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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: What makes a WoW geek?
by Stephanie Drury 
Dec 1st 2010 at 8:00AM
During the BlizzCon 2010 opening ceremonies, Chris Metzen spoke about the power of words, particularly focusing on one: "geek." He then followed up with a montage of what the word meant to him. Chris's dialogue was about what brings us together as geeks, celebrating common factors we all share as a community.
This of course got me thinking, what does "geek" mean to me? More pointedly, what does it mean to me in the World of Warcraft? What great accomplishments have brought me closer to my community? Raid achievements come to mind, such as obtaining the Hand of A'dal title as a guild an expansion ago (or two). But there are some things I consider elite -- and therefore geekier -- that set my fellow community members on top of what I consider the geek pedestal:
- The Loremaster title -- definitely my chart-topper for geekdom. Kudos to you!
- Anyone who has completed the Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest chain.
- The Black Qiraji Battle Tank mount and Scarab Lord title. This was a whole server-wide event that brought the players together as a community toward one common goal: opening the gates of Ahn'Qiraj. I think this epitomizes the celebratory meaning of geek.
- Obtaining a legendary item -- this also involves a group working toward a common goal, strengthening our sense of community.
What does "geek" mean to you? Is it that elusive title? A rare pet or mount? Perhaps something that isn't even obtainable anymore, or something that was added in Cataclysm. What do you think brings us closer as a community or find celebratory of geekdom in WoW?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
SpaceGoatPriest Dec 1st 2010 9:23AM
I know I am a WoW geek. I am not afraid to admit either. I wear a WoW hoodie in public. I have over 8,000 achievement points on my main. I have two accounts (since the fire sale last week). I have been playing for over 4 years, and I never really get bored. There is always something to do.
What do I do in those times I am kinda bored with WoW? I go play Starcraft of course.
Davidelle Dec 1st 2010 9:35AM
I think the term gets watered down year after year actually and it is at the stage now where it is barely even an insult. Even if people don't play MMORPGs, or even consoles, you have another huge tier of people these days who play Farmville, Frontierville and various other facebook games which are most certainly time sinks but are now so mainstream that the title of geek doesn't apply to them. A geek isn't someone who plays games anymore its someone, in my opinion, who deliberately pushes real life to one side to spend as much time as possible on a video game and this is naturally much easier in a game like wow which is so huge and has such depth and background that its very easy to lose yourself in it.
I don't really think the girlfriend thing is a geek-qualifier but the living in your mothers basement (or more specifically not having a job/being in education so you can play more wow) certainly is as it shows your priorities are out of sync.
Painfury Dec 1st 2010 9:43AM
Loremaster tops your chart??? Honestly?
What about, I dunno...THE INSANE? Or the 50 Exalted reputations? The Loremaster shies away in fear compared to those two achievements, and these aren't even the only ones...
Dan Dec 1st 2010 9:47AM
What about Salty? That's pretty geeky. Means you (read: I) did the walk of shame numerous times after losing the STV fishing tourney.
Drakkenfyre Dec 1st 2010 10:15AM
Day 1 of the Kal'uak Fishing Derby. 7 minutes in.
"So-and-so has won the derby!"
"7 minutes? 7 MINUTES? WHAT THE HELL?"
Knowing I would never win the STV tournament, the Derby was the only thing I knew I could win. At that, it's just kind of like pack up and go, no walk of shame. Maybe it will actually be easier when people aren't interested in Northrend anymore, and won't have their Hearthstones set to Dalaran.
Spelio Dec 1st 2010 10:58AM
I have done that walk in STV many times in my past. When i did win it though it was one of the most gratifying accomplishments in my WoW life. I was lucky enough to go back and win it a second time for the trinket (to the bane of many o fisherman) but boy did I get harassed. "What are you doing here? You already have your Salty title!" I didn't hear the end of it for more than a week.
nieboh Dec 1st 2010 9:50AM
Absolutely this. Attending Blizzcon, unless it's your job somehow, makes you a WoW geek. But if it is somehow your job to attend, you're probably still a geek.
