World of Warcraft

Posted by Vicki on 01.01.06

If you are going to be in denial about anything, Christmas is a good place to start; it's expensive, filled with random relatives you had blocked out and has some of the worst music on Earth associated with it. The religious symbolism is sappy and boring. However, the capitalist greed that has replaced it is no better and somehow more expensive - depending on the subjective question of what price your immortal soul?

In addition to being effectively forced to go and buy expensive disposable junk you are in a time of year where it gets dark so early and is so cold you have no motivation to go outside at all. Your best hope of escape is to either decorate the living area with Halloween decor and pretend you have never heard of Christmas or to immerse yourself in online multi-player online games.

Until a couple of months ago I was secure in the knowledge that, sure, this latter option was the refuge of the less socially aware, aka roleplayers. This is partially because the full name is Multi-player online role-playing games (MORGs) however to a large extent the role playing is optional and according to new market research surveys MORGs such as World of Warcraft make up 15% of UK games sales. This would have seemed a high figure if I hadn't been ensnared in the web myself in the last few months.

Before this, the only people I knew who played such games were the, stereotypically, over weight IT technical guy males whom every company has and tend to acquire inappropriate crushes on younger female colleagues; such individuals seem to relish the anonymity and bonding that can be garnered from such games. They also appear to spurn sleep to take out the the boss at the end of some overly complex 6 hour raiding party. Even establishments such as the BBC perpetrated this was a common condition and quoted nameless people as saying it was as bad as being an alcoholic and should be monitored by the State or even banned - rumours that the anonymous person was part of the marketing team for the X-box 360 concerned about lost sales are as yet unconfirmed.

A good friend sweet talked me into trying World of Warcraft on his account after I'd watched him a couple of times and much to my surprise I very much enjoyed the experience, sufficiently so to buy my own copy and to have so-far burnt through 50 something levels where I am currently perched atop a mountain of skulls awaiting the reconnection of my internet until I can slash and burn my way to maximum level - until then petitioning my Member of Parliament for an end to BT's monopoly is providing temporary amusement. The appeal of the game is hard to explain and recounting that I'm a gnome warrior with a green socially-acceptable take on a Mohawk, huge manga eyes, a huge fiery axe and kill monsters tends to ensure people back away slowly which makes it perfect for an opening conversation with obnoxious relatives.

Computer games haven't been something I'd previous played: American McGee's Alice had pretty graphics but limited addiction; Doom and Resident Evil were the equivalent of a bad horror movie and as a rule Worms is limited entertainment when the player's age enters into double figures. Something about Wold of Warcraft grabbed me, in particular the curious sense of humour and crucially a seasonal display of pumpkins, that and the ability for a character to wield a double handed axe significantly bigger than her own height has almost boundless amusement value. Despite excessive media coverage of assorted Oriental under-30s who have died after not eating for 4 days whilst playing solidly, I have yet to actually know anyone who has met their end in this way, nor even encountered bed sores due to excessive time staring fixated at the dancing screen; I'm sure such people exist but short of actively seeking them out it seems the casual player can play intermittently when real life allows and unless they have a particularly addictive personality will be able to walk away.

Computer games aren't for everyone and it maybe the case that too much playtime will make your eyes square, I'm not convinced it increases hand-eye co-ordination nor promotes team building skills. It is however good clean fun and has introduced me to a place whereby giant frog creatures that walk on two legs haunt my dreams. And Santa, if you are reading, all I want for Xmas is a bigger axe.