won't force the player to eat bad and stay home all day. It is the player decision, it is the player problem. It's just a game.
Players of WOW, don't be ashamed. You are a member of this huge community, the biggest online community to date. You play. You have fun. You are with your friends. There is nothing to be shy about. Be proud of what you learn in the game: fight with strategy, use teamwork, learn about geography, culture, and humor, etc. These skills are essential to your club, to your community, and to your life.
It is what I was jealous about: Sharing all of that with a group. If as a player, you have the luck to be a part of a team to share and evolve, don't let anything stop you. It is what I would have loved to have when I was younger. It is what WOW gave to the young generation: a chance to be a part of a community.
///////
The options I had at that time were different, but I consoled myself anyway telling me that tomorrow would be better and that one day people would respect me for my work. I found an activity and I stuck to it hoping people will love it, but the opposite happened and I found myself alone with my passion.
///////
Listening to my friend and his passion for WOW, I was envying the relationships he had with the other gamers. Like me, when he was tired of the world, he was escaping in his activity. Like me, people laugh at him because of his passion for it. But at the end of the day, when he was joining the people online, he was respected and appreciated. Being accomplish and respected by a community was the drug, not the game.
It is the social part of WOW that made people addicted to it, because they could showcase their ability and skills to the world and be important. You start as a noob ( new and inexperienced player), you learn some skills and knowledge, you bring it in combat, and finally you win the recognition of your colleagues. You become important for them, then you are important for you.
WOW is an opportunity for the players to showcase their skills in a world, there are thousands of games like this on the market. When you subscribe to the game, it's like you were subscribing to a social or a sports club. You commit yourself to the rules of conduct and you have a chance to prove yourself to the community. If you were acting against the convention you become excluded, just like in real society, social clubs, or sports.
So, why are WOW gamers are so ashamed by their activity ? If we admit they are a social club, why are we laughing at them in the schoolyard ?
I think there are two answers; the first answer is probably the ease of accessibility. Anybody can play and can complete the objectives. It is not like in a sport club where the players has to prove is capacity by exercises and challenges to be a part of the team. In game, if the player paid, he can play. This easy accessibility suggests that anybody is able to be the best. Even if this argument isn't true, society sees the WOW player like a very common player. There is nothing exceptional in having a WOW account as everybody has one, because it is easy to access. It means that the WOW player is someone banal without originality or interest.
The second answer is the stereotype or the image of the nerd. Yes, you know what I mean. The picture of this huge guy sitting in front of his computer in a room tinted in blue, the color of his computer screen, eating chips and drinking beer. I'm not telling there aren't players who look like that, but I'm telling you that a lot of people believe all the players of Word of Warcraft look like that.The truth is WOW is a game that takes a lot of time. When you are playing, you don't feel like being interrupted by anything, I promise. You don't want to go to bathroom. You don't want to make food. You don't want to answer your phone. This is a feeling I'm sure we've all felt at least once in our lives. As I'm writing this article right now I don't feel like doing anything else, not even eating. So yes, when a player plays often and eats pizza from the corner restaurant instead of fresh vegetables, he gains some weight and feel less energetic. It isn't the game, it isn't the community, it is a habit problem. And surprising as it sounds, this bad habit is not coming from the game, it is a personal problem.
OK. I hear you. Let's be fair. The game isn't the main cause of the bad diet habits, but the game maintains this bad habit. I mean, if the player was susceptible to this kind of trouble, the game won't help him to fight against it. But the game won't force the player to eat bad and stay home all day. It is the player decision, it is the player problem. It's just a game.
Players of WOW, don't be ashamed. You are a member of this huge community, the biggest online community to date. You play. You have fun. You are with your friends. There is nothing to be shy about. Be proud of what you learn in the game: fight with strategy, use teamwork, learn about geography, culture, and humor, etc. These skills are essential to your club, to your community, and to your life.It is what I was jealous about: Sharing all of that with a group. If as a player, you have the luck to be a part of a team to share and evolve, don't let anything stop you. It is what I would have loved to have when I was younger. It is what WOW gave to the young generation: a chance to be a part of a community.
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