Before I get started, I'll mention that I changed the name to the blog about being pregnant to
Along Comes A Minion. I thought this name would be more time resistant as I'll probably just end up dedicating the blog to being about the kiddo once I'm not pregnant. I even have a stupid little poll up on the site if you feel like getting clicky.
Moving on...
Per request, I'll tell the story how I became addicted to World of Warcraft.
This first clip starts off completely making fun of the game (and let me know if it doesn't work. It worked the first time I played it...then it was stuck loading for me afterwards. I hope that same problem doesn't continue). And you know what? I love it! I loved it then, I love it now! This was the hook...(you don't have to watch the clips, but I think they're hilarious.)
Here is the link to the full episode, always available on
Southpark's Website:
Make Love, Not Warcraft
This episode is from Southpark's Emmy winning Season 10 (yes, Southpark won an Emmy!), and the episode 'Make Love, Not Warcraft,' was the representative episode. Granted, most of that season was awesome (if you like Southpark, and even, sometimes, if you do not), but this was pretty great. Besides, Blizzard, the company that makes and distributes World of Warcraft, was in on the show and did graphics just for this episode.
Being a Southpark watcher, it was just a usual Wednesday when a new episode aired. Brandon and I were on the bed, watching the show, and thinking the whole thing was funny. Next thing I know, Brandon orders World of Warcraft off the computer (I believe this is how it went...if not exactly, then something like this). He installs it on the computer and starts playing. I'm watching him play and I ask if I can play with him, as it looks fun. Only one person can play at a time, so he logs off and lets me make a character to play. Thus starts the beginning of our playing World of Warcraft.
Well, we decided there is no freaking way only one of us will play at a time. We both enjoyed playing the game SO much, we bought another license to play the game. (You can buy the game at the store, but you have to have multiple accounts if you want to play more than one player at one time. And, yes, you pay by the month...or by the 3 months or 6 months, if you're us).
So, both of us started playing together. This required 2 computers, and, for a while, we were in separate rooms playing, until we got the laptop. By then, not only did we enjoy the game, but we became immersed in the online community. There are tons of people who play this game, too.
There are many ways you can play the game, all of which are fun...
- Play just to play: This is how I describe a player who logs in to just play by himself and do quests. There are varying goals, so to speak, that different computer generated characters send you off to accomplish. Sometimes it is to kill some goons that are trying to take over their vineyard, or to kill deer to collect meat to eat, or gather berries from bushes to feed the eagles. Sometimes the quest lines tell you stories about major figures in the World of Warcraft, but that is up to you to read the quests and learn and follow the storyline, if you choose. This is fun. You level up and are able to venture to new areas around Azeroth (sort of like the Earth of the game). You end up encountering new characters and new beasts, sometimes friendly, sometimes not.
- End game raiding: Ok, there is only a certain amount of levels you can attain in the game. Once you are at maximum level, there are still plenty of opportunities to play just to play, but a new opportunity opens up to you, if you desire. There are dungeons in the game that require a minimum of 5 players to even attempt. There are also raids that require 10 or 25 people to attempt. That's right, you have to gather a good amount of people online at the same time to venture into places like that. Usually, when you participate in this style of play, you've joined up with a Guild, a group of people united under a Guild name with similar goals in mind. Guilds usually schedule their raids a couple to a few times a week at the same time every night. You also join up to speak in real-time with your fellow guild-mates so that important information can be distributed quickly, and without having to type or look at the chat screen. Completing a raid dungeon can take anywhere from one night to the entire week...or not at all, depending on the skill level of the group, knowledge of the fights, and availability of resources the players have.
- Role playing: this is actually a variation of the previous two styles, where, once you log in, you pretend you actually are that character, your character's name is your name, and you are in whatever city or location your character actually resides in at the moment. Now, I've never role played, but what I was told is the actual role playing is usually halted in the spirit of accomplishing the huge tasks of completing a raid. But, this is yet another way to approach the game.
I'm sure there are other deviants to how to play the game (like focusing on player versus playver instead of player versus environment, which is mostly what I've described), but those are the basics. I was an end-game raider. I'm not currently participating in raiding given the so many things going on in my life and the time schedule I have to keep being a night shift worker, but I miss it. It took up a lot of time, and Brandon and I were so very serious about it, but we still enjoyed it immensely.
I realize I've deviated from how I started to play WoW into discussions about what WoW is, but I thought it important to describe this because once we joined the online community, we found ourselves wanting to participate more and more with some of the people we "met" in game as well as gather to accomplish the bigger goals that required more people at once to attain. I actually found a really good friend who lives in Connecticut, whom I've never met, but I've been speaking with her about life, WoW, and other things for many years now. And she's not 13, she's actually a little bit older than me. The community is NOT filled with raging hormones of teenagers, although that element surely is present. An adult can easily find adult groups to participate with. I've even heard of all Christian guilds, all family guilds, and other themes as such.
So, slowly but surely we found ourselves wanting to experience more and more aspects of the game. We went from having one character we focused on to being experienced in playing more than one character. For example, my main character, and the first one I ever played, was a Priest. A priest can both heal and create damage, but can specialize in one of 3 ways to accomplish those goals. I chose to be a healer. However, as time went on, I had the availability to choose 2 specializations and was allowed to practice killing things as my primary goal. I also started another character, a Shaman. Shamans can heal, cast spells, and beat things with mallets. I chose to beat things, and developed my shaman to be quite talented that way. I've created, leveled, and specialized many more toons, or characters, but I won't bore you with all their details.
Thus, you see, there are many elements to the game designed to keep you interested and not bored. Not to mention the new content they release occasionally via data patches and then the ginormous changes they create when they release a new expansion, usually accompanied by level cap increases.
And, for the record, that sword doesn't exist. :)
