The New York Times opines on Wrath of the Lich King
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Dec 6th 2008 at 2:00PM
The New York Times has covered WoW before, and a couple days ago, they did again. Via sister site Massively, we find this article by writer Seth Schiesel. In it, he provides yet another paean for Blizzard's amazing work on the expansion, and touches a little bit on the casual versus hardcore dichotomy. In Burning Crusade, he was the hardcore, racing to level 70, eschewing sleep and sustenance to get those server firsts, eventually causing him to burn out and quit the game for a time. In Wrath of the Lich King, he's been a casual wanderer, enjoying leveling slowly, surrounded by the other hoi polloi and "journeyman adventurers" taking the game at a slower pace. In the end, though, what pleases him most is that the friendships.
The article is a nice little testimonial of the way this game has shaped our lives and forged and strengthened friendships, and it's certainly a nice read on a cold Saturday afternoon like today, whether you're casual or hardcore. After all, we're all just players.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Leveling, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Duck Knight Dec 6th 2008 2:09PM
inb4 "by write Seth" and "In the end, though, what pleases him most is that the friendships" are corrected.
Punjab Dec 6th 2008 3:40PM
Is possible for WI to actually post a typo-free article?
obo Dec 6th 2008 7:33PM
"Is possible for WI to actually post a typo-free article?"
Copy editors on a blog? Thats would just slew them down and cremp they're style.
Dightkuz Dec 6th 2008 2:10PM
Great that one has to be member in order to read the article...
Alaw Dec 6th 2008 2:58PM
Impersonating Googlebot's user agent FTW
Stone Dec 6th 2008 2:23PM
Non-member link
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/arts/television/05warc.html?_r=4&ref=arts
jam Dec 6th 2008 2:31PM
Registering is free and takes like 15 seconds...
Moona Dec 6th 2008 2:23PM
http:/www.bugmenot.com
^ is your friend
SaintStryfe Dec 6th 2008 3:09PM
I think the Achivements, the server first ones, actually reduced the number of insane hard-core players.... everyone rushed think they'd be first... but no one was sure. Now that entire servers are quite aware who is first or not, people just don't feel the rush.
Frank Dec 6th 2008 3:10PM
i'll second the bugmenot.com suggestion. always has a login that works.
it's nice that this article stresses that it's the online friendships that are ultimately the sweet spot for him. you don't hear that often in mainstream articles about any video game, let alone WoW.
George McBain Dec 6th 2008 3:34PM
I grabbed the paper on my way home from work and was pleased to see a WoW article in the Arts section. The only thing that bugged me was that it did skew more towards the "problem"/addicted players. Thankfully, he did emphasis that he won't get into his old ways.
PimpyMicPimp Dec 6th 2008 4:53PM
Video games are the new scare-tactic. Decades ago, it was Rock and Roll and before that Jazz used to scare the masses with it's "jungle music". People don't understand something in popular culture and seek to demonize it.
It's annoying, but never amounts to anything. By the time the videogaming generation is in control of the world, we'll all be terrified of whatever our kids are in too. It's just how it goes.
George McBain Dec 6th 2008 5:06PM
I think you missed my point or I wasn't clear enough, but it doesn't matter; I just don't think the author, Seth, needed to go on for 5+ paragraphs detailing his addicted nature. Could have done it in 1-2.
obo Dec 6th 2008 7:35PM
"I just don't think the author, Seth, needed to go on for 5+ paragraphs detailing his addicted nature. Could have done it in 1-2."
His addiction was the defining experience of the game for him until he went casual. I think he wrote the right amount about it to set up how much, and why, he enjoys Wrath.
SaintStryfe Dec 6th 2008 4:26PM
One thing: Why DON'T you have an account for the NY Times? I mean, living in NYC, and being a librarian, but I can't imagine anyone NOT accessing the most relevant data source around.
carrie Dec 8th 2008 10:10AM
a.) Not everyone gives a crap about what the New York Times has to say?
b.) Why would I bother registering for an online account to a site I go to maybe twice a year?
c.) Not everyone feels NYC is the be all end all.
d.) All of the above.
I went with all of the above.
What's relevant all pertains to the person looking up the data. I have yet to use The Times for anything.
Warigami Dec 6th 2008 5:04PM
I wouldn't even wrap fish with the NYT anymore. Journalistic objectivity and integrity pretty much went down the drain this election year and the NYT is the perfect example of it.
Cy Dec 6th 2008 5:28PM
Thanks for sharing, but we're not discussing the political nature of the publication, just what it published about WoW. Hope you feel better having gotten that off of your chest, tho.
joerendous Dec 6th 2008 7:43PM
i lol'd.
jay Dec 6th 2008 11:48PM
Aint cold where I am:P, its friggen boiling.