New York Times can't let WoW duo get away with it
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 25th 2008 at 7:00PM
Reader Roland (thanks!) pointed us to this weird WoW reference in the New York Times. In the wedding section of all places, there's a story about a couple that used World of Warcraft to play and have fun as a duo, and it's too damn bad that the NYT falls back into the old media idea that playing videogames as a couple isn't healthy.Can we get one mainstream media article that breaks the mold? Can we get one portrayal of a WoW player (or players, in this case) that doesn't fall back into the old line of MMOs being the territory of cave-dwelling social outcasts? That's most certainly not the case in reality -- how long is it going to take for mainstream reporters to forget this moronic angle and report on what's really happening here: two people in love sharing a hobby in between the rest of their full and fulfilling lives.
There are now ten million people playing this game around the world, and the large, overwhelming majority of them are healthy, fulfilled individuals who lead great lives both in and out of game. In fact, the two people this article is about are two of those individuals. It's perfectly healthy to sit down and play a videogame with your significant other, on a beautiful spring day or at any other time (yes, it's never healthy to do one thing all the time, be it videogames or TV watching or anything else, but that's not what's happening here). And it's crazy that the NYT bent over backwards to make it seem like that's not the case.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Angry Joe Feb 25th 2008 7:11PM
It's called stereotypes. Mainstream media love them.
/facepalm @NYT
erik_rodriguez Feb 25th 2008 7:17PM
Well my fiancee hates the game, but I'm 24 and working on a Master's degree and (somehow) still have time to play WoW, plan my upcoming wedding, and keep up with real life in general, while casually raiding and working on my main 70 prot war, and my 2 favorite alts, 41 mage and 25 priest.
I'm sure there's many more that share my story... in fact I'm sure the majority have no problems balancing real world with that world we all love.
Of course, a story successful people playing video games doesn't sell the way a story about a young couple essentially murdering their infant 'cause they'd rather play WoW.
DougE Feb 25th 2008 7:20PM
I've been in guilds that have had several married couples that play. All well adjusted people. I hate that the media takes every opportunity to paint gamers as anti-social potential serial killers.
Veloxi Feb 25th 2008 7:21PM
"Can we get one mainstream media article that breaks the mold?"
In a word, no. Not gonna happen. Doesn't get readers/ratings to write about the positives of stuff like WoW. ;)
Jess Feb 25th 2008 7:23PM
I imagine the media would be less interested in me and my soon to be husband balance work, wedding planning and with several level 70's, raiding and pvp and still find time to socialize with our friends outside of wow and persue non wow hobbies.
And I don't play my boyfriend's characters. I have my own account and my own characters. Oh well
Fraufrau Feb 25th 2008 7:31PM
Your essentially asking a large body of journalists to do their job... might as well go ahead and ask politicians to actually support initiatives that will work and not necessarily win votes...
AlmtyBob Feb 25th 2008 7:32PM
I really didn't see the article villianizing WoW they way this post made it seem. They just pointed out that they were playing too much. They even mention the sense of community in WoW.
The fact is a very large portion, if not the majority of WoW players, are of the basement dwelling societal outcast type, myself included. I manage to work a 40 hour work week with no sick calls or tardiness due to WoW. On the other hand since starting to play again last year I've noticed a decline in the amount of time I spend going out friends or trying or new things.
There's a couple reasons for this. First off, the game IS very addicting and fun. This doesn't make WoW or Blizzard evil; more power to them. Seconldy, WoW doesn't MAKE people into basement dwelling outcasts, it ATTRACTS basement dwelling outcasts. There's a big difference.
tinypants Feb 25th 2008 7:37PM
I'd get all huffy over the tone of the article if it wasn't complete crap that reads like an op-ed piece in a high school newspaper.
Like the rest of you, I too would make a dreary article in the media's persistent witchhunt to out the evils of gaming. I've managed to work on my second bachelor's degree AND hold down a full-time job AND play WoW on a frequent basis AND *shockhorror* have a social life outside of my computer! And there's three more people just like me who live under the same roof as me! We'd better run and hide, folks...they'll be coming for us soon as we're apparently anomalies in their little social experiment. We're going to end up in laboratory cages if we're not careful. OH NOES!
Trevor Feb 25th 2008 7:46PM
I agree that playing WoW (as a couple or on your own) in itself is not a bad thing, and mainstream reporters do tend to make it seam so, but I also think we (WoWers) can't say that WoW doesn't have negative effects. When it came out, my brother and friends started playing and would often play all weekend / all night every weekend, and eventually they begin to wish they could stop playing. One friend even had someone else change their password, but eventually they would request it and start playing again. At the time, I chose not to play it because I knew the same would happen to me. WoW is extremely addicting by nature, and it takes a well-adjusted person (superhero) with a bit (sickton ^ 10billion) of wisdom to limit how much they play.
