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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: How do you respond when others misrepresent WoW?
by Brian Cutaia 
Feb 17th 2011 at 8:00AM
A few months back, my wife and I were watching television, when suddenly my ears perked to the sound of a familiar phrase. The Big Bang Theory was talking about our beloved game! I had heard that this show employs people to keep its science talk somewhat authentic, so I listened curiously to see where they were going with this. Unfortunately, it appears that they don't exercise the same level of care when talking about video games.
"You know World of Warcraft?" Wolowitz asked Penny.
"The online game? Sure," she replied.
"Well, did you know you that the characters in the game can have sex with each other?
Hollywood has always treated video games more like a prop than a real live hobby, obviously. You're usually lucky when gaming characters actually continue mashing on buttons while they deliver lines, so an inaccuracy like this isn't exactly a surprise. Moments later, though, our phone started to ring. My wife picked it up and I faintly heard my father-in-law asking in his heavy Oklahoma accent, "What does Brian do in that game he's always playin', anyway?" She explained that -- despite tales of Moon Guard -- there is no mechanic in the game to have sex. Still, though ... to this day, when he asks about our "raider game," I swear I can see an incredulous eyebrow rise ever so slightly.
Society and the media haven't always done their best to paint the MMO genre positively or accurately. News stories constantly highlight the worst-case scenarios, and innocent jokes like this can send the wrong impression to the uninitiated. Is there anyone in your life who is convinced that these stereotypes and falsehoods are true? Did you ever try to educate them, or do you just nod your head and laugh to yourself when they mention the game?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 9)
Pam Feb 17th 2011 9:01AM
There's a little place called Goldshire....
Britty Feb 17th 2011 12:43PM
Who needs Goldshire? Howard, the one who made this statement mentioned in the article, had a magically journey with a troll under the Bridge of Souls. I'm sure Shirrak appreciated that.
Though, I was pretty sure his character was alliance in the first episode he was shown playing the game. Oh well!
(cutaia) Feb 17th 2011 12:51PM
"Though, I was pretty sure his character was alliance in the first episode he was shown playing the game. Oh well!"
You got something against interracial relationships? :P
Britty Feb 17th 2011 1:09PM
"You got something against interracial relationships? :P"
I was more of staring there blankly, trying to figure out how they managed to type it out seeing how orcish and common look for the opposite faction.
Oh God, I truly am nerdy if that's what popped into my head... Especially because alliance and horde wouldn't even be able to be in that instance together in reality.
((Though, if PVE-RP servers could communicate cross-faction, I'd definitely roll on a RP server. I'd love to just observe the drama from both sides on those "forbidden" cross-faction romances.))
Redbeard Feb 17th 2011 6:30PM
@Britty--
In the big MMO episode where Wolowitz hits on Penny in-game, that was meant to be Age of Conan, not WoW.
Britty Feb 18th 2011 1:27PM
@Redbeard- Doubt you'll see this now, but eh, worth a shot. The episode I was referring to I believe was the introduction of Howard to Penny. He shows her his Night Elf hunter(if my memory serves me correctly, in IF?) with the Saber named "Buttons". He asks her if she wants to go questing with her. The Age of Conan was in season two, if I recall correctly.
Then, I believe in one episode where they're raiding(?) for the "Sword of Azeroth", Sheldon mentioned his character being a Night Elf Rogue. Not sure if Howard's hunter was referred to in this episode or not. However, if Sheldon was playing alliance, it's safe to assume the rest of the group was too.
...Don't ask me why I remember the name of the pet. I have no idea why that stuck with me.
Stella Feb 17th 2011 8:12AM
I don't let it bother me. At least 90% of wht most people believe is wrong anyway, I'd go mad if I tried to as you say educate people .
JT Feb 17th 2011 8:13AM
One of my dad's usual questions when we talk on the phone (along with "How's the car runnin'?" and "How's the weather down there?") is usually "Raided any dragons lately?"
Honestly, I don't think most people outsider of the gamer community perceive much different between MMOs and other fantasy games like Dragon Age or Fable.
Side note: I didn't feel that the BBT episode was a misrepresentation. They never said there's a mechanic to have sex; the issue was that players within the game can develop relationships that test the bonds of monogamy.
I think it's splitting hairs to say "But there's no mechanic to have sex!" when two characters can strip naked, hop in bed, and /emote an entire sexual encounter. If anything, that's MORE intimate than games which do have push-button mechanics for sex, like God of War.
Also I thought it was hysterical he was seduced by a troll rather than a belf/nelf.
Kravos Feb 17th 2011 12:56PM
As they say in the story, the point is that innocent jokes like this are only innocent for those of us in the know. We know that it's not really the case, we know that it's not really a game mechanic, and we know that others who know this will understand that it's just a joke.
