From Rock Journalist to WoW Addict
by Paul Sherrard 
Apr 5th 2007 at 9:27PM
At the end of March, the Times issued an 8-page supplement along with a demo of World of Warcraft. Aside from getting me wondering how many Londoners are now trying out the game, it brought along a fantastic article by Caitlin Moran. You'll want to read the article to understand the image accompanying this posting.
In "My life as a bearded dwarf", we're given a humorous and insightful view into what can drag a mild-mannered reporter and mother of two into the world's biggest online game. Okay, maybe mild-mannered is pushing it. This is the same Caitlin Moran who started off into the world of music journalism at 16, wished an entire band dead in an album review, and who's spent time hanging out with Robbie Williams and writing on how cocaine has been responsible for some great albums. Yes, I owe my knowledge of these facts to the mighty Wikipedia.
While her choice of character names (Scottbaio) leaves much to be desired, I'm left wondering how long it'll be before I actually see a Thrusthammer Orcbash on a realm near me.
How did you get into World of Warcraft? When was it that you realized that you had been entirely sucked in, and the 20 minutes you THOUGHT you were going to spend turned into 2 or 3 hours?
Thanks a million to Dave for the submission!
Filed under: News items, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
brian Apr 5th 2007 10:00PM
i started last year, except i started on free "private servers" i played the entire sumer to get my warrior to lvl 60 and get the wrath set... then the free server wiped... i rumaged for other free servers, eventually reaching a low of playing on high exp servers... then i played the 10day trial that required no credit card, ive been playing on "official server" for 1month, but i stopped playing 2 weeks ago due to exams, i have a lvl 36 lock now. So i was sucked in on free laggy buggy crappy low population servers, and now i may just get even more sucked in due to the awesomness, the transition is almost as if someone hit me in the face with a hammer then poured alcohol on my wounds... it's awesome
Breakfats Apr 5th 2007 10:23PM
As a Blizzard addict, veteran I should say with Warcraft series and Diablo experience, I followed the development process of the game for years and received an invitation to participate in beta...hooked since.
WoW is my first MMO and I was lucky to spend my time in beta with a very well organized guild. We paid a tithe and had gathering duties to fulfill. Everybody had its place and was valuable to the others. We had the best gear available for our level. Grouping was mandatory too, Arena training in Gurubashi was once a week and multiple instance runs daily were normal. We made it into release, but as soon as the first people hit 60 our guild fell apart, because folks -understandably- wanted to participate in raids and not wait for everybody to level to 60.
After having seen a few guilds now and switching servers, developing my toon, organizing stuff and participating in the group activities is still fun for me. I love this game, lol
nailPuppy Apr 10th 2007 3:39PM
""We sit down at the table and spend the next 20 minutes discussing what we’d like to see in WoW to cater for the female palate. We’d like the option of working as prostitutes, we decide."
Best line in the article.
Chouclac Apr 5th 2007 11:17PM
I started to get in contact with my brother, we never really got to talk (we kinda live far apart) so I tried a couple game trials, EQ2, DND online and so on...until I tried WoW. It was simple and even if I didn't know much about it I had played every other Blizzard game and liked them all so it was a guaranteed win win situation. So I've been playing since the beginning of December. I bought him a membership for x-mas and here we are now playing together since.
Benamang Apr 6th 2007 1:10AM
My brother-in-law had been playing for a while, and kept trying to get me play, but I was obsessed with fantasy baseball and didn't have the time. After the 2005 season, near Christmas, he sat me down and had me create a toon on his account - by the time I hit level 5 I was hooked. I used his trial, then ran out and bought my own copy as soon as it expired. I still play that toon, my 70 Undead warlock - and he still plays too, although not as much as me.
I started out in a guild with him and some other RL friends, we then merged with another guild, which died when the top officers quit the game. Most of use went to one guild, where we remain - Keepers of the Dusk, Terenas-H. It's a great guild, full of awesome people and great players - and it's where I met my girlfriend, who also plays an Undead 'lock - warlock love FTW!
Sylythn Apr 6th 2007 12:18PM
My co-worker said "You've got to try this game, it's fun!" My reply, "I will never pay a subscription for a game, that's ridiculous." Later that year, I hear my best friend plays. A week or two later, my co-worker came back and said "Come on, try it out, we want to start a guild here at work." My reply, "Ok fine, I'll use the free trial and give it a shot." 2 days later I was signed up for a 6-month recurring subscription, have been ever since and haven't even touched Oblivion or NWN2, the only two other games I've purchased since. Addicted? Very much so. New mantra? "I'll never pay 2 subscriptions at once for games." Wonder how long it'll take to break that rule.
