College bookstore puts WoW in the window
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 19th 2007 at 1:05PM
The Tensor was walking past the bookstore at "Unnamed University" (oh come on, you can tell us-- The University of Washington, maybe?) and saw the sight you see above. That's right, a college bookstore has WoW proudly displayed in their front window.
Are they actively trying to distract their students from work? Don't get me wrong-- there are plenty of good reasons to play WoW, even if you're supposed to be studying for a career. But I'm glad WoW didn't get released until I was out of college with a degree-- I had enough trouble when I discovered Civ, sophomore year, as it was.
[ via WorldofWar.net ]
Filed under: Odds and ends, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Toolio Mar 19th 2007 1:13PM
That's bizarre. Must be a Liberal Arts college.
Brahmana Mar 19th 2007 1:32PM
The game premiered late 2004, when I was trying to graduate. I actually gave away my stress-test beta key so I wouldn't get the hooks in. Of course, come February 2005, I was out of college and my fiance bought it for me to celebrate getting my fist big-boy job.
Meg Mar 19th 2007 1:48PM
Yep...I was a Diablo 2 player in college......never passed A and P...sigh...Thank god I was a theatre major!
10pound Mar 19th 2007 1:33PM
IM DOWN WIT DAT!
Obviously by my command of the English language you know that I too attended an institution of higher learner.
Strongmark on Arthas Mar 19th 2007 1:42PM
Civilization franchise is still amazing, even if it is being neglected due to WoW.
Can't wait for Civ V , I imagine they must be working on it for sure!
Zuuler Mar 19th 2007 1:48PM
I had heard about WoW many years ago when it was announced, but because of other things (military, then later college) I never even bought it because I was always so busy.
After I graduated my brother told me about it, and after getting a real job I picked it up and since have been glad I never heard about it while I was in college.
Anyway, would it really matter if they sold it in the bookstore or not? All it would really take is the dorm slack off going down to the nearest retailer and buying the game, and it would infest the campus as a whole in no time. Why should the college bookstore lose out on this profit? If people are going to play, they'll play whether they can buy the game conveniently on campus, or have to take a trip off campus to one of the many retailers around there to buy the game.
Chris Sutherby Mar 19th 2007 2:27PM
MMOs and finals week do not mix well at all.
Finals keep getting in the way of your getting anything protuctively done online.
I maintained a good GPA (3.8), while carrying an MMO addiction, going to the gym, and partying all at the same time. Of course, I didn't sleep for two years, but hey... who cares?
Dave Mar 19th 2007 3:02PM
Colleges are a business, like any other business. They're not "learning institutions" any more than anything else these days. You pay a certain pre-determined amount of money, you get a degree. Yes, you can learn things while you're there and some colleges may have more interesting ways of letting you learn that knowledge, but for the most part nothing you learn in college is something you can't figure out on your own with enough effort. The majority of college isn't even to prepare you for whatever it is that you're intending to do in life, it's "general studies" or whatever other "addons" (cell phone companies anyone?) the university gets you to buy in order to actually attend the classes that will be marginally meaningful in your new life.
The campus typically owns a bookstore, so they see a profit every time you take a class and buy (or worse, rent) a book. $$. The campus has a cafeteria, they're making money. The campus charges other businesses to locate on campus.
Why do bad professors get to stick around so long? Money. Simply, if a person has a %60 chance to fail a particular class, they'll have to either take another class ($$) or purchase things from the university (more books, caffiene products, whatever) in order to succeed. The university wins, the professor wins, everyone's happy. Otherwise, bad professors would be shuttled out in a hurry and left to linger at horrible schools that nobody would want to attend.
So, WoW might cause students to fail a class or two here and there? Or an entire semester? Score! (and hey by the way the bookstore can sell you an upgrade for your PC so you can play the game better!)
why wouldn't you want a piece of that action? It's like printing money!
Quoi Mar 19th 2007 3:23PM
@ 8
That, sir, is why I despise college. Oh well, necessary evils FTL.
Once I'm done, I can settle down in my 60k a year job, buy a new car, and enjoy WoW to my heart's content without inane group projects, crappy teachers, and moronic drunkards to contend with.
(And before anyone says that the working life is no picnic, I already work at a Fortune 500 company in the tax department, and were I able to work full time, I would pull in just under 30k as a junior in college.)
K Whitt Mar 19th 2007 3:52PM
@9
Hahahahaha...
60k a year buys you a new car and more? Wow, I envy you. Sitting in N. California, I make more than 60k a year and I can barely make it past rent and utilities. Where, oh where do you live?
Quoi Mar 19th 2007 4:26PM
Duh duh duh, you live in Cali, jackass.
If you can't afford a lease on a car and the cost of living at 60k, then life is too overpriced for j00!
Sylythn Mar 19th 2007 9:20PM
If I'd had WoW in college - I'd never have graduated...thank god it came out afterwards.
Kabe Mar 19th 2007 6:18PM
My sad, sad self is going off to college this fall. And I'm seriously tempted to bring my desktop computer in addition to my laptop, because I doubt the laptop can handle WoW.
Of course, juggling WoW, a major and a minor, commuting for teacher's cert classes, and college cheerleading should be interesting to watch, right?
Sarah Mar 20th 2007 12:53AM
world of warcraft in college would have been a very, very bad thing. Thank god I had graduated by then, I had a hard enough time with Neopets (curse you for freezing my account! I was freeing unused pets!) ahem....;)
Jared Mar 21st 2007 10:27AM
I'm not even making this up. Here at the university of Florida, in our bookstore we have an electronics section where you're allowed to use financial aid. Sure enough they have several Video games including 360 games and accessories, i'm sure they probably have WoW now too. So basically I can use my academic scholarships to fund my video game hobby.