As is often the case with a post of this nature, I had a lot of further thoughts and things I’d wished I had included once I hit the “publish” button. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess. So here are some further ruminations on Why We WoW.
One of the key points that came up with people when I discussed my post yesterday, both in the comments section and in the BA Chat Room, was the idea that WoW doesn’t mean all that much. There were people who were vehemently in opposition to this thought, and they felt that there was real meaning for them in the game in one way or another.
There are some ways in which I agree. I agree that the “good feelings” you get from accomplishments do in fact mean something. I generally have what I’d call an “expansive” or “spiritual” way of thinking, and IMO having positive thoughts and experiences is VERY important. I know that I generally “feel good” about things if I have a successful night in WoW, and I know a lot of other people feel the same.
So yes, “silly” accomplishments in the game can affect your life. Heck, maybe you have a great night in SSC, and the next day at work feel uber IRL, and get yourself a raise. 
Entertainment or Hobby?
I think something that comes up again and again in reaction to my post yesterday is that WoW is much more than your standard movie or television show. After all, those are passive entertainment activities, and passive WoW would be no fun at all. I mean, you don’t make any decisions in the movie theater beyond “butter or no butter,” and you aren’t affecting the outcome of CSI by making decisions for the main characters.
In WoW, however, you are playing an active role. Isn’t WoW more a hobby than entertainment?
One of things that people who don’t play WoW don’t get is that it’s more than entertainment. Many people look at WoW the same way they do television. To them, we are spending hours and hours a week doing nothing more interactive or enriching than watching the Food Network 24/7. (In defense of the Food Network, there are times that it’s all I watch!)
Would they think differently if they thought of WoW as a hobby? I think so, but that might prove difficult. Say I like to make model cars as a hobby. If I spent 3 hours every other night painting wheels, nobody would look down on me, ask if I was addicted, and insist I was ruining my life. The same could be said for most hobbies, too.
If I spent 20 hours a week reading, I’d be enriching my vocabulary, not hopelessly addicted.
If I spent 20 hours a week crocheting, I’d have beautiful blankets and wouldn’t have ben “wasting” my life.
If I spent 20 hours a week painting, people would admire me no matter how crappy said paintings were.
If I spent 20 hours a week raiding in WoW, I’m ruining my life, I need help, and I’m a loser.
Sound about right? That’s the rub. How do we convince people that WoW is a hobby, and NOT just entertainment? I honestly don’t know.
For me, I was only successful convincing my wife that it had some merit once I started this blog, and soon had over 100 regular readers. Needless to say, I make sure to let her know how my readership grows all the time. This has largely let me off the hook.
In general, though, it’s hard to convince people that this is a hobby and not entertainment. We don’t have any visceral “product” at the end to show people, really. They don’t share our triumphs when we take down a new raid boss, or win the roll on a shiny new epic. They don’t understand that we develop REAL relationships in game. That we often talk of things other than WoW, that we share experiences with others. They just don’t get it.
I guess, in the end, the answer is simple. Get them to start playing WoW, as the more people that play, the more people understand and value this wonderful game. (And yes, I have tried this tactic with my wife, but she absolutely refuses to even give it a look. She can be stubborn sometimes, but it’s one of the reasons I love her!) I know I value WoW. Hopefully yesterday’s post didn’t make you think otherwise. Thanks for reading!
Tags: Meta WoW, Rant
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You make some really great points in this continuation, although the beginning post was enough food for thought to become a BA shared topic by itself!
For some reason the response I posted on my blog never linked itself through your site even though I showed the link luv =-( Maybe it only works with wordpress?
Anyway, I agree with you completely when you said “they dont understand we develop REAL relationships in game.” In fact I could almost write an entire blog about WarCraft as relationship-craft instead of crochetting LOL… good stuff!
You’ve totally earned your spot on my blogroll, hope you get a lot of other people who feel the same!
I tend to agree with you that WoW has a negative image (as in most video games), somewhat unfairly. However, I do see the other side of the argument in the fact that WOW does encourage addiction over other forms of “hobbies”. For example, you might be addict to reading a book for days on end, but once you finish the book, the addiction sort of ends (maybe until you find the next great book), but my point is that, there’s some sort of a closure and an ending to that activity, the problem with WOW is that there’s no ending provided, there’s always something to do, so you end up spending more and more time on the game.
I guess my point is that society accept that people go in and out of addiction for an activity throughout their lives, but once that activity starts to take over your life and you are spending less and less time doing other activities, then it becomes a problem, regardless if it is WOW or reading or watching TV, or even you day-time job!
I’d definitely say WoW is more of a hobby than entertainment, especially as someone in a more social guild. Heck, a lot of the time people say they only still play WoW because it allows them to talk to all their friends online. If WoW (or any other MMO for that matter) was simply entertainment, that wouldn’t happen. You don’t watch movies or play other video games or watch TV simply because you want to hang out with your friends. Sure, you might want to do that, but there’s pure entertainment value that you’re all getting.
I think what most people don’t understand about MMO’s is the social relationships you develop, as you said. I think people would be more understanding if they realized how strong those relationships can become. I’ve been with a lot of my guildmates for almost 5 years now (we came from FFXI before some eventually moved to WoW), and I’ve met about a dozen of them in person, a couple of them several times. They don’t even play WoW, but I’m still friends with them from our time in FFXI. On Spring Break I went out to San Diego to meet up with a few of them. So anyone who says relationships you build online can’t be real has no idea what they’re talking about. You’re right though, the only way to prove that is for those people to experience it which…given the fact many people DO get adversely affected/addicted to WoW, isn’t going to happen.
Over the 4 – 5 years since I started playing MMO’s ive always had a rough time explaining the why. I have 5 other family members that are also playing WoW, and the rest of the family think we are all crazy lol. It took a great deal of time trying to get people to realize that we play to enjoy each others company. As well as a release of the everday do this and that and the 40 hour work week while going to school. 4 years later I can now say im busy! lol and get away with it, of course ive got to do it politely or they think ive gone evil. And for those that ask, how can you pay 15 bucks a month, its so not worth it. I simply explain to them that 40 bucks for a new game each month is alot more expensive. I think ive tried 4-5 new games in the past year compared to my standard 12-15 games.
People do think of video games and suddenly start to think negatively. The past year ive been doing some studies on video games (since im studying to become a game designer), and I do have to say… the break through is near, video games are becoming more and more respected through the educational value they can bring.