Addie Apr 6th 2007 2:19AM
I watched my kid level and then raid and I asked a million questions and just lurked so much that he finally threw me out and made me get an account. I think he regrets it. :P
quaunaut Apr 6th 2007 2:51AM
"...and the 20 minutes you THOUGHT you were going to spend turned into 2 or 3 hours"
Every day of my life for 2 years, 4 months and 8 days.
chiax Apr 6th 2007 8:07AM
it was that very first gryphon ride that made me fell in love with WoW.
Lori Apr 6th 2007 8:47AM
A cast on a broken left wrist meant that I couldn't play my Xbox so I looked around for PC games and found a demo for Dungeon Seige. Although it wasn't exactly easy, I could use a keyboard with the cast. One daughter and her kids played EQ2, so after DS, I bought EQ2 only to find I needed a better video card for my PC to play it. While waiting to get the video card, I found the free 10 day WoW trial and tried it. Three days later I bought the regular version. I still got the video card and played EQ2 thru the beginners area. Told the kids sorry I like WoW better and have played it about every day since. That was in November of 2005 and my Xbox hasn't been turned on since.
BoBoTheChimp Apr 6th 2007 8:57AM
I was reading my blogs for the day at work back in January and I was at Joystiq.com. Then I scrolled down to the bottom and saw this page and out of morbid curiosity clicked it. Then curiosity hit me and I began to tell some of my friends (big mistake) that I was thinking about trying out WoW. Well, apparently two guys who were sort of friends of friends were already playing it and one night (after a 40 of Steel Reserve and bottle of Mad Dog was coursing through my veins) I decided to go for it. I downloaded the trial client demo. The two people were actually playing and I joined up with them. From then on it was downhill. I play this damn game every night between the hours of 7 or 8 and midnight. Now it's spread and I've suckered one of my other friends into playing agian (he played back when it first came out for a few months) and soon my fiancee will be joining the ranks of the Moonlight Marauders ;) It's funny because I used to play this game called Shadowbane back in 03 (BIG waste of money and time) and vowed never to get sucked into a MMORPG again.
braydn Apr 6th 2007 2:26PM
i was lucky to get into the second round of beta (the three weeks just before WoW was released in stores) and i was hooked after the first few hours. i knew i was gonna end up playing it at least 4 nights a week for about 5-6 hours a night. and i did just that. i have to say i did take a few 2 month breaks from the game to do other things (like write and produce music) but always come back to it. i am currently in a 2 month break from the game to work on music again, i am also going to enter the american idol songwriter's contest, but i know in may when i am finished with the production on my album and there is nothing but reruns on tv, i will end up playing 5 nights a week again....gotta love WoW :)
Mystrana Apr 9th 2007 12:37PM
I played Everquest for a while back in the day... for a few years... but then it got to be such a pain I swore off on MMOs for the next few years.
My friends all took up WoW and eventually when BC came out, I was ready to start playing with them, mostly because I was bored of being left out. =p
Ryan Apr 7th 2007 11:18PM
I was a druid. Got bear form. Flew from moonglade to thunderbluff... freakin awesome long ride. I play it everyday and my druid is 63 now.
Rocklifter Apr 6th 2007 12:41PM
I played a MUD for years... years. I ran a tribe, became an immortal, did coding and area writing, all in plain text. When my kid got WoW I scoffed a bit and worried about the hours she'd spend, but what could I say? She'd grown up falling asleep to me typing away on the MUD.
Then, she had me make a dwarf warrior. I made her in the image or my charater I'd had in mind from my MUD days, though I couldn't have the same name. I played her badly... but I loved mining! Then as I started levelling, I became intrigued. So many items and stats to analyze and places to go! Not to mention mounts, smithing, pets, and dungeons to play! It took me a while to learn the differences between tanking in WoW and on a MUD, battle in general. There are similarities and differences, for sure. I do real well reading scrolling battle text, old habits die hard.
At the end of summer break, she went back to college and took my dwarf with her. I figured out I could get the character transfered, got my own account, and now play daily. I hang with my kid on hoardeside, play my dwarf on alliance, and all's well in my WoW world.
Matt Apr 6th 2007 1:22PM
I was one of those "I'll never pay a monthly fee to play a game" people for the longest time. I was running two NWN persistent worlds. NWN = free, WoW = $$. Seemed simple. The I saw an ad online for 10 day free trial. Haven't looked back. I even got my wife playing.
Venetia of Silver Hand Apr 6th 2007 1:31PM
I tried it in beta and fell in love. Been on Silver Hand ever since.
Hone Melgren Apr 9th 2007 2:39AM
Anyone else think this chick looks like Ralph Macchio ?
From The Karate Kid ?
Trollyboy Apr 10th 2007 2:00AM
Her name is in direct violation of the Blizzard Naming Convention. She should be reported.