Hey everyone! ;) <-- (emoticon inserted in order to seem less cold, and to make my introduction more personal) My name is Tim Scott, I am a junior in CALS, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and I transferred here last year from the University of Rochester. Like many first name last names, I suffer from a first name last name union. It's just part of life for the "Tim Scott"s of the world. Anyway, my interests are varied, but if I had to say what my main interest is it would have to be horses. I've been showing competitively since I was 8, and am currently a member of the Cornell Polo Team. I have two horses, my 14 year old Thoroughbred, Polly, and my 3 year old Warmblood, Eppy. They're pretty awesome.
Anyway, an internet phenomenon that is of interest to me is the world of online gaming. These games are the metaworlds, as referred to by Wallace, of the modern era. The drug, er, I mean game, that I will be focusing on is that of World of Warcraft, aka WOW, aka electric crack. What is it about online gaming that sucks people in so entirely and completely? Now I will admit, although I'm not proud of it, I did experiment when I was younger, I mean, what kid hasn't? It was fun and a lot of my friends were doing it. I was fortunate enough, however, to pull my act together before I had a serious problem. Not everyone around me was quite so fortunate. My older brother is a level 70 shaman recovering addict, and he gave up WOW a few weeks ago, cold turkey. I'm very proud of him.
As exaggerated as these statements may seem, any WOW player can testify to how absolutely enveloping the game can become. People often forsake activities that are necessary to ones general well being and survival, i.e. sleep, showering, or eating food that requires more than one hand, in order to get in a few extra hours of playing time. Players frequently choose to abandon all socially expected routines in order to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. It seems that for many online gamers, the friendships and relationships that you develop online can substitute for real world relationships. WOW players have a sense of community and camaraderie, which exists because no one can understand their devotion to their chosen lifestyle except other WOW players.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Tim, it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who knows a recovering World of Warcraft addict. I have a cousin who brought 4 characters to maximum level and who would play the game exclusively. He was a firefighter, so he would work one 24hr shift, and would then have 3 full days off. And guess what he did--he ran dungeons with his WoW guild all night long.
I tried the game, but soon realized that I couldn't let myself get excited about it. The game was TOO good, that I was AFRAID to actually start getting into it. I would be interested to hear from any classmates who are avid WoW gamers, but who can consistently keep up with their academic and social expectations.
Hi Tim,
This blog is quite interesting to read, since I know several people who game (especially WoW) but obviously never read them blog about it. They're probably too absorbed in the game to do anything else haha.
After all this time I still don't get what's so appealing about online gaming, that hardworking engineers would place it over homework, studying, etc, etc...socializing even.
I guess the online friendships formed make sense, as another factor that draws ppl to the game. Do you really have time to talk to these people if you're busy gaming, or is that part of the game?
Tim, to start off, I really liked the part that began "The drug, er, I mean game". I think it really captures that particular online space. I'm sitting in Duffield's Hall and I took a look around and I can see at least one person playing WoW right now in one of those little alcoves by the atrium. It sometimes can be more destructive to a person's life than a drug since most drugs arouse negativity while most video games are passed off as harmless past times. Meanwhile they both have the same psychological addictive properties.
All in all, I enjoyed your observation of the WoW addicts.
Post a Comment