Posts with tag long-distance

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

By now, most of us know somebody or have at least heard of somebody in an extended family that stays close by gaming together. Fact is, we can't really think of a better way to strengthen family ties across the miles. We all know that common interests are the mortar in a thriving relationship, and we know that kids open up with long-distance relatives most easily when the pressure's not on them to conversationally "perform." When you game with family across the miles, you share a real-time hobby with all the attendant chatter, enthusiasm and companionship that naturally comes along.

Meet Golis, aka Blaine Sundrud. The 40-year-old traveling sales engineer spends a huge portion of his life on the road -- so he's turned to WoW to help keep in touch with his teenage son. "We have been able to use our time in game to eliminate the fact that I am in a hotel in Florida while he is still home in Utah," he explains. "We get on a phone call (hooray for free long-distance) and can just talk and fool around for the evening."

The family connection doesn't end there. "Combine that with the fact that my parents (who live in Pennsylvania) play on the same server (both of them)," Golis continues. "While they are not the WoW addicts that my son and I are, we can usually count on a couple times a month conferencing them in on our call, and the four of us can go instancing, fishing, or just generally looking at the scenery. Due to the cost of travel, my son probably sees his grandparents in person once a year. Thanks to WoW, he has been able to get to know and play with them as if they just lived over the river and through the woods."

This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

In our age of technology and isolation, we often unintentionally turn a cold shoulder to our pals and relatives for a number of reasons. Sometimes we may give them a quick five-minute call once a month to say hello, just to feel like we're holding up our end of the relationship. Pokes on Facebook or comments on Myspace (who uses that anymore?) are basically the same concept. It seems that the more methods of communication we develop, the less we properly utilize them.

Being the mushy dude that I am, I prefer physical contact. I want to see my brother, best friend or mother's eyes light up when I tell a joke. I want to be able to be gossiped up by my grandmother as she cooks a family-favorite meal in the house she's lived in for over 40 years. But sadly, I realize that most of us are given very few chances as adults for such real-life connections.

However, technology has helped bridge the gap between loved ones in one very unusual place: Azeroth. The closest I've ever gotten to "being there" with someone hundreds of miles away is through the use of an avatar. World of Warcraft has given me the opportunity to connect with friends whom I haven't seen since years back, and my mother, who always complained that I didn't call her enough before I introduced her to this game. Granted, Granny and I won't be standing in the kitchen chatting and preparing a meal when we next see each other; instead, we'll be running through the Plaguelands blowing up zombies and skeletons to smithereens -- which, in my opinion, sounds so much cooler.