I’ve been promising myself that I will never try World of Warcraft because it’s exactly the type of game I like — some roleplaying, some social interaction, quests, battles, decent graphics, complicated leveling tree … and I would probably spend too much time playing it.
In the past, I’ve bought games like Fallout 3 — a standalone and awesomely done RPG, so … no ever-evolving plotlines like in WoW, and when you beat the game, you’re DONE. Park that game DVD on the shelf and reminisce about the good times you had blasting post-apocalyptical monsters.
World of Warcraft is a totally different story. It’s huge, complex, full of real people, with lots of things to do and places to see. There’s abilities to learn, money to make, people to meet, guilds to join, raids, dungeons … the list goes on and on. So, it’s no surprise that celebrities like Ozzy endorse it on prime-time TV.
So I tried it for 2 weeks.
Holy shit. What a massively addictive game it is.
You start by creating a little character, or “toon”. You have limited options regarding appearance, so you can choose from a set of several faces, skin tones, male/female, races, and classes. A race is who you are — human, orc, tauren, gnome, dwarf, night elf, etc. A class is what you do — mage, hunter, warrior, rogue, etc.
At first, I created a little gnome mage — I googled it and decided it’s the best all-around toon for me. I wanted to avoid making stupid mistakes like picking a race with abilities that contradict a class I wanted, which is something that can be alleviated only through research or experience.
You start the game by doing a few simple quests, which increase your abilities fairly fast, i.e. you “level” very fast from 1-10. By that time, you’re familiar with the game and kind of know what you’re doing.
Somewhere during that period, you choose your professions; yes, just like in real world, and you get to pick any two. So I went through the list of professions, which includes Tailoring, Enchanting, Mining, Herbalism, Blacksmithing, and a few more. I wanted to pick the two that would make me most money, so I focused on Mining and Herbalism, the two biggest moneymakers. Just like the the real world, the jobs that are rare and require specialized knowledge pay the most. Professions like First Aid, Cooking, Fishing, and Riding can be learned by all.
I leveled fast 1 to 10, mindlessly scoured the landscape for ore to mine and flowers to pick, then sold them at an in-game eBay-like auction. I made a ton of in-game money and quickly became an artisan at mining and herbalism, which meant I stuck with it and could now mine/pick higher-level, more expensive items.
I met some cool people and did a few quests/dungeons … that part of the game is undoubtedly fun. You meet people from all over, plan your attacks, strategize, work on your abilities, etc. The social aspect of the game is probably most fun.
Then I joined a guild, which basically means you have a second line with guild name above your toon, and you’ll hear everyone else talk/chat. Then I left the guild because I had no idea what the hell they were saying, and I didn’t care whether some “Ring of the Owl” was better than some “Sword of the Snake”, or whatever. They were serious gamers, level 80 (the maximum), and I could not relate to them.
Once the honeymoon of meeting people and admiring new gear passed, next came … THE GRIND. The grind in the WoW world basically means that you’re doing mindless, repetitive tasks to usually achieve an intermediate goal. For instance, if you want to buy the best gear, then you need money. To get money, you do the same thing you do in the real world … you work. In the game, you go out and find some sought-after resource, like leather, ore, or herbs, and gather it. This means you’ll be fighting mobs of identical monsters, walk up to the resource, gather it, then repeat about a thousand times. That’s it. Then you go buy whatever you wanted, spend the money, grind some more …. lather, rinse, repeat, so-to-speak.
If you’re tired of the grind, then you can quest. Questing is completing various chores for in-game non-playing characters (NPCs). You’re basically taking orders from a robot, go fulfill those orders, come back, get some reward, and repeat, most of the time this means a new quest from exact same quest-giver. A typical quest would be “go out to some <location>, kill <x> of <monster1> and <y> of <monster2>, then come back here” or “go out to some <location>, gather <x> of <item> by killing <monster1>“.
You grind, you quest, you raid (if you’re high enough level and found some people to play with). MOST of the time in the game, you’re not doing anything, just walking/flying/teleporting/boating from place to place. The actual time spent DOING SOMETHING is a fraction of the time spent hanging around and waiting for party members because YOU CAN’T LEAVE THE COMPUTER EVEN FOR 5 MINUTES, or walking to some place you need to quest/grind, or buying/selling crap at the auction, or waiting for the server to wake up and send you the crap you bought at the auction.
