Elnia at The Pink Pigtail Inn had a post a while back: Message to the Planet Teenager that argues that World of Warcraft is a social activity and that “For many people on-line gaming is actually a constructive improvement in their social life.” I definitely find that to be the case.
One of the commenters in particular seems to have a real problem with this idea. Okrane wants gamers to “go outside, meet up with some other friends and have a laughter.” I’m not sure what we’re allowed to do under Okrane’s regime. Are card games okay? Dancing? Watching sports? Going to a movie? I’m guessing talking on the phone is right out.
If I wasn’t playing computer games, I would not be doing things with “real people” any more than I do now. I would probably spend more time cleaning my house and reading. If anything, I find WoW to be a little too intensely social for me at times. WoW has encouraged me to be more social and to interact with people in different ways.
Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I’m delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.
– Baron Munchausen, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
#1 by Faith on 6/22/2009 - 9:43 pm
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Elnia’s article is very well written and I would agree with his take on WoW. Very balanced. WoW is a viable option for socialization. One of the odd things I learnt about myself while playing WoW is that I’m more anti-social that I had thought.
#2 by Jaimie on 6/22/2009 - 10:44 pm
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I’ve actually found that I’m more social than I thought. I find I like the interaction I have on line a whole lot more than the ones in “real life”. I never worry about what I look like or if the other person will be repulsed by something about me on line and in game like I am in the everyday world.
#3 by Faith on 6/23/2009 - 8:28 am
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Maybe for me it is because I am a visual learner. If I can’t “see” or picture something, I don’t get it. It seems to flow into personal interactions too because if there is no visual interaction/ connection I loose interest after awhile.
#4 by Beej on 6/23/2009 - 11:18 am
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I also use WoW (and other online games) as a way to socialize. I have my RL friends who live near me, but college buddies who have moved away are great to do PvP and instances with on WoW. I might never get to see them in person, but we can joke, laugh, and have a good time accomplishing something while keeping up with each other’s lives.
#5 by Joel on 6/23/2009 - 12:50 pm
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As Faith pointed out some of it may just be a matter of different styles of interaction. It’s hard to beat spending time in the same physical space as friends. For some people, reading friends’ word or hearing their voices may be enough. For others the interaction without the visual cues is unsatisfying.
As a further thought, if you regularly misread visual/textual/auditory communications, a medium that eliminates the channel you misread may ultimately be more satisfying for you.
#6 by Jaimie on 6/23/2009 - 2:41 pm
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I like spending time with friends in the real world, but I don’t have many of those nor am I likely to make many more. I’m somewhat shy around new people and my personality isn’t easy to get along with. What I think is funny tends to turn people who don’t know me off(irreverent and slightly crude). On line I can sit back and just “listen” till I get the feel of what the group is like. I’ve been very fortunate in finding good guilds/kins to play in. My current LotRO kin is full of people who find the same things funny and yet are old enough to know when things slip from funny to rude/degrading/out of limits whatever. My WoW guild is different in that it was a hand picked group from people we either know in real life or have gamed with long enough to feel we know them.
I feel like the people I game with are my friends, I miss them when they aren’t on line and worry/celebrate/rejoice over or with them about their lives. Does that fact that I would walk passed them in the street mean that they aren’t my friends I don’t think so.