Breakfast topic: How close are you to your friends in-game?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Apr 16th 2007 at 8:00AM
It always amazes me when people treat WoW as if it were a single-player game with a lot of benevolent NPCs. Comments such as "I never talk about my real life with anyone in-game" and "my guild is strictly business" often show up on the forums, and it kind of makes me sad. WoW is a good way to talk to people that you wouldn't normally meet in your everyday life, and friendships that stem from WoW are as real as friendships that come from any other kind of hobby or social club.
My guildmates are a pretty open crew, and while we don't usually discuss feelings and relationships and stuff in guild chat, I generally know who they are and what they do. I've gotten to know a few people, both guildmates and non-guildies, a little closer and can talk with them about regular life stuff. There's even a very few players who I've met, mostly ones who lived by me. I've been to a pig pickin' with my former guild master while on a job interview, run from the cops with a mage I met in a AQ20 pug, taught a tank's stepdaughter how to do the Robot, and talked my current raid leader out of going cow tipping after we both moved to the same area. ("No, it's really not as fun as it looks.")
How close are you to your guildmates and in-game friends? Do you only discuss WoW-related matters with them, or have you gotten to know them as people? Ever met any WoW friends in real life?
Filed under: Virtual selves, Guilds, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gitr Apr 16th 2007 8:09AM
I used to work and live with my ex-guildies. We worked first, then started playing, then a roomie situation opened up for living 30 miles closer to work AND playing WoW with someone in the same domicile.
For now, all of my guildies are readers of my blog, so it's a pretty tight community that talks about everything going on. It's quite nice and drama-free.
I created a nice guild forums to talk about RL in a guild section to keep things away from prying eyes, too.
Rick Apr 16th 2007 8:15AM
I've ran a very big guild (250 unique members) which consisted on only Dutch players. Myself and 'my' officers had quite a good relationship and met each other on several occassions. Of course, the Netherlands is not that big, so meeting each other is easilly arranged. One of the officers is best man on my wedding, but that is also because we go back way longer than WoW :-)
Kirby1612 Apr 16th 2007 8:24AM
I'm pretty close to my WoW friends. We can talk about anything in guild chat/whispers/vent. Some of them are my friends in real, but others live across the US and in other countries too. I've even met a family at Disney World that I play WoW with.
I hate how people think it's impossible to make any friends online(media, I'm looking at you), let alone a game. But I think that if you play WoW you have something to talk about, and it's easy to start a conversation theory crafting, or just talking about the game in general.
The way I see it, people in real help each other out, talk, and do things together. That's a friend right? So my friend is in a virtual world, we help each other out, do instances/quests together, and talk. So is my friend any different than yours?
Jenet Apr 16th 2007 8:24AM
?My old guild leader was an orlando guy with a few orlando friends, and a bunch of random people added in. Then that guild imploded, and we all (GL included) joined another set of friends from Atlanta, and a few randoms of their own. So we were just a load of random people.
We had a 20 man raid on Atlanta to one of their houses (it was a couple who lived and played together.) and then we had a 15 man to Orlando to the ooold guild leader's house. It was awesome meeting people we played with. I'm as close to my guild as I am to people I know in real life, and anyone who views this game like it's a job, isn't getting the full experience in my book.
bee Apr 16th 2007 8:26AM
I blame my roommate for starting this. Freshman year of college. Me and my roommate play. One kid directly across from us plays. To our right, another kid plays. To out left two kids play. A bit further down the hall we have 3 more players. All but one are on the same server. Who needs parties or studying, right?
Dibbes Apr 16th 2007 2:35PM
A few weeks ago we had a guildmeeting wich I could not attend because of a family dinner.
Would have been fun to meet the guildies in RL.
We often only talk WoW stuff in chat but sometimes some interesting discussions take place about kids, pets, politics or just the general news and the age differences in our guild (15 -> 37).
We often have discussions about the Dutch being better than the Belgians and the other way round, as our guild consists of Dutchies and Belgians.
BoBoTheChimp Apr 16th 2007 9:19AM
3 of my guildmates are friends in real life. The priest in my guild is a cop who I've known since high school (he's also dating my sister). Me and him have had all manner of adventures in real life (including a cross country trip from Corpus Christi, TX to here in Virginia Beach, VA). The other two are really "friends of a friend" but since playing WoW I've hung out with them more. Shortly after I started playing WoW I met this guy that I quested with in the Wetlands. He's a dwarf warrior named Runedale. Since then him and I quest together every night. We talk about real life sometimes (mostly him leaving to keys to take care of one of his kids or me leaving to grab another beer). He's a pretty nice guy, lives in Reno, NV. That sort of poses a small problem because we are only both on at the same time for a few hours (I'm in Virginia Beach, about 2 or 3 hour time difference)
oomu Apr 16th 2007 9:29AM
okay man..
in wow, I never speak about my life and I did not meet my guildies friends in "real life".
why ? because I'm a arrogant bitc... hu no no. it's because in my job, family, old friends and others hobbies, I have already to many people to spend time with and many friends I would forget , so Wow is only to play with nice people ,but not more.
