World of Warcraft: Virtual Real Life

World of Warcraft has taken the whole world by storm ever since its official debut on November 2004. It is by no near competition the biggest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) ever made. Close to a population of 4 million members (this number could be outdated by the time I post this), WoW developed a culture of its own. Warriors, Paladins, Rogues, Druids, Hunters, Shamans, Mages, Warlocks and Priests play head to head or together to attain the most powerful weapons and armor in this virtual world. They also make up guilds of various policies and regulations, which constitute mini communities in their own right.

As with every society in real life, these guilds provide an effective means of interaction whether through text or voice chat. Interection causes activity, and activity provides ground for feedback. It is this feedback which is the subject of this post.

So as I mentioned before, the whole idea of the game is to possess incredible items of extreme power, and this is attainable through doing quests and mainly by going in large groups (20-man and 40-man raids) into dangerous dungeons. Powerful guilds with well-equipped players can perform a scheduled system of raids with ease, while the smaller guilds tend to focus on character development with this goal in mind for the long-term.

I used to lead a small guild called The Lightforge Army, focusing on developing my main character (which is a Paladin), as well as lending a generous hand to my fellow "guildies" in their questing adventures. The problem here lies in the fact that some players are power-levelers who reach the level-cap (currently at 60) in a considerably short time -- the fastest being a claimed 21 days! My Guild Officers had the fervor to reach the level cap in order to venture into the big-time dungeons. They did not like the fact that the guild comprised mainly of casual, young players who only had so much time to play every week, thus slowing their progress. So they decided to leave my guild and join a bigger one. When that happened, amusingly I went into a raging fit and disbanded the whole guild! I kid you not, I was very upset as I was spending a lot of quality time questing with those guys in order to help them develop their characters to the level I was.

But after a short while I accepted the fact that it is their right to look after their interests due to the main reason, which is to benefit from their subscription fee. It is a game anyway. However, it is a real problem when you see some great people transform into cocky, arrogant prats who rarely "give face" because they now possess great power which "resonates" from their epic armor and swords, all thanks to the bigger guilds they joined. Well, I've got news for you: IT IS A GAME, OK?! So get over it already! Nothing is worth sacrificing the "real" relationships which you have developed with others through this great game over the past year. Not even The Judgment Set! :P

And to those of you who claim that WoW is your life now, I suggest you do something more useful, like reading a book or studying, or visit an exotic destination and learn about other cultures in real life. Trust me, it's great!

Cheers,

Hesham :)