Tuesday, September 7, 2010

WoW As A Scapegoat

We all see graphics like this and get a LOL out of them.


How funny is that?  LOL.  People who play WoW can't have normal relationships, friendships, etc.  Graphics like this are done by one of two people.  Either people who don't play WoW and want to insult those who do or someone who plays WoW and actually believes it. 

To the people who don't play WoW, sorry, but you are jerks to think that all WoW players are in a certain stereotype.  Maybe you don't like high fantasy and prefer FPSs  (P.S.  We will get to you in a second.) but it is no reason to demean millions of gamers.  People who love FF7 as the "greatest game of all time" look down on WoW players.  I could never understand jerk's mentality, not that I would try to. 

To the people who do play WoW and believe this is true.  STOP.  As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  If you want a girlfriend, get a girlfriend.  If you want lots of friends, get friends.  Find something you like to do and do it.   When I was ready to have a serious relationship, I signed up for eHarmony.  I signed up and now found a girl that I'm deeply in love with and she is deeply in love with me.  And guess what, I still play WoW.  And, yes, she knows I play WoW although she does not play herself.  Yes, you may not find a girl for you in a bar. (And honestly, would you really want to?)  That is why I never went to them.  But there are so many other things you can do.  Don't make yourself believe that just because you play WoW, you can never have normal relationships, friendships, hobbies, etc.  You can easily do that.  But don't use WoW as a scapegoat for your shyness, lack of motivation, or lack of self esteem. 

Let me give you a better example.  The days after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came out, there were over 2 million people playing on Xbox Live at its highest point by Microsoft's estimates.  I'm sure that after Cataclysm launches, the highest will probably be about 2 - 6 million playing at one time.  Would anybody make the same jokes about Modern Warfare players as they do about WoW players.  Absolutely not.  And even if they did, do you think MW2 players would stand for it.  No, they would defend themselves.  And you had MW2 players taking days off of work after it came out to play the game as well.  Just like WoW players.

Now, don't get me wrong.  Obsessions are trouble.  If you feel you are obsessed with WoW and cannot do anything but WoW, get help.  Obsessions are typically a form of mental illness.  Obsessions do take away from having normal friends and relationships.  And that can be regardless of the obsession, whether alcohol, drugs, or WoW.  If you are obsessed with WoW, you may honestly need help to overcome that.  But in that case, WoW is not the problem, it is the obsession.  And some people have obsessive personalities so even if they weren't addicted to WoW, they would be addicted to something else.

In the end, WoW is a game.  A fun game that has many areas of enjoyment.  However, WoW does not equal a lack of social life unless you make yourself believe that.           

6 comments:

Bell said...

Well, I did play WoW, and I honestly thought those were funny in the ironic, laughing at myself way.

However, I do think too many people stereotype against people who play WoW.

Redhawks said...

@Bell

I think some of the WoW players do look at it as an ironic kind of way. However, I know of some players who honestly believe this is true. I just wanted to encourage them a little bit.

And yes, a lot more people stereotype WoW players than any other video game players around.

Natrisi said...

I'll pass on the girlfriend...now someone find me a cute guy who plays wow...and likes other guys :)

Redhawks said...

@Natrii

Thanks for reminding me. I was just going from my personal experience, but you are right though. I should have just said if you want a romantic relationship, go get one.

Louise said...

I met my current boyfriend via WoW and we couldn't be happier been with him for about 3 years nearly. I think why we get on so well is that we have a shared passion for games like at the moment I got Halo Reach so he knows that if I am not talking to him its because im playing on it, I am the same with him every time there a new football game lol

Its sad that people think we have no social life if we play wow just shows how many narrow minded people there are out there, everyone has different interest for me gaming beats any night out at a club, but that's just me.

I agree on you that wow players do get stereotyped big time in fact when I was getting my Starcraft collectors edition one of the staff said "he a lucky guy" I replied "pardon me but this game is exclusively for me" I think he was expecting a fat, spotty,... (YOU GET THE IDEA) stereotyped RTS player which is far from what I have seen of people I meet through gaming.

Redhawks said...

@Louise

Great comments and great story. I love the fact that you met your boyfriend through WoW. And I'm sure there are a lot of relationships that have begun like that. (When you have 12 million players, it will figure that some of them will get together.) It is great when it can happen, but I think a lot of players think it will happen to them. Relationships through WoW are probably the minority, not the majority. It happens, but not often enough to forego doing anything else.