Ampersand Apr 16th 2007 9:36AM
My raiding guild goes by a first name basis. We all have our own little 'clicks' we like to hang out with everyday, but every single person knows everyone. We always talk about RL stuff. It's conversation, and it makes raiding/farming go by faster. I can log on and not even play the game. I find myself sitting in Shattrath half the time just talking to friends on vent. I wouldn't be able to be in a guild that was 'strickly business'. I like to know the people I talk to and associate with everyday, it makes the guild stronger imo.
bart Apr 16th 2007 9:34AM
"talked my current raid leader out of going cow tipping after we both moved to the same area. ("No, it's really not as fun as it looks.")"
Kinda hard to do when they sleep laying down. I would like to see you push over a cow... average about 1500 lbs+ plus they aren't just going to stand around for you.
nanshee Apr 16th 2007 9:53AM
my and the most of my guildmates work for the same company, so we meet daily and know each other quiet well. most of the others, who live in other areas, visit us here in holldays and we are quiet close with them too. so it´s more, than just playing together, we talk about everything, even while playing, and I prefer this a lot.
perhaps, one reason could be, that the most of us are aged between 20 and 40, there are some couples in our guild, and we are interisted in each other. Right now we are waiting for the next 2 guild-babies to be born :).
guild meetings are like familiy meetings, cause the members come with thier children or with thier partner, that´s funny, I like it this way :)
All this gives us strengh, makes the game more relaxed and gives the good feeling, to meet your friends, when you go online.
my guild is a part of my family!
Sylythn Apr 16th 2007 10:03AM
Once I found out a couple of my guildies lived less than an hour away from me, I headed up there for a weekend with them. Now I'm returning the favor and hosting them for a few days. We're great friends now, in and out of WoW. My guild feels very much like a family - I'm happy to call all my guildies friends. There are a select few I'll talk about personal issues with, but it's far from "all business" with the others.
Magnarussa Apr 16th 2007 10:12AM
I agree with Ampersand about making the guild stronger when you get to know the people you are in your guild. Though I don't know my guildies by their first name, I do like to consider them my friends. There are plenty of things to talk about in game, whether it be strictly game related or RL. I have several characters and not all of them are in the same guild, so I know where I can talk about certain things and who I can talk to about them in each one. Besides, it helps make the grinding and questing go along a bit faster when you have someone to chat with.
Prauche Apr 16th 2007 10:13AM
A pig pickin' & cow tipping. Since I'm from the general area as you, I hope no one recalls where you went for TBC release b/c I'd rather not have the stigma our state gets reinforced -- though pig pickin's are some SERIOUSLY tasty food.
My RL gaming buddy (3 hour time difference) got me addicted to WoW 20 months or so ago. We've spent more time hangin out since then than we did the previous 5 years combined. I've visited once per year since (after going 2 or 3 without visiting at all) and met a friend of his who we mainly leveled with from 20-60. Good times.
I've also met a couple of folks through my guild with whom, if we were closer in terms of geography, I would consider hanging out.
Rranzok Apr 16th 2007 10:23AM
I was a GM for a guild about eight months ago... Two of my guildies are getting married on May 5th after meeting through me. :) I am even invited to the wedding! We all knew where everyone lived, talked about real life, it was like we were all playing in the same room. I still maintain phone contact with three or four of them, even though many of them have moved on from WoW.
--Rranzok
mewyn Apr 16th 2007 10:40AM
I must say, I do enjoy the idle chit-chat about what's going on in life amongst guildies. I really don't like having the guild be "all business", it really makes the game feel way too much like a job and, I've got my job for that. And my job pays me. And I still have people to chit-chat with at my job.
As far as meeting people from WoW, I've met one person and have plans in the works to meet another. Both I've been playing with since I've started the game, and I consider both really good friends.
TingTong Apr 16th 2007 10:43AM
Friends turned my wife and I on to WoW before we left the States. We are now in Australia and meeting up with them in Dalaran adds an important dimension to our gaming experience. We generally quest and run instances together but have been known to simply catch up in one of the in-game pubs. So, we keep in touch with WoW friends weekly, others much less so.
Adarkara Apr 16th 2007 10:46AM
I am the fiancee of the guild leader of Ashes from the Phoenix on the Scarlet Crusade server. My fiancee and I are inviting several guild member to the wedding, and it just so happens that the wife of one of the guildies we are inviting is a professional wedding photographer, and now she will be doing the photography for our wedding (at a nice discount)!
We are also inviting our main tank, and he will be "tanking" the bridesmaids during the bouquet toss. Should make for an interesting event!
My guild is like family, we all help each other out, and I'm sure we would hang out if we all lived closer.
Kabira-Fenris Apr 16th 2007 11:33AM
I met my boyfriend through my guild. He lived a few states away from me, but we fixed that! I also met a close friend from the guild, we went to Denny's a couple of times. Others in my guild I consider actual friends. We're so far from strictly business.
Mat Apr 16th 2007 12:39PM
My guild (wuvs you) is a bunch of actual friends who welcome anyone, but only under the pretense that they're willing to share the wuv.
We get more alliance hugs than any other horde guild on the server! :)