Life imitates WoW -- or vice versa?
by Jennie Lees 
Sep 4th 2006 at 10:00AM
We all come to moments in our lives where we have to make big decisions. The consequences of these choices can change our lives completely, and often the agonising debate over a particular decision can stretch out for months.Similarly, the characters we shape and nurture in WoW can face tough choices. Which talent tree to specialise in? Which equipment to focus on? Should game time be spent levelling alts, progressing in the endgame or ranking up in PvP?
Worlds apart, you may say. Working out whether to kill some imaginary elves or imaginary dragons is a completely different ball game from wondering whether that promotion is really worth the new commute. Yet recently, while concentrating on an important real life decision, I found myself retreading extremely familiar territory. In fact, when distilled to the pros and cons, it turned out identical to a recent choice I'd had to make in WoW.
Putting aside any discussion of the complexity of WoW, and how one can become invested in the game, I found it fascinating to realise I had already tried and tested an important decision from my real life by making the same choice in Azeroth. So next time you're arguing over a point of raid leadership, or pondering PvPing, bear in mind you might find your thought processes useful later!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Big Dan Sep 4th 2006 9:48PM
I know.. I got into RPGs because they are a great way to face challenging decisions before you actually have to go through them in real life. I have found many similarities between decisions in game and in our world. I have enjoyed creating many alternate characters and through them I have been able to explore different major life choices and have chosen two general paths that I like the most. I may be just weird or maybe I just wanted to justify my obsessive interest in RPGs. Either way this decision making forum is why I got into RPGs in general and the fact that I can't get together with my friends all the time is why I moved into MMORPGs and I just liked WOW better than most of what was out there. I'm glad that someone else out there has noticed the value of RPGs in general as (I believe) they were originally designed as a forum under which people could experience difficult choices and see how they would handle them. (Important side note People who pay other people to babysit their char or to make them stronger/smarter/etc.. vs People wanting the school system to make their children stronger/smarter/etc..) I'm just saying there are a lot of similarities.
Great topic!
Cappy Sep 5th 2006 1:53AM
I read an article in wired not too long ago about how an employer was so impressed by an potential employees management skills in his guild that he took it as a viable translation into RL. The guy got the job.
Lets face it if more people were aware of the valuable skills one can hone such as quick decision making, diplomacy, managerial skills, and developing logical thought processes; i think MMORPGs would be looked at as a training grounds instead of frowned upon as a time sucker.
UncleVinny Sep 5th 2006 11:47AM
I've played WoW a ton for the past 8 months. In fact, I just checked yesterday and found that I've played more than 30 days just on my main since Jan 1. So I've made a ton of decisions on that character and my alts. But I can't say that I can think of a time when my regular life was actually informed or enlightened by the huge chunk of my WoW life.
Maybe it would help if you could describe the real-world decision? I'm curious to know what it was...