For people who don't actually know exactly how the game works, sure it's a joke, but is it a joke because it's not true, or is it a joke because it IS true? Wolowitz's tone of I AM REVEALING A SECRET TO YOU actually adds credence to the funny-because-it's-true idea. I have friends - intelligent, but nonnerd friends - who would watch this and take it at face-value. Most people I know who watch this show enjoy it in part because they have a nerd in their lives, so they know a little of what goes on, and they know nerds. And when knowing nerds, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
(((TL;DR part begins here --->)))
Here's how it works - I know that LARPing happens. If somebody told me that occasionally LARPing degenerates into glasses-steaming nerd orgies, I laugh at the joke, but also wonder if maybe it does happen. I've heard the joke DND campaign audio where the guy rolls dice to see if he's getting drunk, and wants to know if there are any girls there, so he can DO them. I know nerds are socially awkward and can be horndogs - the seed of doubt is there, maybe it's a wink-wink joke and not just a joke, I think.
Even without Moon Guard, the Big Bang Theory joke is plausible, not just to the average GAMES ARE FOR SOCIAL REJECTS WHO NEVER GET ANY crowd, but to people who know a thing or two about a thing or two, and often people who associate with, say, YOU, person reading the WoW Insider.
And don't get me wrong, I love Big Bang Theory, I think it's brilliant. The Penny vs. Sheldon stuff in particular holds a mirror up to the genial disconnect between nerds and the non-nerds who choose to associate with them. On the other hand, they're I got told by a friend the other day that I sometimes remind them of Sheldon, and I laughed and cringed. And now I'm cringing again, wondering if they saw this episode.
Moppentoff Feb 17th 2011 8:13AM
In the end you always appear to be the crazy one when you're nit-picking something like this to normal people.
Quit getting mad about videogames.
MusedMoose Feb 17th 2011 8:16AM
Y'know, that's a good point. If someone says something incorrect about WoW, it's probably better to just casually say something like "No, that's not true," and not make it a big deal.
MusedMoose Feb 17th 2011 8:14AM
It hasn't been an issue for me because none of my co-workers and only one of my friends are WoW players, and it's not like it comes up often. I did, however, once have to explain just what WoW was, in the simplest terms, to my mom. It was kind of interesting, because while she can manage most computer stuff without too much trouble, she's never had any interest in video games at all. But she got it eventually.
I'm kind of glad we weren't at my place at the time, else she might have asked to see it, and then I would have to explain why most of the characters I play are female. Heh.
Kurtis Feb 17th 2011 3:37PM
My brother-in-law and I were playing WoW together when we got together over New Years, and my father-in-law stood behind us and asked lots of actually very intelligent questions. Of course, he's not a foreigner to games, even if he is nearly at retirement age - my wife has described how she used to have to "fight" with him over a chance to play on the NES because he was playing Zelda...
Sinnh Feb 17th 2011 8:15AM
it's like that episode of Community where they're playing D&D. hilarious episode but obviously the rules of the game go out the window (no one rolling die was a bit lame). still a funny episode.
i have nowhere to go with this story, just made me think of that episode and how funny it was.
JT Feb 17th 2011 8:17AM
I almost died laughing when the one dude's character died and they made him give up his character sheet, complete with the LotR-style mournful music.
(cutaia) Feb 17th 2011 11:42AM
Community is amazing in general. I laughed my ass off for the entire D&D episode, though.
MikeLive Feb 17th 2011 8:17AM
Funny, I don't remember that scene from BBT...
LynMars Feb 17th 2011 9:17AM
It was the episode when Howard was explaining why he and Bernadette broke up, and then spent the rest of the episode debating whether or not he should try to get her back with help from his imaginary celebrity friends George Takei and Katee Sackhoff.
If you like the show, it's a good ep--besides maybe the eye-rolling WoW reference. ;)
MikeLive Feb 17th 2011 9:18AM
I do remember that episode though...
Telax Feb 17th 2011 8:20AM
With friends:
Over the past few years I have tried to wean friends of mine away from CoD and other such FPS games. They literally burn them selves out on those games playing night and day, screaming obscenities at the TV, whilst waiting in earnest for the next instalment of the same damn game. Occasionally I get bored of being invited over and then ignored whilst they play CoD and bring my Laptop with me to play WoW.
"That game is bad news" they say, generally followed by "It's more addictive than crack" whilst they foam at the mouths.
I generally smile and nod, then get back to fishing whilst dodging thrown control pads.
With Co-workers:
I let slip that I play WoW once, my co workers now take every opportunity to give me abuse. The game in their eyes is for loosers with no friends who want to waste their lives.
I tried to argue that playing a game with 12 million people all of whom have the same or similar interests as me can hardly be considered anti social but they never listen. Apparently it is far better to spent my evenings eagerly awaiting the next x-factor or EastEnders episode.