A couple months after I got married (8 months ago), my wife and I decided to start playing together since we both enjoy gaming. It has been tons of fun lvling and running instances, participating in the guild, but I still feel like I play too much and that we're quite addicted. In my case, it doesn't really have tangible negative effects because I still go to work and am responsible for the things I need to take care of, and my wife isn't nagging me to stop since she's playing right along with me, but tangible things aside, I often feel like I've wasted an entire evening or weekend playing. WoW doesn't give you any satisfaction. It only leaves you with a desire to play more. Sometimes playing isn't even fun; it's more like a job. You feel strongly compelled to level. That is freaking awesome from a business perspective (I'm sure Blizzard agrees, swimming around in the $150mil they pull every month from subscriptions), but I think overall WoW has a pretty negative effect on people. I think it sucks that they're taking advantage of whatever desire we humans have that makes us crave the next-best piece of gear with an extra effing +23 stamina / +23 intellect / WTF-YOU-ARE-A-FREAKING-DORK. (Seriously dudes, we are total dorks) That said, I just hit level 67 on my main last night!! Only a few more days till 70 :)
Sick, isn't it?
We need to get out and climb mountains and drink beer.
AlmtyBob Feb 25th 2008 7:54PM
Grats, 3 more tutorial levels and you're ready to start the REAL game! Think it's addicting now? Wait until you're deciding whether tonight you're raiding, farming badges in heroics, farming mats for crafting, farming for consumables for raids, doing your dailies, doing the BG daily, or getting in your 10 weekly arena games.
jbodar Feb 25th 2008 9:36PM
Very good points overall, but the Blizz money formula (10 mil subscribers x $15/month = $150 mil/month) is a myth, since about 3 million subscribers don't pay anywhere close to that. Chinese players pay 0.45 Yuan/RMB or $0.06USD/hr.
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/050606.shtml
I second the climbing mountains and drinking beer initiative though. :)
Sakerin Feb 25th 2008 10:49PM
Drink beer while playing wow ... it works well for me :P
Malyfactian Feb 26th 2008 10:18AM
"WoW doesn't give you any satisfaction."
Strongly disagree. It gives me a great sense of comeraderie, accomplishment and fun. Compared to other "passive" hobbies like TV, well, there is no comparison. I get feelings from a new bit of loot or even a silly, wipe-filled instance run with my guildies that compare favorably with getting shiny new RL stuff or hanging out with a bunch of friends shooting the shite (which is essentially what you're doing, anyway).
If you feel like you've wasted entire evenings of your life playing WoW, then you probably should drop video games and pick up another hobby. Seriously. Because you're always going to get that guilty feeling otherwise. Pretty much the only guilt I feel while playing WoW is that I might not be spending enough time with my wonderful, understanding wife. Unfortunately she hasn't given WoW a chance just yet. I envy you in that your wife also enjoys playing. Mine will sometimes hang out with me in the office and watch me play - I'm hoping I can convince her to try it too.
And to echo another poster, WoW without beer is no WoW at all. :)
Markymark Feb 25th 2008 8:01PM
I'm in college and I play WoW but i divide my time. I managed to get a 3.5 GPA last term and I never gimp my study or Real Life time for WoW and istill get things done. You would be Amazed at what you can get done in 1-3 hours of play time.
Asswipe Johnson Feb 25th 2008 8:37PM
Um, boo fucking hoo, but MMOs ARE the territory of cave-dwelling social outcasts. Maybe not 100% of players are cave-dwelling social outcasts--maybe it's 99%--but it certainly is our territory. So stop crying about the mainstream acceptance we are never going to get; you sound like NAMBLA.
chinasky Feb 25th 2008 8:41PM
Well you have to understand the reasoning. With a Sunday circulation rate of only 1.6 million, the NYT has to reach out and try to get the attention of the 10 million WoW players.
Joran Feb 25th 2008 8:51PM
Mike Musgrove of the Washington Post tends to do a good job of writing about video games without falling into using stereotypes. He writes a bit about gamers outside of the stereotypical demographic of young males.
I'm unsure if he wrote about the MMORPG crowd though recently.
Krystalle Voecks Feb 26th 2008 11:40AM
Mike Musgrove is also the same "professional" who hired IGE to level his character, in the 10-20 range, because it was "too hard."
I'm sorry, but he's got zero cred as anything other than a hack, IMO. My opinion only, but from 1-20 is like, what, a couple of days if you're being lazy?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2007/04/booted_from_world_of_warcraft.html
Felwrathe Feb 25th 2008 9:01PM
New York I love you, but you're bringing me down....
sleeptastic Feb 25th 2008 9:21PM
Here's a radical idea for the couple who plays together - put your stupid computers next to each other instead of across the room from each other! See also: Making an alt to play with lower leveled significant others.