Breakfast Topic: Virtual achievements
by Jennie Lees 
Apr 21st 2006 at 9:58AM
A topic of contention, which neatly fits in with yesterday's topic of spouses who don't play WoW, is the
value of WoW when compared to "real" hobbies. The argument is one that many gamers are familiar with: why
spend time achieving greatness in a virtual world, when at the end of the day you will have nothing tangible to show
for it?Of course, as the recent story of Stephen Gillett shows, many of the things we learn in WoW carry on into the real world. Leadership and dealing with people are two of the most transferable skills around, and WoW also teaches many things from multitasking to hand-eye co-ordination. However, after putting in hours of work, a few skills seem to pale in comparison to the physical rewards other hobbies produce -- a work of art is something people can relate to, even if they didn't create it themselves, whereas "level 60" or "rank 14" mean very little outside of a specific circle.
The circle, however, is widening. As MMOs like WoW become more and more popular, more people will understand the lure of achievement in a digital dimension. Have you had trouble convincing people your hobby is worthwhile and important? Or have you found a killer argument to win sceptics over?
[Thanks to Mike for the suggestion.]
Filed under: Virtual selves, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonafi Apr 21st 2006 11:37AM
I think of WoW as social networking. I've made friends with people I wouldn't have met under any other circumstances. I now have a couch to crash on in every major American city. Beat that glassblowers!
qor72 Apr 21st 2006 2:27PM
I've always liked what my wife says when her friends ask about my Vid-Gaming addiction (obsession? Whatever *grins*);
"I'd rather have him at home, playing games, then off at a bar or a strip club."
(^_^)
Janae Apr 21st 2006 2:34PM
I've played for nearly six months and only on Wednesday did I really feel I'd "achieved" anything. Serial alter, so I got my first character to 40, got my pony, and did a full Uldaman run with my guild, all within six hours of each other. Was absolutely fantastic fun. Ok, so Uldaman isn't quite, like, AQ or anything, but still. By far the hardest thing I've done so far, so I enjoyed it.
Leshrac Apr 21st 2006 3:50PM
I've tried Uldaman twice now. The first run my group wasn't good enough (or didn't want to try) to get into the last section. My second group was good, but we were a man short and the last section caused us a bit of grief. On the very last boss we managed to pull in a 5th, but our group had a lot of trouble with him... so I still need to do again.
Anyway, my original reason for posting... I do sometimes have a feeling that I'm playing WoW (or any game) and could be doing something more useful. It became particularly potent feeling for me when I was at work and I found out that several of my co-workers from other countries knew 3-4 different languages. Outside of the US, this is pretty standard actually.. but in the US, most people just know 1 language... I became much more interested in re-starting my high-school pursuit of learning Spanish. Or perhaps actually starting my work-out routine... Or writing something... Really, there are a lot of things to do.
Of course, I like playing WoW and otehr games, so I probably won't completely stop playing them... but certainly, something is starting to "tickle" me about doing something else.
slybri Apr 23rd 2006 11:28PM
I got my second toon to 60 and started grinding mats for an epic robe I wanted. After spending 3 nights killing the same demons for felcloth I was getting a little sick of the game. Knowing that nothing but scheduled instance runs and faction grinds were ahead of me, WoW's magic wsa beggining to wear off. Then I got Oblivion and figured I'd take a week off WoW to play it. I was in such awe of the graphics I ended up building a whole new computer to run the game at high rez and full detail. Haven't played WoW in a month. Suspended my account. Picked up a bunch of other games I missed in the year and a half I've been playing WoW.
I feel this odd sense of FREEDOM now. I don't have to be online at a certain time to run instances. I'm never worried about screwing up. I don't have to ask for help or make excuses or worry about Guild drama. I can play what I want, when I want. Or not play anything at all!
Now that I think back on it, I could have spent the last year writing a novel, practicing the guitar, or learning new computer software... But I've got 2 level 60s, a level 45, some level 20s and 30s..and lots of fuzzy memories.
Do I regret the time I spent playing WoW? Kinda...yeah.