online gaming. i had no idea that i would get totally sucked in. i've been playing world of warcraft for about 3 years and have recently started playing on xbox live. it's actually a fun way to make friends (you obviously have something in common, since you're all playing the same game) and a great way to keep in touch with your real life friends. i haven't looked at second life yet, but i imagine it's the same sense of community without the actual game part. world of warcraft (or WoW) is a MMORPG -- massively multiplayer online role playing game -- set in a fantasy world. there are millions of people (official number was 11.5 million in december) all over the world who are playing this game. right now there're doing a promo with mountain dew, they've made it onto south park, and i've heard it referenced on a few tv shows. you can chat in-game or privately, group together for quests, keep a friends list of players you want to keep in touch with, and an ignore list as well for those you don't, mailboxes, holiday events, you can even sell your gear in an auction house that's just like ebay! warcraft is really a whole world of its own. xbox live isn't quite the same thing, but what they have in common is that you can talk to your friends when you're connected and play games together no matter where they are. i have a friend who moved to las vegas who i only ever talk to when we're both gaming, and another friend said just last night that she hadn't talked to her sister because neither of them had been playing WoW lately -- and they both live in ct! i made friends with a woman who was living in germany while her husband was in iraq, a guy who works nights at a hotel in ohio, a stay home mom with two kids, a college student, a music teacher... you name it. it took me awhile to learn all the chat abbreviations, like "afk" (away from keyboard) or "omw" (on my way), but luckily i had friends who were old pros to explain it all to me without making me look like a pathetic n00b. it's fun and it makes distances irrelevant (kind of like online shopping) and it really brings people together although you'd think just the opposite, since everyone is doing it from home... weird huh?
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I am really interested in MMORPG games. At first glance, a computer game seems anti-social. One Human, one computer, but these games are social- you are building community, connecting with people, and building social skill sets. And a great way for people who may be unable to leave the home to interact with others.
ReplyDeleteIn WoW, do people take sides and fight together on battles or is it more each person on their own. Does your conversation go between "Let's do XYZ!! Charge!!" and " I had a BLT for lunch"?
yes, there are 2 factions -- the Horde and the Alliance, and the players of one faction can't talk to the other. there are different "realms" which are basically entire worlds on different servers. then the servers are broken up into different gameplay types. "PVP" is player-versus-player and in those realms you can fight against the other faction all the time -- or be attacked! there are also "RP" (role playing) servers and "normal" servers, where you don't have to role play or pvp if you choose not to. but they are all flexible and you can have all those aspects of the game regardless of what server you're on. pvp servers are the one ones where your choice is somewhat restricted, since you have less control. the "general chat" varies -- from trade channels, where people are trying to sell gear or services (there are several professions you can choose from, like blacksmithing or enchanting or jewel crafting), to chuck norris jokes, to rants about players who did something stupid and got their party wiped out in a boss fight, to political discussions, to advice on what armor is best for mages -- it's really open and not restricted to game-related topics at all. there really is a LOT of interaction between players in this game, sometimes more than you might want. i just realized, as i saved the link from wikipedia, that i've actually been playing this game for 4 1/2 years, not 3... it really is the game that never ends!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft