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Warning: This is my second blog! I may or may not know what I'm doing. I've seen a few WoW blogs lately and they've been bothering me. I hope to shed some positive light on something that most people treat as a scapegoat. Irresponsible people who play WoW and irresponsible people who don't play it are both irresponsible. With that in mind, I hope more people can embrace fun games for what they are.
"There is nothing more cool than being proud of the things that you love." -Sean Plott
A lot of young adults these days grew up on video games, including me. Some of my earliest memories are playing Banjo Kazooie or Star Fox on the N64. I always remember them as highlights of my childhood because I always enjoyed them more than any sport we played in gym class. My parents limited my game time as parents generally do, but it still didn't change my interests. I ended up doing a lot of reading when not gaming instead of being sociable like my brother.This sounds like I would be on the track to becoming a parents nightmare, but my family was always supportive of my introverted nature. They bought me Blizzard games and R. A. Salvatore novels, I got good grades and ate my vegetables. My only "flaw" was my lack of friends. Sure I had school buddies, but nothing that really lasted after each school year ended. In middle school I dabbled in theater classes and paintball but neither entertained me the same way that Morrowind and Diablo 2 did.
When I turned 14, my parents bought me my own computer and eased up on my gaming restrictions. It was around that time when I did meet a fellow gamer. A neighbor from down the street who was a few years older than me, but friendly nonetheless. We played Star Wars Galaxies together until a certain patch ruined the game and we decided to try out that WoW game we were always hearing so much about. Nothing too exciting happened right away so I'm going to skip to the first big event.
I was a level 70 mage with a naggy girlfriend and I didn't really know where she came from. It was my first relationship and it wasn't going so well, but I didn't really understand that at the time. You have to learn the hard way I guess. WoW had become my social outlet and she didn't like it. It's hard for ignorant people to understand internet cultural and she had no intention of learning about it. I ended up breaking up with her after about a year once I finally realized that my guildmates were better friends than she was. Playing WoW didn't prevent freshman drama but it certainly freed me from it.
Fast forward to the end of TBC. My parents were still supportive of my gaming since I was very open with them about it. They paid the subscription fee as long as I did all of my homework before spending my nights raiding. I even transferred servers to join a guild whose raid times were early enough for me to get enough sleep for school.
I had finished my second character, a priest, and was starting to raid heavily. It was during Sunwell one night when an important event happened. I was sitting in the corpse of Brutallus(post-nerf) while loot was being distributed and I saw an alt named Couch log on. I checked the guild note and my mind was blown. It belonged to a player named Nightstand whom I talked too often. It never occurred to me that his character was named after a piece of furniture, I simply thought it was a cool combination of words. After asking him about it, I (Mancath) received the advice, "Fantasy names are too hard to pronounce, just play it safe and go with an inanimate object." It wasn't a terrible idea so when WotLK rolled around I somewhat jokingly made a death knight with his logic in mind.
![[image loading]](http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n201/disturbed_paint_baller/blag/WoWScrnShot_060109_164121.jpg)
The Original
I wasn't expecting to switch mains but I quickly fell in love with tanking and said goodbye to my guild who didn't have a place for another tank in their roster. I lounged around in a social guild for awhile while leveling and gearing up and made a lot of friends who I'm still in touch with on facebook. I was longing for raiding though so I joined/helped start what would grow to be the #1 10-man guild on the server. After completely destroying Ulduar, I was nearing the end of my WoW days. I didn't like the direction that Blizzard was taking with TOC, ICC and the upcoming Cataclysm expansion so I said goodbye and left on a good note.
![[image loading]](http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n201/disturbed_paint_baller/blag/WoWScrnShot_070809_213305-1.jpg)
My last night in WoW.
My experience in WoW wasn't really spectacular or abnormal but it was still an influential part of my life. My "Backpack" persona quickly exploded and it became more than a Draenei death knight, it became my name. Even though I no longer play WoW, I still retain many of my friends who i've met online. Am i upset that I didn't meet 80% of my friends in real life? Nope.
I am proud of my years of playing WoW and I am proud of my love for games. I am currently studying computer animation and hope to pursue a career in game development.
Important points.
1. I grew up on video games and turned out alright.
2. WoW taught me to be proud of what I love and to embrace it without embarrassment.
3. I handled my hobby responsibly and graduated high-school early while also maintaining a raid schedule.
4. The only time i've been overweight is when I was a 2 week old baby. I am currently 5' 10" 145lbs. I spend 5+ hours a day on the computer.
5. People make friends through their jobs and their hobbies. My hobby is computer gaming and my friends were met in computer games.
6. My current girlfriend of almost 2 years is supportive of my hobby and enjoys watching SC2 with me and playing Minecraft.
7. I am no longer playing WoW but I eagerly await The Old Republic. MMO's are fun.
8. I firmly believe that "gaming addiction" does not exist and the horror stories you here are caused by lack of responsibility and willpower.
9. I respect negative opinions of the game, but I believe it is used as an excuse more often than not.
10. There is nothing wrong with having an online social life. You can still be a perfectly functional human being.
Everything in moderation,
-Backpack
Bonus
+ Show Spoiler +While reminiscing on the old days, I remembered The Dark Elf Trilogy which really got me into fantasy novels. R.A. Salvatore's introduction to the life of Drizzt Do'Urden is a remarkable story. The character Drizzt has always been popular Forgotten Realms DND campaign setting, but the books are much easier to get into if you aren't a DND enthusiast.
If you're into fantasy novels I recommend both this and the Icewind Dale Trilogy. (Along with all of Salvatore's other books as well!)
Bonus #2
+ Show Spoiler +If you're into WoW machinima, you should check out this song/video featuring my all time favorite raid.
(Thanks to Torte De Lini and Riku who inspired me to start blogging)
 
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Totally agree, there's nothing *wrong* with having good friends and a good time on MMOs. It is completely and totally possible, I've done it myself. It's the line where you remove your real life entirely that gets people.
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Nice to hear.
About the weight thing. I've come to the conclusion that people who sit on a computer all day tend to be underweight rather than overweight. This is supported by the fact that almost every scbw player is skinny save July. We gamers tend to have screwed up sleep schedules, which messes with our diets.
I also agree that WoW is scapegoated for a lack of willpower to quit and fix one's life problems.
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video games: confirmed for pwn
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Great blog!
It nice to finally read about a person's experience with WoW that isn't full of angst and bitterness. I think it puts the game in an overly negative light for people who haven't tried it before. I'd compare it to asking someone who's been fired from a job if it's a good place to work; you're going to get a biased answer. You'd be better served asking someone who left on good terms.
I had a similar experience with the game as you. Played for years and accomplished everything I wanted to. I made some amazing friends, enjoyed content, and the excitement of trying new classes in raids and pvp. However, once my raiding team finally cleared ICC I felt as if that feeling of joy would never be reproduced again since many of my friends decided to stop playing once Cata launched. So I opted to leave on a high note and spend more time playing Sc2 and other games.
I enjoyed my time with WoW and I'm glad you did too. We really need more blogs like these. When you love something you should just run at it full speed and to hell with the nay-sayers. Hope to see more blogs up soon! =)
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On August 11 2011 11:32 Backpack wrote:
8. I firmly believe that "gaming addiction" does not exist and the horror stories you here are caused by lack of responsibility and willpower.
Well no shit, if everyone had unbreakable will of iron in every facet of their life then not even substance addiction would be an issue...you would just stop doing it. The fact that people have different degrees of difficulty overcoming different problems within aspects of their life is the problem.
If you feel you have never had an issue "willpowering" yourself to stop or start or maintain a goal or task, then I either pity your lack of ambition or look forward to reading about your astounding feats in the news.
Just count yourself lucky that gaming has never been an issue for you and spend that energy on other struggles.
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On August 11 2011 11:46 salito wrote:
We gamers tend to have screwed up sleep schedules, which messes with our diets.
Yea, i've totally been on Korean time all summer.
Glad to see you guys are enjoying the blog ^^
@sob3k
I understand that it can't apply to chemical addictions as easily, I just wish more people would blame themselves rather than the game.
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Thats pretty awesome to be honest I have had a few bumpy things with controlling my willpower with responsibilities but that also could of been affected by a long term disease I have obtained from weak immune system.
However its heading in a similar direction as yours and im glad to say that I can game a lot and still be normal :D
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My question is, what are you doing now? Also, what do you plan to do in the future?
I feel like most people struggle with some sort of video game addiction (yes, I can call it that) because they aren't driven towards a goal outside of gaming.
Not the most concrete example, but it's like these SC2 players that want to drop out of college or university just to play "full time". They're not necessarily looking to succeed in the game, and most of them certainly aren't looking to succeed outside the game.
