My Love/Hate Relationship with World of Warcraft
When I was 12, I wrote a short story about four boys who got a Sega genesis for Christmas. They then bought a game and an extra controller at a mysterious video game store. Eventually the video game sucked one of the boys into the game (literally). Looking back, I never knew I was writing about my future.
It all began last January. I went to wal-mart in the middle of the night and purchased World of Warcraft. I should have taken that impulsive trip to the store at 2 a.m. as a warning of the compelling powers the game would soon hold over me. I took it home and found myself in a magical land unlike any other. This was my first mmorpg. And I was in love. It was everything great about the internet all wrapped up in to one great big ball of addictive fun. Paul began playing a character on my account, but soon, he got his own copy and began playing too. It was difficult for us to share one computer at that time, but we were moving shortly, and Paul would have his computer again. Then we could play together! We couldn't wait.
After we moved to Vancouver, Paul began working a lot and I stayed home a lot. Warcraft was there for me. It gave me something to do. It kept me occupied and completely un-bored. I took two characters to level 60. Paul and I enjoyed leveling up our characters together when he came home from work. It was fun, we made friends, and enjoyed spending that time playing together. However, Warcraft slowly became the only thing we ever did. We played every evening, and we committed ourselves to play every Sunday afternoon, Tuesday night, and soon also every Thursday night. After a while, I began to dread those evenings. I wanted us to do something else. Anything else! I only had a few hours a night with Paul, and Warcraft seemed to be sucking up all the precious time we had. And Sunday was Paul's only day off, but we played all afternoon. Sometimes it was fun, but sometimes, there was so much more I would have rather been doing. As petty or ironic as it may seem, I would become jealous of the game, or of the players taking Paul away from me, although I was just as addicted. I did not want to stop playing the game. There was too much too do! Too much that I'd already accomplished! Can't quit now, what a waste!
Paul and I switched guilds which caused drama, backbiting, and rude words to be aimed at us by several players. On top of everything else, this was very disheartening. I took a 2-week break cold turkey pretty much. Paul also withdrew a bit from the game. We discussed quitting the game and even selling our accounts. It was a very hard decision to be made. Paul had decided to quit, and it was me who told him that we should keep going, give our new guild a shot and see if we have more fun. So we kept playing. We began raiding with our new guild and pretty much had the same play schedules as before. Now some important people in our guild have quit the game, which has caused the guild to somewhat fall apart. This has given us another chance to escape, to get back to real life! However, we still have not decided to quit! Instead, we have told the people in our guild, that after we move, we will do what we can to step up and help out more.
Sometimes I don't know what we are thinking. A part of me wants to play, have fun, keep going, help the guild. An equal part of me wants to quit. In our moving transition, and since our guild is taking a break from raiding until after the holidays, Paul and I have weaned ourselves off the game a bit. Tonight he held me in his arms and said he felt like he had really connected with me, gotten to know me all over again, and feels so much closer. I asked him why he thinks that is, and after some pondering we decided it was because we had stepped back from the game.
We have been talking of quitting again, but again, I am the one crying "No, no! Must continue!" I am the one trapped.
My short story was resolved by one of the boys realizing that the magic which held their friend inside the game, didn't lie in the game itself, but in the extra controller they had bought. Realizing this, one of them pulled the controller out of the socket, freeing the captive child.
Do I, too, need someone to cut the cord?
It all began last January. I went to wal-mart in the middle of the night and purchased World of Warcraft. I should have taken that impulsive trip to the store at 2 a.m. as a warning of the compelling powers the game would soon hold over me. I took it home and found myself in a magical land unlike any other. This was my first mmorpg. And I was in love. It was everything great about the internet all wrapped up in to one great big ball of addictive fun. Paul began playing a character on my account, but soon, he got his own copy and began playing too. It was difficult for us to share one computer at that time, but we were moving shortly, and Paul would have his computer again. Then we could play together! We couldn't wait.
After we moved to Vancouver, Paul began working a lot and I stayed home a lot. Warcraft was there for me. It gave me something to do. It kept me occupied and completely un-bored. I took two characters to level 60. Paul and I enjoyed leveling up our characters together when he came home from work. It was fun, we made friends, and enjoyed spending that time playing together. However, Warcraft slowly became the only thing we ever did. We played every evening, and we committed ourselves to play every Sunday afternoon, Tuesday night, and soon also every Thursday night. After a while, I began to dread those evenings. I wanted us to do something else. Anything else! I only had a few hours a night with Paul, and Warcraft seemed to be sucking up all the precious time we had. And Sunday was Paul's only day off, but we played all afternoon. Sometimes it was fun, but sometimes, there was so much more I would have rather been doing. As petty or ironic as it may seem, I would become jealous of the game, or of the players taking Paul away from me, although I was just as addicted. I did not want to stop playing the game. There was too much too do! Too much that I'd already accomplished! Can't quit now, what a waste!
Paul and I switched guilds which caused drama, backbiting, and rude words to be aimed at us by several players. On top of everything else, this was very disheartening. I took a 2-week break cold turkey pretty much. Paul also withdrew a bit from the game. We discussed quitting the game and even selling our accounts. It was a very hard decision to be made. Paul had decided to quit, and it was me who told him that we should keep going, give our new guild a shot and see if we have more fun. So we kept playing. We began raiding with our new guild and pretty much had the same play schedules as before. Now some important people in our guild have quit the game, which has caused the guild to somewhat fall apart. This has given us another chance to escape, to get back to real life! However, we still have not decided to quit! Instead, we have told the people in our guild, that after we move, we will do what we can to step up and help out more.
Sometimes I don't know what we are thinking. A part of me wants to play, have fun, keep going, help the guild. An equal part of me wants to quit. In our moving transition, and since our guild is taking a break from raiding until after the holidays, Paul and I have weaned ourselves off the game a bit. Tonight he held me in his arms and said he felt like he had really connected with me, gotten to know me all over again, and feels so much closer. I asked him why he thinks that is, and after some pondering we decided it was because we had stepped back from the game.
We have been talking of quitting again, but again, I am the one crying "No, no! Must continue!" I am the one trapped.
My short story was resolved by one of the boys realizing that the magic which held their friend inside the game, didn't lie in the game itself, but in the extra controller they had bought. Realizing this, one of them pulled the controller out of the socket, freeing the captive child.
Do I, too, need someone to cut the cord?