Breakfast Topic: Explaining an alien world
by Amanda Miller 
Dec 8th 2007 at 8:00AM
There are a myriad of answers to the question of why we play World of Warcraft, and we've all had to cough them up to inquiring minds at one point or another. Whether we are answering to a partner, a parent, or a skeptical friend, it can sometimes be difficult to generate understanding.Of course, it's an entirely different dungeon when you're attempting to explain to someone who has seemingly less than zero knowledge about the subject. Recently, I was in my doctor's office enduring small talk with the nurse, when she asked me what I do for a living. Now, I can believe that a 25-30 year-old woman might not have heard of World of Warcraft. I was prepared for such a reality when I replied that I have been working for a blog about the game.
I was completely bowled over when she asked me what a blog was. After all, my parents know, and she was awfully young. How to explain that I write about an MMORPG in an alien format? Completely dumbfounded, I don't think I enlightened her much with my reply. Conversely, when I try to explain the situation to my grandparents, I feel like I'm describing some distant fairy-tale world in which things like virtual economies and elves run amok at my fingertips.
Then this morning, while perusing the official forums, I noticed a blue reply to the question "what is your excuse for playing WoW for countless hours at a time?" Eyonix wisely points out that conceiving of one's reasons as an excuse suggests an "apology or a justifies a transgression". Although, I suppose that need for justification might arise should one play for "countless hours".
When prompted, how do you respond as to your whys for playing World of Warcraft? Do you tell the truth, or do you have ready-made speeches tailored to different audiences who, as an example, might not know what a blog or an MMO is? Do you sometimes feel that you are making, or need to offer, excuses?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ionesco Dec 8th 2007 8:15AM
Mine's a corker. Research.
I'm studying to be a science fiction writer, and 'total immersion' in a 'popular, successful gaming universe' or some such is usually my response.
Unfortunately, i don't think many people believe me :( .
Rene Dec 8th 2007 8:14AM
Why I play it? It's fun. And that's it. Is there anything else to explain?
Mysk Dec 8th 2007 8:19AM
I just go with the simple answer when people dont understand. I slay dragons on a video game.
Super Guest Man 9000 Dec 8th 2007 8:38AM
Its something fun to do.
"But you have to pay for it!"
Yeah only 15 bucks. How much is going out to the movies twice a month? Or renting a video game? Or a 12 pack of beer? I fork over 15 bucks and I can play as much as I want.
miked Dec 9th 2007 12:44AM
The hours aren't "countless". /played tells me exactly how many there are.
Matthew Rossi Dec 8th 2007 8:50AM
I wish I could say I wasn't goling to make that exact joke.
Amanda Miller Dec 8th 2007 1:49PM
That's why I put "countless" instead of countless.
erikjc Dec 8th 2007 5:22PM
I play because it is one of the few things in my overworked senior in college life that i enjoy (only 6 months to graduation....6 months). When someone asks me why I play i tell them it is fun, then when they ask why i think its fun, i ask them "are all those baseball stats you memorize fun?"(really irritates me when my housemate thinks that those stats are more real or important or worthwhile than WoW....its the same thing) or "are all those movies you watch any fun?"(to my other housemate who spends an ungodly amount of time watching TV or movies). Then, if someone tries to belittle me about spending 15 bucks a month on it, i say "youre right, in fact, i think ill go out to a bar and spend 40 dollars a night drinking. Or or or, maybe ill go find a drug dealer and start doing cocaine off the kitchen table"
SaintStryfe Dec 8th 2007 8:52AM
"It's a game I am playing simultaneously with several thousand other people at any given time, where we all play together, or against each other, in order to achieve goals, and in the end, to have some fun, and learn about an incredibly indepth, detailed story developed over 12 years."
Arabelli Dec 8th 2007 9:36AM
It sort of slays me when people try to come down on someone for playing WoW. What isn't a waste of time, really? Going out and getting drunk? Trying to pick up ladies or guys using skeezy pick up lines and copeous amounts of untruths? Maybe if that's something you enjoy, you will find someone you love. But does it occur to people that maybe we just like games? It takes all kinds in this world. Why would it be so hard to understand that some people enjoy video games, when it's a well-accepted fact that some people just enjoy sports. In college, I worked in the Athletic department, and let me tell you, athletes tended to run with athletes. It really didn't have as much to do with some sort of elitism as it just was nice to be around people who love what you love.
Why would it be different with those of us who love video games? WoW is like all MMOs, it does give a great deal of social interaction to something most of us have enjoyed since the NES was rocking the sidescroller. All of this rambling really just is my long-winded way of saying that birds of a feather flock together. WoW is the current nest of a lot of gamers. End of story!
