Reasons to Play World of Warcraft
Friday, July 18th, 2008
Larisa’s post on Why Do I WoW? struck a lot of chords with me.
Like her, I really wasn’t that into team play growing up. I still find myself repelled by most group activities. Doing things with a team and enjoying it gives me some perspective on those who love doing things with other people.
The way WoW makes self-improvement fun is also a critical part of my enjoyment of the game. The Ferrett had a post way back when about wishing that leveling skills in real life were as quantifiable as leveling skills in an RPG. (Sorry I can’t find the specific post.) In WoW it’s easy to see when your character has gotten better at something - a number scrolls across your screen. Once you reach max levels and you’re not getting those number you can start setting specific goals pretty easily, e.g. "I will not let the warlock pull off of me this evening." The goals are achievable and concrete.
Having a world to explore is a lot of fun. That was one of my favorite things about moving to a new area in real life - finding all the neat new places that are out there. I’m not likely to move soon so WoW gives a bit of an outlet to my wanderlust.
I wouldn’t identify the kicks as a big reason for me to play WoW. A big crit can be fun and it’s exhilarating to down a new boss, but I don’t think that’s enough to keep pulling me back.
Socializing is another of the big reasons I play WoW. Many eons ago I told a college friend that I would love to do my socializing via typing on a computer network. Now I can! As a bonus, I get to play games while socializing and games have always been one of my favorite ways of connecting with people.
I’ve identified other reasons that I play WoW in previous posts, but I’d have to say that I strongly empathize with four out of Larisa’s five.