The Los Angeles Times visits BlizzCon
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 10th 2009 at 8:00PM
Then again, maybe we're just biased. Maybe having guildies as friends is really a fascinating thing to someone who's never done it before, and maybe the spectacle of BlizzCon really is so interesting that you can just report it in the paper. They do chat with Morgan Webb (why?) and they get one line from Blizzard COO Paul Sams, but otherwise, it's just basically the story of the Dread Pirates and their trip to BlizzCon (complete with veiled accusations of misogyny and a dictatorial guildleader -- thanks, LA Times!). To folks who don't play World of Warcraft, it might be interesting, but for most players, especially those who've been to BlizzCon already, it's mostly business as usual.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Odds and ends, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kylenne Sep 10th 2009 8:23PM
This is one of those cases where a trip outside of our insular bubble of geekery can be instructive. You say: "it's not that alien of an experience to go with your ingame friends to a gaming convention."
To us, it may not be, but to the general non-gaming public? It's weird. Maybe not nearly as weird as it may have been ten years ago, before the internet exploded in popularity and even "The Olds" connect with old classmates on Facebook and troll for anonymous hookups on Craigslist, but close online friendships (of the sort that translate into meatspace) are still an incredibly strange notion to a lot of people. Not to mention the fact that cons in and of themselves are incredibly strange to those who are not a part of geek culture. I've been attending sci-fi, gaming, and anime cons for the better part of fifteen years now (not counting the Trek cons I was dragged to as a small child), and explaining just what I do on my long weekends to strait-laced non-geek co-workers is always an exercise in futility. Hanging out with my in-game friends would be even more baffling to them. You have to remember that, for the majority of non-gamers (and even some gamers!), MMOs are the domain of bottom-feeding basement dwelling rejects with no social skills whatsoever. The idea that we socialize and form bonds within the game, much less would leave these mythical basements to hang out with one another in real life is beyond them. The negative stereotypes are always there in people's minds. No matter how many anecdotes there are of players finding friends and life partners from WoW, the stories that tend to get told in the media (and thus stick in people's minds) are the ones about dysfunctional people using the game as a crutch, neglecting themselves or their children, etc.
You might dismiss this article as being silly or obvious, but it really is news to a large portion of the LA Times' readership and does a fair bit of good, IMO.
chipersoft Sep 10th 2009 8:55PM
Well, it is a pretty accurate description, although I think 15% is quite a bit off. There's a LOT of women at BlizzCon, more so then any other gaming convention. I'd put it closer to 35 or 40%.
That said... yeah, that paragraph feels almost insulting. It's like the author is going out of their way to identify WoW players as social rejects.
Ted Sep 10th 2009 9:03PM
Re; Morgan Webb: she's a relatively well known video game and internet personality who also happens to play wow. A fair amount of mainstream videogame personalities don't play wow (Adam Sessler comes to mind, Tycho from Penny Arcade), so it makes sense to have a more mainstream media person there for an interview.
Frank Sep 10th 2009 10:42PM
This,
And she's smoking hot.
Cyanea Sep 11th 2009 1:06AM
She's got a chin you could kill a man with!
astaroth9 Sep 11th 2009 2:36AM
Mike Schramm might want to watch out with the comments on Morgan Webb. :)
I made one mention of her in a column I write for my (very small) local newspaper, and got a pretty angry e-mail from the exec. producer of X-Play.
All I said was that G4TV ought to be able to come up with a role model for female gamers isn't smoking hot, since most normal people aren't. I said that in a tiny newspaper in rural western NY, and got the corporate smackdown.
Yeng Sep 11th 2009 2:15PM
I think he's just jealous that they interviewed her as a media source for someone who plays WoW instead of him.
Aceman67 Sep 10th 2009 11:01PM
I would guess they talked with Morgan Webb because she hosts a very well known and popular video game review show (Like it or not, X-play is one of the best show for game reviews. Show me something better if you disagree...). G4 is also an industry leader when it comes to Tech/Gaming television entertainment.
She's also a Prolific wow player.
Celebrity+WoW Player+Large ammount of experience in the video game industry = Interview from the LA times.
Its not that hard to understand.
Molly Sep 10th 2009 11:07PM
I was surprised at how tame this article was. I was expecting more of a "wtf are these losers doing with their time" type of article. While it had an undertone that portrayed the players as strange, I thought it was pretty good. I was a little weirded out by the feminism comment, but little else stuck out to me.
