Unabashed

I have a disturbing new fascination: World of Warcraft. This game is much too much fun and is sapping way too much of my time.

I was looking for a new game to use my Xmas-gift $50 gift card on, and some friends I work with recommended World of Warcraft. After they explained the game a bit, it sounded fun, so I got it. Damn. All I can tell you is this: If you’re wondering where I’ve been the past couple of weeks, I’ve been in Azeroth, campaigning with my Rogue Orc. Now everyone I talk to when I mention that I’m playing WOW give me that knowing look that I’m finding is common among the players, the look that says, “your life just changed, didn’t it?” or, essentially, “Welcome to your new life.”

I won’t write a review of the game here. I’m much too new to the game to be able to describe the complexity of its land masses and characters. I’ll only say that I’m having to re-assess how much time I can allot to playing a game. My infatuation with WOW will likely wane–it always does with games, no matter how much fun they might be. But the sheer scope of involvement, the amount of ground there is to cover–literally–make it seem like this could be a game which could sap years of someone’s life before they’ve gotten a glint of how encompassing it truly is. It’s a lot like Grand Theft Auto, if you ever played that game. A big part of the fun of GTA was in exploring the city and the lay of the land. And GTA was an infatuation for me for a long, long time. But where GTA was basically a city, and in the newer version a few cities, WOW is an entire world, and even more fully textured and captivating. If GTA ever emulates Blizzard’s model for WOW and builds a whole world to explore, I may fall directly into a digital life and never be heard from again.

I’ve never played Second Life, but I imagine WOW is similar in scope, except you get to kill monsters and go on dungeon raids and quests.

And now I’ve got something else to balance into my life, because I can’t spend too much time with it. I’ve got blogs to read, friends to keep up with, and I’ve got writing and blogging to do right here on Unabashed. Which is why I’m writing this now. I’m letting you know that I’m not disappearing off the face of the Earth–at least not yet. I’m just fiddling with my latest fascination. I’m still reading your blogs, but I may not be commenting as much as I used to.

If you’re a WOW gamer, I’m on the Scarlet Crusade server, and my character’s name is KodusKahn.

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: Azeroth, grand theft auto, GTA, second life, Warcraft, World, WOW