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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 9 of 9)
messiahxi Feb 18th 2011 10:16AM
I've also seen 3 or 4 episodes of BBT. I happened to find it unwatchable. I get that it has "geek references," but ugh... it is terrible.
Sky Feb 17th 2011 1:51PM
Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. That is all I can say about this topic
Kyle Feb 17th 2011 2:06PM
1. This show is incredible.
2. If you're taking this episode seriously and actually offended they misreprestented the game this way you are so full of fail at plot lines and story development you don't deserve to watch tv. There isn't an MMO that lets you 'have sex.' So any MMO could have been plugged in there to fit the point.
3. This show is beyond incredible and outside of this has actually done a great job of representing any video game they portray.
Muskie Feb 17th 2011 2:07PM
Huh. you think you guys have it bad?
Try being a Tabletop Gamer, WoW-Lover, Fantasy Book nerd, Artist, Writer, and Furry. At the same time!
shadcroly Feb 17th 2011 2:58PM
I feel your pain, bro. =C It gets worse when you try and tell people you're also a fan of the Final Fantasy series...
Umbrascia Feb 17th 2011 3:22PM
Sometimes I like to dumb it down even more, because I realize it makes very little sense to people who aren't gong to pay attention to more than a 2 second explanation. It sounds infinitely more ridiculous, but it gets some great looks-
"See, I'm a magic zombie, and she's a ninja werewolf, so we're fighting about that."
O.o
(cutaia) Feb 17th 2011 4:27PM
That's awesome. I'm gonna have to remember that one.
Fletcher Feb 17th 2011 4:05PM
I can't say I care too much what people think of WoW ... not following the media is a great weight off my shoulders. I may start again if I find a news source that doesn't make me want to drive nails into my eyes.
Plus my mother is a social worker with quite a few WoW players as clients, so I'm a good source of street cred for her. :D
jakedamuss Feb 17th 2011 4:14PM
I just laugh because these people are very ignorant and stupid, not just about video games but about almost everything. They are the same type people who will always be patriotic with out question and have let propaganda rot their brains and dumb them down.
They are the same type of people who think G.E is bad and also think cannabis should be a crime.
If I let ignorance upset me I would need some extreme medication for depression. I just ignore these people.
Fluph Feb 17th 2011 5:16PM
My girlfriend used to knock WoW and more specifically it's players. I had only played it for a month or two and then left my account dormant for a couple years - but I'm always of the mind you shouldn't knock something until you try it, so I re-activated the account and told her to have a play for a few days.
2 years later we each have 3 level 85s (as well as several other 70+ toons), run a prog raiding guild, downed pretty much everything there was to down in WotLk several times over etc etc.
Lots of people misrepresent the game or make assumptions, if they're open to it, try a little education by participation.
RetPallyJil Feb 17th 2011 5:43PM
Misrepresented?
You have no idea what misrepresented is. I've played Dungeons & Dragons since the late 80s. You haven't lived until you've put up with that kind of crap.
And then I promptly made a ret paladin. I must be a glutton for punishment.
Redbeard Feb 17th 2011 10:38PM
/raises hand
Same here. Even had the folks who threw out my D&D collection, claiming it was Satanic. The words "role playing" to them evokes "Evil" and "Satan", and they think Harry Potter will lead kids to practicing witchcraft.
And yeah, I rolled a Ret Pally too.
Raginghobo Feb 17th 2011 7:26PM
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got townships to pillage and countrysides to ravage."
One of my, Please don't interrupt me I'm raiding lines. Theres only 1 important person in my life I don't want it misrepresented too(my non-gamer Fiance), everyone else I couldn't care less about.
Nipah Feb 17th 2011 9:20PM
To my father, WoW is a game where I'm endlessly running around.
"What are you doing?"
"Flying to a different town."
"Oh, running around again huh?"
*Later, dad walks behind to see my monitor*
"Still running huh?"
"You know... I was just killing like, 20 monsters 3 seconds ago..."
"Sure sure... have fun running around."
... but hey, its better than him thinking I'm constantly having virtual sex I suppose.
sweetmittens Feb 17th 2011 9:27PM
Everyone I know definitely holds stereotypes about those of us who play WoW. Like some of the other commentors, I have more social relationships thanks to WoW than I would otherwise, being a rather quiet person who doesn't seem to have much in common with my coworkers.
I wish I could feel comfortable enough to tell my family that I play, but I know they wouldn't understand no matter how much I try to explain the game and what it means to me. The worst part is that I find WoW academically fascinating enough to have done my MA thesis on animals in the game--and am too embarrassed to let anyone I know read my thesis, even though it was a hit amongst my examining committee and fellow classmates. Although my boyfriend used to play too (we raided together throughout WotLK), he discouraged me from talking about my research work with any of his friends. So I have to say yes, I hate stereotypes about the hobby I enjoy.
Oog Feb 18th 2011 6:26PM
But, but, characters _can_ have sex with each other! Or, have none of you ever played on an RP server? Never played as a female toon and received a request to "cyber"?
Jayfitty Feb 18th 2011 2:59AM
It isn't that major of a misrepresentation but on the first episode of USA Network's new show Fairly Legal the main character's assistant is shown playing WoW at his desk. He is in Wintergrasp, in a Demolisher, destroying one of the Southern towers. All is fine and dandy, he even explains how even as defense you need to be offensive (destroying towers while defending) but then, IT HAPPENS! He paused the game...
Take a moment, I'll say it again. He paused the game, concluded the conversation with his boss and then unpaused the game and continued assaulting the tower.
It really bothers me when shows use WoW as a plot point and then do it incorrectly.
In regards to that episode of Big Bang Theory, what a horrendous thing to say about WoW. I'm surprised Blizzard didn't get upset about that.