Also: I -would- find it strange to meet my guildmates in person. Perhaps if I got to know them more (I'm relatively new to the guild), but still...There's this stigma ingrained in me that meeting people from the internet is risky business. I guess I kinda like to keep my online friends at a bit of a distance--I don't know if I could foster the same kind of relationship with people online as in RL. Yet on the other hand, perhaps those relationships online would be simply a new form of relationship in my life and not necessarily worse or better.
(Sorry for going off on a tangent :p my $.02)
censorman Sep 10th 2009 11:35PM
How dare you ask WHY they interviewed Morgan Manjaw! She is a G4ian, from the planet pop-culture, worshiped by fucktarded fanbois the world over who all want to be lame like Kevin Perararariaiairawhogivesafuckheneedstodierarairairaiararascreensaverswasadamngoodshowareairairiarara
bughunter Sep 11th 2009 12:57AM
I'd say it was dead on. I fit right in that description, too: White, male, pudgier than average, and (until just recently) with hair flowing down my back.
The one thing the reporter didn't (thankfully) share was the (ahem)... atmosphere. Anyone who's been to a con knows about the pong to be found in the open gaming room at 6am on the last day of a convention... and I ain't talking about a legacy video game. For those who haven't encountered a room filled with geeks who haven't slept, bathed, or eaten a vegetable in four days, consider yourselves fortunate.
The word 'ripe' is a euphemism.
Ted Sep 11th 2009 1:06AM
Bruce Campbell would be proud dammit
tom_mccarthy Sep 11th 2009 1:08AM
I must admit, I found this article to be pretty objective and quite an enjoyable read. Its very easy for reporters to go on about the 'creepy' WoW crowd, but thankfully this guy wrote about how diverse that crowd really is. Just by a description of the guild leader, I'm already reminded of Vork from 'The Guild'.
I sent the author an email commending his work. May seem like a bit much (especially given a few minor comments he made within the column) but I'm just happy to see mainstream media finally taking a more positive look towards gaming.
MechChef Sep 11th 2009 11:58AM
Agreed. "even handed" is the phrase I would use. He described what happened, covered some little technical details, but didn't dig hard with ridicule.
There are worse things than playing vidja gamez these days.
thescottmorton Sep 11th 2009 1:11AM
the media talking about anything WoW related useally turns out making us look bad. GG LA times.
Milk Sep 11th 2009 1:49AM
It's journalism that fits fine into ethnography.
To people who play WoW, it may seem like junk. But then, I look at sports stories and think "man, these people are crazy to invest so much time and energy into a baseball team". Keep in mind that WoW players are still a very small subset of the greater world. Most people couldn't care less about the PVP viability of priests, the set bonuses of tier gear, or the latest round of buffs. And even among gamers, the idea of a constantly recurring "team" around which your game life revolves is a bit strange. Heck, I've played WoW for more than three years, raiding seriously for a year, and still I know the real life name of only one other person in my guild.
Golir Sep 11th 2009 6:28AM
I wouldn't consider this article to be particularly ethnographic. It reads like a recital of disparate quotes strung together by casual observations and set before the backdrop of the latest local spectacle. To get the human interest angle, we're introduced to Mr. Schweitzer and his guild. All standard fare for a soft news piece.
As an ethnography of the guild? We're provided some very basic information and a few anecdotes (how often members play, a brief description of their leader de jure, the "Val's Wife" comment, etc.), but we're not given enough context or background information to seriously consider the reporter's conclusions. This is likely because the reporter didn't know the context himself; rather, he tossed together a plausible-enough story based on a few interviews that never exceeded five minutes in order to meet his editor's deadline.
Bossy Sep 11th 2009 2:08AM
What happened Schramm?
Woke up this morning and had a headache?
I mean what's more exciting than meeting with the guild members you Raid with in real live and then visit BlizzCon.
One of the reasons Wow is such a success is that there are enough players in RL to discuss things with. We are also a bunch of friends, we meet after a Raid sometimes and have fun drinking a beer ....
We go with a few members of our guild next to The Spielmesse at Essen in Oct. Last time we went to Lille. Fantastic trips for .... friends/gamers who talk WOW.
Oh I see .... you also tried Aion and now you know the next 3 years it is WOW all the way.
Well, don't let your mood dictate the articles you write.
Omenemo Sep 11th 2009 3:16AM
If you read the article, the mention debating the benefits of bringing a shadow priest, 3% hit and 5% crit.
When did shadow priest get that buff?
Someone didn't quote check...
Bobbo Sep 11th 2009 7:55AM
Probably separate conversations, just as the 3rd line's talk of taking down Arthas has nothing to do with the viability of shadow priests. The second's most likely talking about the pure awesome that is boomkin, of course.