Zakk Dec 8th 2007 6:59PM
"Why would it be so hard to understand that some people enjoy video games, when it's a well-accepted fact that some people just enjoy sports."
It can be pretty hard to understand that somebody liking something you don't isn't necessarily bad when you're, at the lack of a better word, dumb ; )
Ironhide Dec 8th 2007 10:46AM
Its my place to turn my brain off. i dont watch TV, its crap. I play WoW (or other games) so I can turn my brain off and destress a little. Its an escape, but I come out of it feeling refreshed and ready to tackle life again.
Milktub Dec 8th 2007 11:02AM
My answer is "fun".
If pressed to continue, I'll admit to some good stress relief to be had by running out an grinding on Elves or whatnot after working 10 hours with people who have no clue what you do.
But about the blog thing -- I once tried to explain a blog to an old co-worker. It was this hour long circular discussion where she wanted it to be the same thing as a home page or a forum. Finally I gave up and just said "you're right" when she said what she thought it was.
Amanda Miller Dec 8th 2007 1:51PM
I think I eventually settled on "it's a form of online journalism."
Rocken Dec 8th 2007 11:36AM
If asked this question, my response is to compare it to more mainstream activites. Sitting here and playing WoW for 6 hours is no different than someone sitting in a couch for six hours on a Sunday afternoon watching men run on a field and try to get a ball into a zone or hoop.
The ones who really bother me are the people who look down on MMO players, but will dedicate 40 hours per week watching trash television.
I personally put in 30-40 hours per week into gaming (Currently WoW and CoD4), but I watch 0-2 hours television per week. It replaces TV for me because 99% of all programming today does not interest me. Of note the average American watches 30-35 hours of TV per week. I would rather engage another person in PvP or progress my character in a fully fleshed out virtual world instead of watching who gets voted off the island.
As for explaining an 'alien world' it can be very difficult. My wifes grandmother was watching my 13 year old brother-in-law play Guild Wars one day...she simply could not even begin to comprehend what was happening on that screen. There is already a technological generation gap for many of the elderly, a virtual world is a complex thing built upon a foundation of something they are already having issues coming to grips with understanding. For those people I think the "I slay dragons on a video game." mentioned by Mysk above is the best way to explain it.
Skarlette Dec 8th 2007 2:13PM
My 86-year-old grandmother calls WoW "the running around game" because it seems like most of the time when she sees me playing I am, indeed, running from one place to another.
She tried to look more closely at the screen once and got so distracted by the number popping up over the head of the thing I'm killing that she couldn't really comprehend any of the rest. And being a mage, if I had right-clicked to target something (initiating melee combat) she saw the red text declaring me "too far away" and got confused as to how I was attacking something that was supposedly too far away (hint--it involves fireballs!)
Now I pretty much explain it to her as "that game where I run around and kill dragons and monsters while chatting with my friends." Which, actually, isn't THAT far from the truth. ;)
Rhia Dec 8th 2007 2:48PM
It's my social life. -.-
But no, it's a blast to play and meet awesome people along the way.
Pemm Dec 8th 2007 11:49AM
To be honest, what really got me hooked in WoW is all the experiences it has to offer.
As a dreamer by nature, I find a lot of mere places in the game absolutely amazing to behold. For example, on my first toon, a lv 20, my guild leader took me and another 20 to the Caverns of Time--and she was only level 45 or so. It was about two in the morning, and we had come a long way (to us), barely skirting death, and when we walked into the Caverns and looked at that dragon for the first time... it was a powerful emotional experience.
Similarly, last night I kited the dragons Blacklash and Hematus (elite 50s vs my 45 hunter) all the way across the Badlands last night. Not exactly as amazing as seeing the CoT as a noob after a long dangerous trek, but I was buzzed by the end of it, and it's a feeling I'll remember.
In short, I play WoW for the fun times and amazing experiences Blizzard has managed to stuff into about eight gigabytes and an internet connection.
Chelon Dec 8th 2007 11:57AM
When explaining to my wife, I say that WOW is interesteing in that different classes have different roles in group play.
I say it's like, as cars, some are sports cars, some are tow trucks, some are diesel,,, no...
It's like a salad, there is lettuce, tomato, and my orc is a radish,... no...
Just go away and let me play...
Theserene Dec 8th 2007 1:36PM
I don't need to 'excuse' it to anyone. If they choose to look down on my hobby then it says more about them than it does me.