The Barrens, or WoW's Daycare?
by Christopher Linton 
Jan 11th 2006 at 2:00PM
The guys from Penny Arcade sum it up
well. [link to comic that may be NSFW].
As I entered Elwynn on my way to the Darkmoon Faire last month, a wash of childish imprecations and accusations of homosexuality flooded my general chat channel. I always forget how ridiculous starting areas are. I wonder why there is such a marked difference between, say, Barrens Chat and STV chat. Both are hugely popular, highly traveled areas, but Barrens chat is like a foul-mouthed 3rd grade recess where everyone has bullhorns, while STV chat is helpful and civilized, for the most part. Are there really, as I strongly suspect, hordes of hyperactive 11-year-olds who create character after character, never having the patience to level them up past 9 or 10? Do these hypothetical hordes just sit and mouth off to each other in an orgy of puerility, while the serious players just quietly power through those early levels until they can be free of the starting areas?
On the other hand, perhaps each of those darling youngsters matures at a startling pace. After the brief few levels of immaturity, they grow into productive players.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pentz Jan 11th 2006 2:04PM
I completely agree. The general chat tends to go way downhill. In fact on one of the new servers last night the general chat came down to a vulgur slicing of the wrists over... chuck norris. What is Azeroth coming to?
MrChucho Jan 11th 2006 2:23PM
You don't block "General"?
PodMonkeys Jan 11th 2006 2:31PM
Heh. I thought I just picked a bad server! One day my server was down, so I decided to create a Tauren on a "New" server. I got the exact Barrens chat described.
Mike Jan 11th 2006 2:34PM
Yeah I'm with Chucho... I /leave all the main chat channels when I start up. So much garbage in the main channels it's not worth it. Just pst people you want to talk to.
Linchburg Jan 11th 2006 3:32PM
I hated the Barrens so much (besides the chat, it seems like you are there FOREVER questing in the empty booring scenery) that I started another main. I chose Undead because they are nowhere near the Barrens. Love it so far.
mike Jan 11th 2006 3:35PM
Years from now, when I look back on my time in World of Warcraft, I'll fondly remember all the crazy stuff I heard in between "ANYONE DOING HOGGER" and "LFG WC."
If you ever want some cheap, interesting entertainment, mention politics or religion in Barrens chat. Make sure you've got your popcorn ready. :)
mk Jan 12th 2006 5:14AM
The peurile stuff doesn't seem as constant on Scarlet Crusade, which I guess comes with being a roleplaying server. What you *do* have to watch out for is stumbling into a "romantic liaison" while you're mining or herb-gathering.
Oh, and mostly-nekkid Night Elves doing the bump-and-grind at the nearest low-level inn. But I think that happens everywhere.
(And don't laugh from behind the Horde curtain there. You'll regret it the first time you see Blood Elves getting down in Bloodhoof Village.)
Stormgaard Jan 12th 2006 8:06AM
Not Addicted's "Ask the Barrens" is awsome. Makes total use of all the idiots there:
http://www.notaddicted.com/index.php?page=barrens
Not Addicted's "Ask the Barrens" is awsome. Makes total use of all the idiots there:
http://www.notaddicted.com/index.php?page=barrens
Tazrach Jan 12th 2006 12:26PM
You get em everywhere but for sure a higher concentration of them in the Barrens. I still can't believe the day I was told "I hope you die in a car crash" by some no doubt horribly insecure pre teen who has died before our tag team of convinience managed to take down a higher level that was ganking us.
Baron Samedi Jan 12th 2006 12:28PM
Two thoughts:
1) I didn't notice the same thing in Tirisfall Glades, so I suspect the immaturity may be limited to the Barrens. Maybe something to do with the type of person that chooses orcs and trolls as a character.
2) It's a little ironic that this post complains about immaturity in an environment where you pay real money to spend huge swathes of real-world time running around as an imaginary creature in an imaginary world doing imaginary things inside a computer. We're all by definition immature to a greater or lesser degree simply by playing this game, and worse, by reading or writing for a website dedicated to an immature game.
Pot, meet Kettle.
Mike Jan 12th 2006 1:50PM
90% of how you describe the game (huge swaths of time, imaginary world, imaginary creatures) applies to reading a lot fiction novels and motion pictures as well. The only thing that doesn't apply is the computer part. I wouldn't call an avid reader of fiction immature simply because he or she reads fictional novels. The playing of WoW is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition to label someone immature.
Aux Jan 13th 2006 6:41AM
I guess it's just like anything else... if you don't like it, leave the channel. Sticking around and reading what a bunch of idiots have to say is just going to annoy you, and by getting annoyed, the terrorists have won.
Angeliska Jan 19th 2006 5:04PM
Well it just so happens two of my brothers are those whiney litte brats that just talk crap about one another...My youngest brother (10) has never gotten past lvl 3 and the other (12) cant seem to fight his bordom long enough to get past lvl 10 exept for one time I forced him into so he could help me!
(but he was 10 lvls lower than me so he dident really help)
But toataly...if your board go into a really poupulated area (Darkshore and GoldShire work fine for Me)
And say some random thing like....God isent real and just bullshit and say your brother died of cancer...you'll get some of the best reactions!
And I toataly think...get out of starting point at lvl 6 wait no longer but I go there and recruit people for my guild lvl 1's take the bait like a fish and a really plump night crawler!