Socials on World of Warcraft

I have never been a gamer, not really into video games or board games or any games really but I find myself losing time when I play World of Warcraft: I meet people, walk around and quest with them, or (more likely) they help me quest since I’m not the best player in the world, and before I know it, it’s 2am! On the rare occasions I have picked up a video game to kill time, I’m bored fifteen minutes later. World of Warcraft, however, is different because I can talk to people in the game. When I am working with other players, I don’t notice the time go by. I enjoy questing with other players and the interactions with them. I am fascinated by the strategies required by this game. As the name warcraft implies, group interactions and instances demand a lot of diverse craft techniques to be successful. During the class group instance, each player had a specific task to fulfill during the fight in Dead Mines. I was amazed by the dexterity required by each player and the group as a whole to defeat VC. Not the usual rpg in which you are on your own unless you’ve got an extra controller and a friend with you! If I had to pick a category for myself before playing Warcraft, I would have said explorer, hands down, because I find it tedious that I have to level up, to go around killing things just to be able to kill bigger things. I like the quests and traveling around with a purpose. I never would have thought I'd enjoy it so much because I can talk to other people, making me a social gamer. I hated Second Life primarily because of the social requirements.
But I’ve come to enjoy World of Warcraft. I finally rolled a character for my son and showed him how to play the game. He’s been watching me play all week, observing and listening when I talk about it. He was as fascinated as I was by working with other characters, so he asked me when someone would come protect him while he quested. He killed all the nearby animals and leveled up to 3 rather quickly (while I was cooking dinner) when he asked me to read something: he’d been challenged to a duel by a level 21 character! I denied it, the guy re-issued it, so I wrote that this character was for my 6 year old son and I was just showing him how to quest. The guy wrote back “I’m 9. What quest? I’ll help.” So they traveled to get the webwood venom sacks. I told him Max wasn’t good with the computer controllers, so he walked everywhere instead of running. All the animals that would have taken several hits for Max to kill, our new friend slew with one hit! He completed the task rather easily and the boy said “Wanna join my guild? When will you be 7?” and sent an invitation. I was amazed, actually, by his skill and his manners, but the time had come that we had to leave the game world, so I asked when he’d be back. He said he lives in Stormwind but as a member of his guild we could tap him and he’d come help with quests. Max’s character is a night elf rogue named Scrunchie (all the names he chose were taken; that’s my pet name for him). Scrunchie is currently at level 4 and he’s only played twice, for about a half hour each time! I’m so proud!
In addition to my son’s character, I have two others. A level 11 night elf priestess named Celticwitch and a night elf hunter named Phedra. I started playing with Phedra. She’s a level 8, and I like her alright, but I didn’t know that I’d run out of arrows and would have to buy more so I ran into a lot of problems with that. I like Celticwitch better because I like the sparkles and rain of fire and the fact that she can heal herself in a pinch. Also, since I’m a ‘noob’ I’m not the best fighter. After class today I thought perhaps I should’ve been a tank since it’s an uncomplicated one or two buttons to push during a fight, but I like the idea of staying out of harms way and assisting my fellow questers. I just learned how to resurrect, too, so that should come in handy if I meet anyone my level or when I reach a more competitive level. Still, it’s also the fun of playing with friends I haven’t seen in years that really binds me to Celticwitch. I don’t really know anybody, that I’m aware of, in the other realms but I was instantly enamored of the idea of ‘hanging out’ with my old friends. When I found out my old roommates’ son played, I immediately rolled a character in his realm. I’m not very good with crowds and I don’t make new friends easily so the friends I do have are precious to me. I watched my roommate’s kids grow up; they spent weekends with all of us. I’ve really enjoyed reconnecting with them, and how much he’s grown up in the 8 year interim. It wouldn’t be the same, just emailing or even instant messaging: without leaving town, I can spend time with far away friends, hang out together and do fun stuff. The concept is still just amazing to me, too new.
My old friend in the real world is a level 70 gnome mage named Confibutated; he came to Teldrassil to bring me to Stormwind. He gave me gold, made a wand which I can’t use until I’m a level 13, gave me a tour of the city (during which I kept falling into the water and had quite a time trying to jump out) and surrounding areas. He also introduced me to the gryphon masters in surrounding cities so I wouldn’t have to walk there on my own when I quest later. His gnome character is very fast and he ran circles around me. He also has a mount, which is even faster still!
