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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Who's the most unlikely WoW player you've met?
by Phil Babby 
Jan 7th 2011 at 8:00AM
I first started playing WoW during the open beta right before launch. It was my freshman year at college, and I had eagerly awaited its release since reading a magazine article almost two years before, as I had been playing since the first Warcraft RTS game. While I was excited like a 6-year-old bound for Disneyland, however, very few of the people I knew even knew of the game's existence.
A few weeks after release, I came into my dorm room, which I shared with an international student from Malaysia. Although we were both computer science majors, the cultural and language barriers had yet to really be broken. Surprisingly, when I walked in, I noticed him at his computer, riding through Desolace on a human mage. While I was, am, and always will be a Hordie, WoW managed to break the ice for us.
A few years later, I was working at a pizza shop full of non-gamers. One of the guys working there, a mohawk-sporting gearhead, just so happened to be another fellow WoW player (albeit another Alliance). Shortly after returning to the game late last year, I was working with a person who was on work release from prison. While I was giving him a ride back to the jail one day, he revealed that he couldn't wait to be finished with his sentence so he could try out ToC, which had just dropped at the time. Even more exciting, he was another Horde player.
I've met some unlikely WoW players in real life, and it's made me some unexpected new friends. What about you? Tell us about some of the most unlikely WoW players you've met in your real life.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 7)
Wolfshanze Jan 7th 2011 12:37PM
^^^what Legs and Devin said...
Look, no disrespect intended, I just went by what the original article posted and took some percentages off it. It's how polls are done.
Clearly, the author (a Hordie) had a hard time finding other Horde players... the only Horde he ran into was in jail. By percentages, 100% of the Alliance he ran into were either employed or in college, while the only Horde he ran into were in jail.
It is also clear that since my post was downgraded, a fair number of Horde must be on work-release today.
FOR THE ALLIANCE!!!
noel mcleod Jan 7th 2011 1:21PM
ROTFLMAO!!!! I have a good friend IRL who started a Horde guild; I found out I JUST CAN'T PLAY HORDE. (Not surprisingly, I have three paladins ...). I tried a BELF pladin, and the lore and the Tarren Mill quests just turned me off completely from the Horde side.
His guild is really well run and full of great people, but ...
scherbaddie Jan 10th 2011 5:47PM
"you could also say that 50% of alliance must be non-native English speakers from places in Asia."
try playing on an oceanic server some time...
justjeffery Jan 7th 2011 8:35AM
Godsgirls model.
Wiebelhausgmailcom Jan 7th 2011 8:36AM
Oh yea for sure from a middle aged aussie mum with children in college to a 20 something hottie Nurse (My Wife) to a middle aged cable installer , beer drinking red-neck to a Surgeon who uses Wow to de-stress.
Wiebelhausgmailcom Jan 7th 2011 8:38AM
..Oh yea , And a pastor of a Church.
Rob Jan 7th 2011 8:36AM
One of my old guildies was an older woman who made porcelain dolls, sold on some of the big shop at home networks.
Hidendragon Jan 7th 2011 8:40AM
To put this content into context, if I was to put this in US terms, I was a jock at school. In my social circles only geeks played these sorts of games. Being an avid player of pre WoW warcraft games I started playing soon after its launch. I’ve never been one to care about social stature so have always been open with that fact I play this game and others before it. So yes I put up with the jokes etc that occasionally come out (despite the pact that most of them are on COD more than I play wow, which I love to point out)
I must have been playing for 2 years and only came across 1 other person in real life that played. Then a friend of mine invited me to a gig, I couldn’t believe it when all of a sudden the lead singer shouted out "FOR THE HORDE" to which just over half the people in the place returned this statement at the top of there lungs while putting a fist in the Air. this happened 2 or 3 times during this set. After they took 5 and came back out the guitarist took centre stage and mentioned that he was not going to let the Hordies take the spotlight and in turn shouted "for the Alliance" to my surprise most of the people who didn’t join in earlier were now standing there arm across there chest shouting it back. Now being of the Ally myself I couldn’t wait to join in and joined them.
