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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: How do you cope with muggles who don't "get" WoW?
by Aiden James Kosciesza 
Jan 27th 2011 at 8:00AM
We have a hunter in our guild whose mother does not understand World of Warcraft at all. She's the type who doesn't use computers, refused to have an internet connection in the house until this very year, and thinks that MMOs sound the death knell for her hopes of having grandchildren. My friend the hunter has painstakingly explained that raids are a group activity, that there are real people behind the colorful avatars, and that it's not polite to jump up and leave in the middle of fighting a raid boss -- to no avail. The mother still doesn't understand what could be so compelling on a computer screen that her child can't be at her beck and call.
We all know people who are not WoW players, and most of us have had the experience of trying to explain our favorite game to someone who just doesn't get it, whether that someone is a parent, a significant other, a coworker, or a friend. My own efforts have met with varying results. My family still can't quite wrap their heads around a gaming hobby, but after much persuading I was able to convince my last girlfriend to give WoW a try. She's a valued guildie to this day.
Have you ever had to explain your World of Warcraft hobby to the uninitiated? What was the hardest thing for them to understand? What kind of reaction did you get? Have you convinced any of them to try the game themselves?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 9 of 9)
BellaMuerta Jan 27th 2011 3:05PM
I wasn't ever, ever, ever a gamer. I mean, sure I did a little Diablo back in the day, but when I moved away for college my Mom developed the habit. She played from when the game first came out and got me into it about 3 months after she started. It was great because we could still get a bit of quality time together and have something together. It should be worth mentioning that my family's idea of "Quality Time" was fraggin the hell out of each other on Quake, then Q2 and Q3 over our home network. It wasn't something I was ever really into all that much. I'm a total girl and once I got into WoW, I was hooked, havn't looked back and November of last year, I got my husband into playing.
None of my friends play though, and my husband has pretty much stopped playing because he's been busy with other stuff, like Rugby team. Alot of my girlfriend's think Im crazy and a geek, but all of my guy friend's think it's great. I don't really get any scathing comments, just a little misunderstanding from my friends. They have their hobbies and I have mine. C'est la vie.
I do feel bad for people who's significant others have issues with it. My husband did for the longest time and it really leeches the fun out of the game. My advice would be to just tell them not to judge you and you wont judge them. Everyone needs a hobby.
HerriPaul Jan 27th 2011 3:04PM
/cast Feign Death
VioletArrows Jan 27th 2011 3:20PM
My boyfriend's the muggle. He's a gamer, but he's a D&D purist who takes the whole fantasy genre way *way* too seriously. I want to laugh, but that'd be as bad as he is for me. For him it's the ... I guess the setting/style. He hates the armor styling (I do kinda agree I'd like to hide some of these shoulder sets), he thinks it's all cartoony, and I had a dumb conversation the other night about human vs non-human races. I play Warcraft because it's one of the few mmos where I don't have to look at stupid, boring ass humans all the time(I do enough of that outside). And then he tries to apply his D&D logic to WoW concerning things like racism, xenophobia, and classism... and I sort of tuned out from there.
Lantokk Jan 27th 2011 3:45PM
My family, including the multitude of cousins, great aunts and uncles, etc, all like to play games. The older guys from Texas prefer dominoes but will play cards if asked. Many of us also like board games. However I am one of the few that has always enjoyed video games more complicated board games. Years ago I showed my mom, grandmother, and step-father Super Mario Bros 2 and they thought it was dumb. Well, let me clarify: I could see that my step-dad was interested but not about to say anything in front of my mom. lol I have frequently considered teasing him with some fun games because I know he'd get into them. If my mother could get over her distaste for anything fantasy she would love WoW, too. I'm too busy with my own life to put that much energy into convincing my parents that this particular addiction is worth their time.
Other people are a mixed bag. Most say nothing, but if somebody asks about it I tell them that it's a game that has millions of players that play together in a virtual world, that it's social, chatty, a good role-playing environment for those that like that, a place to beat on other players, a team sport, a place to beat on imaginary creatures, a huge story to read and in which to participate, and a constant ego boost with all the different rewards and leveling experiences (professions, too). Then I tag that with the comment that for the price of a decent lunch out I can have a social and gaming outlet at my fingertips for an entire month. Sometimes I throw in that I meet all different kinds of people from different parts of the world, too. But the one thing I always say is that WoW is what you make of it.
Real life friends got me into WoW. Now a number of WoW friends are real life friends, too. I have developed real life friendships with people in Minneapolis; Washington, D.C; Chicago; Portland; and San Francisco. I never would have tried two stepping or line dancing and next month I'm taking a jaunt down to Palm Springs to hang with a friend visiting from Chicago. WoW has been great.
cyanea85 Jan 27th 2011 7:02PM
That's really the distinction that I don't understand. My parents don't get why I like video games, but they're perfectly fine with games. We play Rummy as a family everytime I go home. They played Scrabble religiously every Saturday night for years. Mom LOVES crosswords and sudoku.
There's no difference between that and what I do, except what I do has a video element.
Cyno01 Jan 27th 2011 3:58PM
I'm an officer in a formerly hardcore but now strictly casual raiding guild, one of the oldest guilds on the server.
And this is precisely why we have a 18+ age requirement for raiding. We dont want to be playing with some kid, no matter how good they are, and have their mom literally pull the plug in the middle of a raid. Or for them to get grounded and not be able to attend, or get in trouble if a weeknight raid runs a little late...