*unless you're at Blizzcon for Diablo or Starcraft...then you're a whole other kind of geek.
nieboh Dec 1st 2010 9:52AM
That was a reply to Danny.
dyak Dec 1st 2010 10:07AM
I consider myself a WoW geek, but for me people with rare mounts, titles etc., are not geeks, they are grinders. A geek may or may not be a grinder. I am not. Instead of going to the same dungeons to farm rep/rare drops (usually having 0 RP value anyway), I prefer rerolling new chars and mastering new class/specs. This is my kind of geekness.
Hiwa Dec 1st 2010 9:51AM
Being a Wow geek is when you and your 14 year old daughter can have intense arguments in the grocery check-out line over healing strategies (she plays a priest, I play a druid) while simultaneously laughing over the idiocy of tanks and dps.
There's nothing that's geekier than mom-and-daughter geek teams.
Noah Dec 1st 2010 1:31PM
Awww man I envy you. I'd like nothing more then for one of my parents to play WoW. Unfortunately, my mom is a university professor and my dad is an architect. Both very busy. Though they have shown interest in the game (expecially my mom), they refuse to get "sucked in". I think it's awesome that you and your daughter can have conversations like that, I wish I had that, even though I'm a boy. Now, to figure out how to get my mom to play...
BTW, Druids ftw!
Tai Dec 1st 2010 5:17PM
My 13 yo daughter and I used to raid together. Some in-game friend of hers would have some WoW question and she'd say "let me ask my mom." However I think true geekiness is buying your daughter Monty Python t-shirts from Jinx for her birthday, and theres always the pj bottoms I bought her with "huntard" written on the backside.
pinteresque Dec 1st 2010 9:52AM
Y'all're way off.
It isn't about time or commitment or your epic fights with the random number generator, not primarily. It's about how much you know about your hobby. It's about learning something, anything, inside and out -- there are baseball geeks, Star Wars geeks, movie geeks, hell, model railroad geeks. WHAT you accomplish is secondary to what you learn while accomplishing it.
To me, in WoW, there are two major categories of geeks: theorycrafters and lore nerds. Everything else is just an excuse to wave your epeen around. Mount collector geek? Please.
Obeyfez Dec 1st 2010 10:04AM
I agree with this. It's about knowledge not achievements. Having
Loremaster doesn't mean you've read a single quest text or know
anything about the game except how to kill and gather things and turn
in quests.
Keveline Dec 1st 2010 9:54AM
Using wowspeak in real life
Ex.
Me: Damn they totally nerfed our benefits this year!
Coworker: Huh?
JustPlainJim Dec 1st 2010 9:53AM
What makes me a WoW geek?
1) I'm a bit of an artist (though not an especially good one). I can't count the number of times I've drawn myself, my friends, all our characters, the various bosses we've downed.
2) I made my main out of Lego (fans of The Instance podcast probably saw it on their blog during the "make your own figureprint" contest last year)
3) I have a section of my bank devoted solely to awesome-looking weapons I've acumulated over the years.
3a) And another section for costume pieces and RP items.
Obeyfez Dec 1st 2010 9:56AM
I don't think obtaining all those crazy achievements makes you a geek, it just means you're bored or have a lot of time on your hands.
To me, a geek in WoW is someone who "gets" every (or most) reference or homage the developers and quest writers put into the game. The references are so vast in pop culture - from old video games to current movies to internet memes - that to "get" them all is pretty impressive geekery to me.
As for me, I guess I'm a wannabe geek - I get a lot of the references, but the ones I don't get, I usually end up looking up.
Obeyfez Dec 1st 2010 10:00AM
I agree with this. It's about knowledge not achievements. Having Loremaster doesn't mean you've read a single quest text or know anything about the game except how to kill and gather things and turn in quests.
Obeyfez Dec 1st 2010 10:07AM
Ugh comment reply failure - this was meant to reply to pinteresque.
WTB edit/delete button.
bubbap51 Dec 1st 2010 10:01AM
Geek is wearing a your hoard polo, that you got at blizzcon this year, to work at least once a week. BTW I teach middle school science so my geekyness at work is expected.