I could not believe what was happening. 2 years and 1 person. 1 gig and and over 200 players in one room.
This had then become the theme of the night with both sides constantly throwing in their shouts when it suited and lead by the band ofc. All in all I turned out to be an awesome night with loads of banter and lead to me making a ton of new friends. More to my surprise most of these people were from the same type of social circles as me.
Moral of this story, don’t let the “Geek” stigma of online gaming lead you to think that the person carrying his/her surf board or like me pushing my 250cc Thumper scrutineers ready for a day of Moto x, isn’t also thinking about that epic drop they landed last night :P
StClair Jan 7th 2011 11:35AM
Epic.
Bynde Jan 7th 2011 12:59PM
In addition, don't assume some middle aged guy you work with doesn't play.
I love it when my employees (mostly in their 20s) discover I play and have been playing for 4 years now.
I'll overhear them talking about a raid or a bug or whatever and as I pass by I throw my 2 cents worth in. Oh, the faces they make. "You play Wow?". Yes, I do. As do a lot of my friends and family in their 40s and 50s.
Silencerer Jan 7th 2011 5:07PM
I'll stick with my 1299cc Hayabusa. :P
Proserpyn Jan 7th 2011 8:44AM
Hmm, let's see...I've met, became friends with and still raid with.... a hockey player, a couple of chefs, an author, military personnel, stay at home parents, dog rescuers, grandparents, even a great grandparent. Of course, students, IT professionals, etc. The people in my guild are all adults, we have a blast, and hanging with them is a nice way to take time out from RL and just be an idiot.
The most unlikely player? A pastor who played a Rogue....Horde.
Jeremie Jan 7th 2011 9:06AM
Was it undead also?
Proserpyn Jan 7th 2011 9:22AM
LoL No, troll. Although there was talk of 'donating' a race change. :)
Binanshineal Jan 7th 2011 9:01AM
When I found out that my best friend played I was shocked, he is married with 2 kids, like my self, and has toons on many servers due to his altits issues. The reason why I was so shocked is he is an infantryman in the marine corps.
The Long Man Jan 7th 2011 9:03AM
hmm, I dont meet many wow players irl.
I've met two or three, and related to another one.
the two or three I met were bigger nerds then I am, and one of them was quite obsessed with the game.
on of them was my teacher in multimedia.
The one I'm related to....well he's studying to become a doctor, but in game he was the most gold stealing whore on any server.
making his guild pay for he re-spec back when MC was the big thing and they NEEDED frost mages, conning people to buy crusader orbs that were really something else with the same icon.
Basically, I was ashamed to be related to him, and never, ever went to his server.
Hamr Jan 7th 2011 9:04AM
I think what we can take from this is that there is no typical WoW player and the unlikely part would be not meeting someone from any walk of life from a computer geek to an Icelandic fisherman.
Adrale of Frostmane Jan 7th 2011 9:06AM
My wife played rugby in college. One day, I was down at the pitch at the end of her game when the mens' rugby club was just starting to congregate at the field. I overheard most of these large, burly jocks talking about World of Warcraft and their own characters. Needless to say, I was surprised.
Ishammel Jan 7th 2011 9:08AM
40 year old, cool, smooth talking business man from London who is into his cars and his hip hop. Thought it was odd he was one of the most hardcore guild leaders I ever knew.
Sasoril Jan 7th 2011 9:13AM
I have been in a danish guild for about two years now, mostly as a casual. The oldest guy in the guild was in his 40's and we treated him like every other player in the guild. One day on ventrilo he said he couldn't come for the raid tonight because he had a gig in a nearby town. That town happened to be my town and he happened to be the bassist in a danish rock-band that has won several awards. I knew he was a musician but when he told me where and when he was going to play and what his name was I instantly knew who he was.
Also, I found out my teacher played WoW after writing a lengthy essay about online behaviour and I mentioned the alliance-horde conflict and mentioned myself being a horde. The teachers response to the essay was: "For the horde!"