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On August 11 2011 11:50 Backpack wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2011 11:46 salito wrote:
We gamers tend to have screwed up sleep schedules, which messes with our diets.
Yea, i've totally been on Korean time all summer. Glad to see you guys are enjoying the blog ^^ @sob3k I understand that it can't apply to chemical addictions as easily, I just wish more people would blame themselves rather than the game.
Sure, but...there are always two options in dealing with an activity that you are having problems with.
Either brute forcing it out from the mental side, or just cutting off the activity alltogether. I wouldn't call either of these an necessarily bad option. The choice on which one to pick should come from a decision based on the difficulty and reward of trying each.
Some activities simply aren't worth the struggle to control them to some people.
Some activities are a constant battle but rewarding enough to be worth it.
Its just important that the individual weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each approach before committing to one.
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On August 11 2011 12:00 garlicface wrote:
My question is, what are you doing now? Also, what do you plan to do in the future?
Now, playing a lot of league of legends.
I'm going to be starting at SVA in 3 weeks or so. I'll be studying computer art and animation and I hope to get into the games industry as an artist. I wrote a lot more about this in my first blog if you're interested and I intend to continue blogging about it once the fall semester starts.
On August 11 2011 12:06 sob3k wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2011 11:50 Backpack wrote:On August 11 2011 11:46 salito wrote:
We gamers tend to have screwed up sleep schedules, which messes with our diets.
Yea, i've totally been on Korean time all summer. Glad to see you guys are enjoying the blog ^^ @sob3k I understand that it can't apply to chemical addictions as easily, I just wish more people would blame themselves rather than the game. Sure, but...there are always two options in dealing with an activity that you are having problems with. Either brute forcing it out from the mental side, or just cutting off the activity alltogether. I wouldn't call either of these an necessarily bad option. The choice on which one to pick should come from a decision based on the difficulty and reward of trying each. Some activities simply aren't worth the struggle to control them to some people. Some activities are a constant battle but rewarding enough to be worth it. Its just important that the individual weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each approach before committing to one.
I 100% agree.
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While the game itself is not at fault for causing said addiction refusing to believe that gaming cannot be an element of addiction is extremely naive.
Addiction is universal the substance or activity does not matter. If one is addicted to gaming but for one reason or another is unable to obtain escape through it he will find something else; whether it is drugs, or sex, or anything. This is why for some people, who we hear about in these horror stories, this addiction to gaming can be as harmful as using heroin.
I think it is great that you were able to enjoy WoW like this but don't discount an idea simply because you never had to deal with it.
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If I ever have kids, I want lessons from your parents.
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R. A. Salvatore ownz 
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Oh man I loved the TBC expac a lot. It was probably in my eyes the best expac of WoW.
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I like this blog, it gives a more level-headed perspective of a game everyone hates on because of the minority. Seems to be the story of the internet... Don't blame the game, blame yourself. People are a joke.
You had a good note to end on btw!
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nice read backpack, u made playing wow look good
5/5
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Isn't the reverse of "life destroyed by wow" "wow destroyed by life"?
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wow didn't destroy my life
just my dad's :d
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awesome blog 5/5
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Thumbs up man! Thats what I am talking about.
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I loveeeeee RA Salvatore's Drizzt books! and I played WoW!
It is difficult to play the game at a competitive or semi-competitive level without letting it dictate the organization of your life at least a little.
There is a difference between playing the game with friends and raiding casually and raiding to get server/region/world first. The former can be accomplished at a fairly relaxed schedule whereas the latter almost always requires a 3-7 days/week, 4+ hours/day commitment for anywhere from 3 weeks to months. With that sort of schedule you're almost going to necessitate giving up on some other activity. Oddly enough the absolute highest tier of raiders spend the least time raiding overall they just frontload it all (e.g. Paragon raided almost 16 hours a day every day for about a week and a half but now they'll spend 3-4 hours a week to farm content).
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It's so weird that gamers on a gamer-site have to explain why they love gaming and why they love to love it.
This isn't any old generations forum where people say you're shit because you play video games.
Dude.
We're just like you and everyone that pretends to be totally normal and don't play that much/is not that much into games is either
a) dumb, because this is a site for gamers (Sad thing is, I can name a few people that are here without being that much into games. that is really weird ... )
b) lying.
c) a troll
You are a gamer. We are gamers. We share your experiences, we share your thoughts. YOU are FUCKING WELCOME HERE. Don't act like it was otherwise!