We havent had any yet, but we agree that any
Cyno01 Jan 27th 2011 4:01PM
ate the rest of my comment...
UNDER 18s that want to raid, we have to have a face to face (skype) chat with their parents to lay out what raiding entails, the kind of time commitment it requires, and especially that there are 9-24 real people on the other side of the screen who are also making that same time commitment. Weve had a few younger applicants, but nobody that cared enough to get their parents on the line to chat with an officer.
We do have a few younger social members, but its strictly younger siblings and children of members. And even then, guild chat is rated R, so thats kind of iffy.
redaxe Jan 27th 2011 5:14PM
I refer people to this article: http://securingwow.blogspot.com/2009/09/kicking-goals-in-world-of-warcraft.html
Kiomi Jan 27th 2011 5:48PM
My boyfriend isn't into the game, just my luck, i guess. :x
It's hard to make people understand that it's so entertaining and that there is tons of stuff to do.
zaababy Jan 27th 2011 5:50PM
they just don't get it and they never will. Why waste my time? So if I have a raid scheduled I make sure dinner's ready early and tell everyone not to bug me.
Jules Jan 27th 2011 5:53PM
The biggest issue I have is people saying it is a waste of time and non productive and anti social.
I find the best time to point out the positive aspects of this is after they had to rush home to catch the latest episode of survivor or idol. Or after they spent the entire weekend watching other people play sport
iwubyou Jan 27th 2011 7:14PM
My dad referred to it as "that danged game" for a long time before he finally gave up. "You playing that danged game again?" "Have you been out all night again? Well, at least you weren't playing that danged game..." We've both accused each other of having "a problem"--me with WoW and him with smoking for almost 50 years. Yet we both lead perfectly normal lives. Everybody's got an effin' opinion...
cyanea85 Jan 27th 2011 7:34PM
My mom "doesn't get it", but she accepts that I'm not killing myself playing it.
My Dad...oi. When I was growing up, he would CONSTANTLY give me a hard time about playing video games, or watching cartoons once I got to high school (sorry pops. Looney Tunes is infinitely more entertaining than MTV) or that "weird anney-may shit". Thankfully now that I'm an adult and am living in relative independance, he's backed off (I sometimes wonder if he pulls a Hank Hill when I'm back at home on school breaks or what not and he walks past my room and sees me watching Batman and says, "That boy ain't right." :p) but every once in a while, he brings it up.
jakedamuss Jan 27th 2011 10:10PM
Normally when people criticize me for WoW, I start criticizing their hobby and tell them to enjoy their mind numbing television sets.
If they play sports I ask if they would just walk out on a game or not show up for it.
Its all the media's fault really, they always try to make something look bad for a story and thats why main stream media is very EVIL.
joey Jan 27th 2011 10:09PM
One of my good freinds would always critisize me because i play wow. Saying " oh that just sounds dumn" well one day he came over and i forced him to sit down and make a tiral... long story short. about year and half later hes a lvl 85 warrior
Garneth Jan 27th 2011 11:58PM
Oh, boy. This. My mom didn't get WoW at all. She even threw me off for three months at one point. About 3 months ago, though, I put my foot down and proved to her it's good by introducing her to my friends I made in WoW. Now she sort of gets it. My dad however will never get it. Your all a bunch of child molestors in his mind. Haha that's why he's 57 alone and will never stabilize a relationship. Arrogance (:
poggg Jan 28th 2011 12:45AM
The hardest thing for me is making my grandmother understand that the other players are REAL people who are REALLY depending on me in dungeons. She frequently says "it's just a DAMN game, go do _____!" and if I try to explain the other people thing, I just get a condescending eyeroll and "yeah, SURE."
...But my grandmother is also kind of a jerk, so that may be the problem.
Des Jan 28th 2011 1:20AM
My argument has always been if it was any other hobby I'd have just as much time/money invested into it. If I read books, if I shopped, furnished my home, had a garden, a stamp collection, anything takes away time and money. So anyone who says it's a waste, tell me your daily routine and I'll show you what I think is a waste, even if its your $5 coffee every morning.
I hate the negativity and the stigma that comes with gamers. Fortunately I was blessed with a boyfriend who is a gamer too, and he looks at it as HE is fortunate that I game. We both play and enjoy WoW, as well as a great many other games. It's not all we do though, but we do spend a lot of time doing it. We don't neglect our responsibilities or people we care about, so how is it any worse from any other leisure activity?
I have family members that don't understand it, yet they will sit for hours at a time mindlessly clicking away at Farmville and investing their real money into it. My mother sees no harm in it (then again she's always enjoyed games herself, Tetris mostly) and has even said if she wasn't so sensitive to the movement (she has seizures) she too would play. But she also understands that everyone has their own hobbies and shouldn't judge, because what they find entertaining others may find pointless too.
Some people will never understand this though and its extremely pointless to try and argue your side, no matter how many valid points you make. These are usually the same people who only want to hear their opinions on politics. It's just sad they have to ruin our fun time just because they don't "understand" it.
Bluriel Jan 28th 2011 7:50AM
I don't. It's a hobby and they either give it a try and play with me, or I ask them to kindly respect my choice on how to spend my valuable free time.
Merel Jan 28th 2011 4:44PM
Fortunately, I had two older siblings who are gamers (they introduced me to WoW), to get my parents used to the concepts of no pause key, and to miss a raid is impacting 9-24 other people. It also helped that all three of us has serious illnesses, and found WoW a great coping mechanism (escaping to a world where we were not only healthy, but heroes?). Now I think they rather approve lol