He explained that he applied to a particular guild and it’s like a job now that he’s in. He has requirements to fulfill, tasks to perform. My first encounter with the Horde was a dead orc at the gates of Stormwind. On Teldrassil, I never encountered any Horde members, so it's really great having a friend to take me around this new place and show me the ropes. This interaction is perhaps what I’ve been lacking in other video games to date. I get frustrated easily. On my own, I must admit, I wouldn’t have made it out of the water in the city. I had to try too many times. I would’ve turned the game off for good or found somebody else to get me past that part. He wasn’t close by in the physical realm, so he couldn’t do it for me, but he was showing me around and I couldn’t just not continue: it’d be ungrateful! Which motivated me to find a way out of that tough spot. And it felt good to accomplish something that was difficult.
I’ve even met other people in this realm who have been friendly and helpful. On the class realm, Nazjatar, I never made any friends or met anybody to quest with except once, and they dropped me from the group when I died in the Barrow Den. It wasn’t fun. Nazjatar is a ‘normal’ realm which emphasizes the game instead of player interactions. I think the difference may be the player vs. player emphasis on Malorne. On a player vs. player realm, everyone is subject to attacks from other players at any time which perhaps instills a sort of solidarity within the factions.
Also, I suppose, to see a night elf at such a low level so far from home might instill a bit of protectiveness from stronger characters. The dwarf I met helped me get out of Moonbrook. All the People’s Militia npcs were higher levels than I was and they could see me and kill me while in shadowmeld. I didn’t know they could do that! By the time I met the dwarf, my armor was all red and I’d lost the use of my weapon. Thank goodness I still had magic! But I died about 8 or 9 times so I suppose I should have thought to go repair. I thought I would have to go all the way back to Stormwind to repair since Moonbrook was inhospitable, but I’d forgotten about the little town where the gryphon master was. He took me back there, barely more than a glorified campsite, really. But I repaired all of my stuff and he checked my inventory and suggested I replace my wooden mallet with a mace that would do much more damage. Now I’m ready to go back to Moonbrook! But I think I’ll take my time and level up on the quests closer to Stormwind, easier for a lower level character to complete, until I can use my wand. So I can go play with my friends; it’s the least I can do since they’ve been so helpful so far.
My experience with World of Warcraft has been entirely different from any other game I’ve attempted to play because of the social aspect. I didn’t like Second Life; I didn’t meet people there that I could engage in conversation. In WoW, I’ve met so many wonderful, helpful people. Playing WoW has changed my view of video games in general, though I’m not currently tempted to find another game to play. I’m still having fun with this one; it’s different every time I log on, but not so different that it doesn’t get familiar. I think I know now why people keep playing this game: not just the prestige, but that other players could rely on me to perform certain tasks. Confibutated told me that there aren’t a lot of priest characters on Malorne, the realm I play, which means that if I do well, I could be in demand. Imagine that! Me, not picked last for the team. (I don’t really like sports, either; it’s not just video games.)
I like making new friends without having to leave my home and being able to do things, to travel and wander the world together, and have a secret second life (pun intended). And as a mother, I think it’s nice to play this one with my son. He’s a video game enthusiast so it’s fun for both of us. Unlike the other games he plays, when he tells me about an accomplishment, I know what he went through to achieve it! And, if finances permit in the future, it may be possible for us to quest together. That’s really what I think about, about family and interacting with other people. Learning a new skill that brings me closer to my son’s world, connects me to something I’ve never understood before, is the best part of this game. Since the experience is so unlike traditional games, I think all parents (of kids who play this game) should play World of Warcraft with their children and with an open mind. It’s an eye-opening experience when the shoe is on the other foot. Confibutated said he wished he could explain to his mother what he was doing in his guild but she “doesn’t like video games” and isn’t interested in learning. I’m glad I had the opportunity to step outside my safety zone and play World of Warcraft so I can play with my son instead of just watching and nodding vacantly whenever he tells me something that happens in his game.