Breakfast Topic: Playing at work
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 17th 2008 at 8:00AM
We talked about this a while back, but the coolest thing I pulled out of the "working at Blizzard" article last weekend wasn't the on-site gyms, valet parking, subsidized cafeteria, or the amazing swag, it was than when your boss walks in the room at Blizzard, it's totally OK if you're playing a game. Of course, as a freelance writer, I've got a little freedom to play with any free time I have, but my free time comes in small amounts these days (I only made it to 78 this weekend) -- being able to play WoW at work (and have it count) would be great.Of course, some of you play WoW anyway (or just read our site -- don't worry, we won't tell your boss) even if you're supposed to be doing something else. And some jobs (security guards, IT tech support, a few call centers) lend themselves well to playing WoW during breaks, or just when the boss is not looking. What's your situation? Are you not near a computer to play WoW on at work, do you bring your own external drive in to play during lunch, or are you constantly alt-tabbing in case the boss stops by?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
BlueTiger Dec 17th 2008 8:04AM
I'm lucky enough to have an excellent laptop as a work computer so I do use it as WoW-computer when I'm not working. I have thought long and hard about for instance downloading patches while I work so that it's all done when the work is over. But I can't in good conscience play during work hours... plus I work in a landscape so it be pretty noticable immidiatly....
hENNIFER pANTALON Dec 17th 2008 10:47AM
Coincidentally this article is just a few ahead of another one asking "DO WOW PLAYERS MAKE BAD EMPLOYEES?"
Quick answer, if they're playing WoW at work, they're (a) addicted to wow and (b) shitty employees.
L2 real life. (or get a real job?)
Jim Dec 17th 2008 11:27AM
@Hennifer
In my guild we have a surgeon who plays all day at work if he's not, you know, in surgery. His brother runs an art gallery and plays when he can.
I'm sure your uber-job puts them to shame.
Those are fine. I am a lawyer, and there is no way in hell I could play. L2surgeon.
Davidious Dec 17th 2008 8:09AM
LOL, Being the only person of three in our IT company, supporting over 600 users, makes it a TAD hard to have time to play a game yet sneak in some Wowinsider time. Especially since I told them (bosses) I quit the game a few months ago, I never said I picked it back up. Let them catch me reading up on WoW again and my reason for always being tired would not be obvious!
I play wow on a mac anyway, and im a PC/Winblows IT professional. They wont let me use my mac at work hahaha.
Davidious Dec 17th 2008 8:58AM
LF WoW Auctioneer/AH addon for iPhone - PST me!
Anyone for playing the AH? :)
infection Dec 17th 2008 1:51PM
your boss doesn't ever look at logs of sites you guys go to?
MjrShake Dec 17th 2008 7:04PM
Ahh. . .the joys of working 3rd shift. I get all my work done in about 2 and half hours and the rest is WoW time. I do have to check things every once and a while. And I only play once I have everything done.
Mr42 Dec 17th 2008 8:11AM
it feels ironic that i am partially ignoring a lecture on C++ to read this :)
Max Dec 17th 2008 8:55AM
Hah, I understand the feeling.
Too bad my engineering programming class is the only one NOT to have wifi in the lecture hall.
How ironic is that?
Brady Dec 17th 2008 1:28PM
You're doing the right thing by ignoring C++. I've always hated that language!
Boogalo Dec 17th 2008 8:13AM
I work in IT so we have a lot of downtime. I got my boss playing about a year ago and I catch him questing every once in a while. I play when it's really slow(which is most of the time), though I always hide the window when the boss comes around. It's no worse than playing solitaire, it just looks bad because it's more complicated.
adam83 Dec 17th 2008 10:51PM
This is true. It is, no worse than doing any non-sense thing (besides working) at work. If your job has downtime and you aren't expected to be doing anything in particular, a little WoW or WoWInsider seems fine to me. The hard part is if you have a job where they trust you to get done as much as possible and they don't exactly notice when you are wasting time that should be well spent. The obvious RightThing is to stay on task, but if they don't notice the difference... that is easier said than done.
Thyago Dec 17th 2008 8:16AM
Well, I could... but I don't :S
Axolotl Dec 17th 2008 8:16AM
Can't install WOW on my workcomputer, allthough playing would be possible without anyone noticing :-) that is, except for the occasional yelling of "you F-ing noob healer don't try to DPS before I have agro"
Reading up on WOW is only possible under certain circumstances too
Alaw Dec 17th 2008 7:28PM
Unless it's just you and the healer doing older content, why would a healer be DPS-ing?
Scottyy Dec 17th 2008 8:20AM
Is there any way to minimize WoW to the tray so the boss cant see it?
Max Dec 17th 2008 8:55AM
Put WoW in windowed mode.
I also found a script online that will remove it entirely from the tray and bring it back up with a simple key combo.
Boydboyd Dec 17th 2008 8:55AM
All you have to do is set your options for WoW to open in Windowed Mode instead of full screen.
I wish I could play at work, but I work as a Training Developer so I spend all day writing documentation, editing it, or designing new training plans... or reading WI when I should be working. o.O
Antistes Dec 19th 2008 8:43PM
@Scottyy
"Is there any way to minimize WoW to the tray so the boss cant see it? "
Well, [windows key]+D will do nicely, it minimizes all windows.
Alt+Tab if you have another window up will work just fine too.
Or.. just a suggestion ofc, you could just learn to take some responsibility and not play during work hours you leech. ;P
Spazmoosifer Dec 18th 2008 1:26PM
After putting it in windowed mode, you might be able to use one of the Windows shortcuts (if running on Windows of course) that will allow you to minimize ([Windows Key] + [D] or [Windows Key] + [M]), however, I do not know for sure that the windows shortcuts will work properly due to key bindings and whatnot.
Just hitting the [Windows Key] should also work; it doesn't "minimize" the game, but it does hide it quickly, as does hitting [Alt] + [Tab] if you have another program open (such as a web browser or whatever you are supposed to be working on)