So... Let's make this a REAL gamer blog:
+ Show Spoiler +WoW sucks dude how can you play it? ~.~ Other games are SOO much better.
Put in spoilers because I don't want to start an actual discussion here lol :D
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It's not the game that makes you addicted, it's the type of person. People like you can easily combine school and other stuff with playing WoW. But others can't.
Also am I right when I say that you play the game, not to play the game, but to play with the people you met in the game? WoW is one of the most social games out there because to succeed you have to cooperate. It's way more social than for example Farmville which is called a social game. But instead of cooperating with other people, you show off your farm which has better animals/plants than your friends. If that is a social game, every high-score based game is called a social game.
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As I always say: Some men like to go fishing, so men like to go hunting, some like enjoying a nice cigar. I like to play games and there is as much wrong with that as there is with these other activities. So enjoy your thing, and let me enjoy mine.
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On August 11 2011 11:32 Backpack wrote:
8. I firmly believe that "gaming addiction" does not exist and the horror stories you here are caused by lack of responsibility and willpower.
Dude, you dont get it.
Its the exact opposite. Gaming addiction is not a lack of willpower, it is willpower of the highest degree. It is people who are naturally very goal oriented and focused. And that is also the reason why gaming ends up so bad for them. Because the reward oriented nature of gaming is limited, hence breakdown of people who engage in gaming for such purposes. The people who are not as ambitious never become the diehard raiders or practice 15 hours a day, exactly because they do NOT have the will power to stay focused on a task.
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I played SimCity 2000/3000 a lot as a teenager, and I still play SimCity 4 time to time. Guess where I work at? Urban/transportation planning, design, and engineering. Who says games are all bad?
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I don't usually respect a lot of WoW players because of the negative aspects that come with playing WoW. Many of my friends succumbed to WoW's addictive aspects and their lives are not better for it. Combine WoW and "smoke weed everyday" and you've got a recipe for a failed education. Only one actually graduated from university, as an electrical engineer, but he's still fat.
I absolutely respect how you've handled playing this game. There is nothing wrong with loving the game - I was pretty stoked too before it came out, but I never played because of initial hardware limitations. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I'm glad that you've seen fit to move on. The sun won't shine forever on one thing, but that doesn't mean each thing's time in the sun should not be enjoyed.
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I'd just like to throw in that the Dark Elf trilogy is just genius, especially those personal snippets from Drizzt, really cool.
Personally WoW has taught me that life is one big grind. -_- screw you grinding!
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On August 11 2011 23:39 Andr3 wrote:
WoW has taught me that life is one big grind. -_- screw you grinding!
Similar view to mine. I like to treat life as Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas. Life is one big giant sandbox. Beat it one mission at a time.
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So is this a brag post in disguise? Your story is no different than all those told in the "WoW ruined my life!" thread, except you are reiterating a lot of the discussion there.
Of course WoW is a positive experience when you treat it as a game and not a life style, I thought that was the general consensus already. Oh well, it's your blog :\.
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Bravo, good read. 5/5
YAY, WoW! ;p
![[image loading]](http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o4/GinRyuChan/Sigs/riku.jpg)
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The first part of your post sounded a lot like
"Don't tell me about this being a way to escape reality. Well so life was changing and becoming challenging so I found this thing called heroin..."
I will just add that I have too grown up with videogames, but this isn't an excuse to say "hey, I belong to a dark room with a screen." I personnally try to think about what video games are and what changes those virtual worlds have brought into our lives. If you embrace the lifestyle make sure to take a step back and think for a minute, or two, or three.
What everyone here probably knows is that most of the time spent on the net is fruitless. With that being said, it becomes important to not dwell in this sterile world and be well aware of one's responsabilities as a family member, a friend, a partner, a voter, a consumer, and a human being.
But now, the two precise and important problems I see here:
- IRL friends are necessary no matter what young nerds will say. SlayerrrwXTC498 will not help you if you have financial problems, or go to jail, or anything that really could knock you out. The occasional "I talk with people because I am a social animal" isn't as important as having a group of people who can rely on you and who can support you when life wants your head on a spike.
- Sean Plott is a good example because he actually left the crowd and stepped up for his passion, without forgetting his family or friends or studies or responsabilities, and without losing sight of the big picture. The immense majority of gamers are nothing like him, and this is why he is so admired and appreciated in the community.
But if you are happy and proud then everything is fine in a way. In a way, though.
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EPT