I came to the game as an academic. I wasn’t bored with my life, I didn’t need another hobby, etc. I just wanted to see what it’s all about, and why I keep seeing Ozzy endorsing it. I concluded that World of Warcraft, the Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (WoW MMORG) is a colossal waste of time.
I’ll caveat that. If you are a lonely 65-year-old (wo)man with no locomotive abilities, this game is for you. You’ll meet people, fight monsters, eat, drink, play with your pet, and do other fun things you used to do in your younger years. Hell, when I’m old, I’ll probably be rocking whatever the new iteration if WoW is out there, and it’s going to get completely incredible visually/gameplay-wise if past progress is any indication.
However, if you’re a young boy or girl, you have no business playing this game. And please, don’t use the copout about the “social aspect of the game” and how awesome it is. It’s like saying, “I love the social aspect of cruising for black tar heroin, all those different people I get to meet“. There is no social aspect. Bunch of people with no lifes hanging around what’s essentially a huge I/T infrastructure cloned across multiple servers with a support staff … a tedious, long grind that ruins people’s lives, who have nothing to show for it in the end.
Nothing.
You gain no skills.
You meet no real people in the real world.
You waste massive amounts of time doing effectively nothing.
You pay for it.
Since most of the work is grinding, waiting, and meeting people, why not get a job at a gas station? You’ll 1) grind repetitive tasks by stocking shelves and coolers 2) Wait when there’s no customers 3) Meet and speak with actual people … and on top of that, you 4) get paid for it!
You’ve reached level 80 as an alliance player. Then maybe you reach level 80 as a horde. Then what? Nothing, that’s what. You realize that you can vaguely remember whoever you raided with “that one time”, and the mobs upon mobs of never-ending, forever-spawning monsters … Identical, relentless, robotic.
Many subscribers log in as many as 30 hours per week. If this is you, this is serious, and is no longer just a game you play during your off-time.
Think of the opportunity cost of playing even 20 hours a week for a few months to reach one of the higher levels. I’ve searched for the leveling speed on forums, and I found that it can take anywhere from 3 to 7 months to get your toon into those higher levels … 3 months @ 20 hours a week is at least 240 hours, or 6 regular, working weeks!
I’ve read that it’s recommended that players who spend too much time in Azeroth apply the same principles they like about the game in their real-world lives. You like the process of building up your character to be the best he/she can be? Create a real-life leveling chart for yourself, and start leveling. Just like in the game, you can pick the professions you like, and start small — if you’re into Tailoring/Sewing/Crafting, get a $50 Singer at Wal-Mart and use the in-game Tailoring ladder to learn how to make simple robes and bags, then switch to more complicated things using finer threads and techniques. Who knows? Maybe, you’ll stitch up a nice t-shirt or a hoodie, and people will buy it on the Internet.
If you’re into gathering, go GeoCaching! You’ll learn your surroundings and meet actual people!
If you’re into becoming a stronger fighter, join a martial arts course, a boot-camp, and the NRA. Think what kind of a bad-assed fighter you’ll be in the real life … with really sweet skills of Unarmed, increased Stamina, and Guns — all those are real skills in WoW. Print your leveling chart on the wall — you reach level 30 when you run a fast mile, level 40 when you learn how to empty a clip into the bullseye at the range, and level 50 when you win a local martial arts competition. Track all of those accomplishments in a World of Warcraft-like talent tree to make it seem more real. Give yourself a treat when you reach a milestone!
If you’re into Herbalism, start a garden! Learn about tomatoes and cerranos … and instead of making potions, make salsa and package it into little jars shaped like little Minor Potions of Healing. Concoct an energy drink, and pour it into little blue jars of Mana!
If you’re into those miscellaneous skills of Cooking, Fishing, and First Aid … go out and learn them! Get a Rachel Rae book, a fishing rod, and join a community college course on Lifeguarding or First Aid.
There you go — you now have my take on it. Cancel your account if you’re a player, don’t start if you’re not.
