I think MBAzeroth is right, this has to be the most clueless, uninformed piece of junk journalism ever written about World of Warcraft. And I'm including the Australian video.You've gotta read this thing-- I don't think I could make up something so out of touch.
And World of Warcraft is the granddaddy of online communities. On one hand, it's a sprawling, seamless fantasy, where you choose an avatar -- a rogue, fighter, Mage -- and go forth in this virtual world to hack, slash and maim your way to glory.
On the other hand, it's supremely social. Players band together, chatting incessantly. They hook up for virtual drinks at the inn, share a slab of wild boar meat. They dance, they have picnics in the woods, they even share a bed on occasion.
But do they love?
That's exactly what I aimed to find out in my social experiment - without crossing that fine line into creepiness, of course. It goes without saying that the age range can be anywhere from 10 to 110 in the virtualverse. And gender identification is notoriously spotty. The idea is no more ambitious than to connect with someone in cyberspace.
So I dress my online persona for success, a slick sorcerer in a long blue robe, flowing Magely locks, and, of course, nice shoes. Footwear, I'm told, proclaims the man.
I name my avatar Prufrock -- and wade into Warcraft.
There are dozens of people running around the entry point, the old stone abbey, and chatting and obviously getting adjusted to the control scheme.
"Yay! I got my Voidwalker!" some warrior declares in the general chat window that runs along the bottom of the screen. He is, I assume, referring to some fancy piece of equipment earned in battle.
"Share a bed"? "Fighter"? And don't even get me started on the warrior/ voidwalker thing.
MBAzeroth thinks he thinks it's a dating service (and not a hack and slash), and they might not be wrong. But the craziest thing is that this guy is supposed to be a videogames journalist. He's played with a PS3, for Thrall's sake! How can you possibly be a gamer, and yet so completely clueless about what WoW is?
Of course, there is the possibility that he's trying to be funny. For someone that names their character after a T.S. Eliot poem (about a clueless loser--- oh, the irony), maybe this is what passes for a joke.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-16-2006 @ 2:55AM
Brim said...
I actually found it funny. The part where a warrior yelled about getting his Voidwalker made me lol.
I'm betting he's not as clueless as he claims to be. Just a funny story.
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11-16-2006 @ 2:56AM
Villeeus said...
Well my mother wouldn't ever play WoW, she doesn't even like me playing it. Do you, mother?
DO YOUUUUUUUUU?!?!?!
*yells at dressed-up skeleton in corner*
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11-16-2006 @ 4:59AM
gor said...
Clueless for sure. You can't write an article after 10 minutes of research. The media these days. *sigh*
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11-16-2006 @ 5:03AM
Kinless said...
South Park got it way more right.
And he hit "creepy" as soon as he decided to go look for love on-line. What a freak.
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11-16-2006 @ 5:20AM
Karine said...
Out of touch? There is no way could have been written by someone who didn't know anything about WoW.
It might not be your cup of tea (just like hearing all about Gothic Bunnies isn't mine) but I don't think that's a reason to call that guy clueless and uninformed. Especially since it's quite obvious that his culture extends way beyond gaming.
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11-16-2006 @ 6:49AM
Bartholemues said...
I agree with poster 5. I don't see why you have a problem with the article? In game facts are hardly relevant to this story. It's not even close to as bad as the Australian piece which was done from a investigative perspective. To be honest I find your reaction to be the most clueless thing.
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11-16-2006 @ 7:58AM
mitchell said...
Prufrock. Nice.
I guess he thinks of WoW as a Wasteland. 10 points for those that actually get the reference.
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11-16-2006 @ 9:03AM
moink said...
As a sometime-Torontonian, I feel the need to apologize for this guy.
He considers grouping with a female avatar a "date?" Ick. Now the next time somebody invites me to a group, do I have to wonder if he wants to date me or just be healed by me?
And the "ohno, I got trounced in a duel by a girl!" thing is lame and old.
If I ever run across "Prufrock" he will be immediately ignored. And I will be warning other players, especially women, to stay as far away as possible.
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11-16-2006 @ 9:26AM
Kryz said...
#5. I agree, it's obvious he has quite a life outside of WoW, but he IS clueless. Unfortunately having a BA in literature doesn't give you the knowledge to write about anything you have the slightest about. Warrior = VoidWalker?
I'm not saying he knows NOTHING about wow, as he knows how to make a person and /dance, but if that qualifies someone to write an article about their experiences in the game, then I'm sending my resume into the star for a position.
I tend to lean toward this being a fictional writting attempting humor in the same way an english teacher would.(You know, when they drop some little known character's name, that only a few people get, and laugh to show they get it) That being said, I wish he would have done a little more homework on WoW, instead of trying to be clever with every other word he typed. That's why he's getting responces like this, because he tried to talk about something he knew nothing about, and as players of WoW, there's nothing we love more than pointing out and exagerating someone's mess up.
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11-16-2006 @ 9:35AM
Ryan said...
Well he is Canadian... I think that speaks volumes for his intelligence level.
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11-16-2006 @ 9:37AM
Tool03 said...
[quote]
But this is massive multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG). We’re supposed to be immune to the slings and arrows of public ridicule.
[/quote]
Wait what, I was under the impression that we should always try to be immune to to the arrows of the public, I mean come on it's the public.
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11-16-2006 @ 9:59AM
Prauche said...
Okay. Well. Um.
This SEEMS to me to be more of a commentary of online dating in general than anything seriously Warcraft related. Warcraft just happens to be the online medium the guy used to find his online love rather than match.com or yahell. The last couple of paragraphs seem to sum up what the article is supposed to be about.
However, after reading this piece of 'literature,' I sat staring at the screen for 30 seconds or so thinking "I just wasted 2 minutes of my life reading *THIS*?"
For those of you who aren't in the know, this is NOT what a journalist wants you to think after reading his or her piece. /sigh
All I can say about the article, is "whatever" and move on with my life (knowing that I wasted yet some more of it on senseless drivel).
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11-16-2006 @ 10:35AM
Cramer said...
This was obviously a mock piece of literature, I think he was just contrasting WOW to Real life in a humorous sarcastic way.
Its funny though because with so many people playing Wow at one time or another its not inconceivable that someones first experience was something like this. I can only compare the first time i walked into stonetalon mountains with a racing heartbeat worried that the alliance was around every corner. It may not have been love, but it was pretty close to fear. Of course you grow out of it... eventually
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11-16-2006 @ 11:03AM
jpc said...
WTB sense of humor
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11-16-2006 @ 11:33AM
Aladek said...
I have actually done some research on why individuals play MMOs and what keeps them their. Besides the common, RL friends, Military members, and people that want to destress and love RPGs there were a few people who have meet online, and even some marriages due to MMOs. Although the divorces (I'm not claiming these are due to the MMOs) far exceed the marriages. But it has been known to happen.
I think it's these rare occurances that most people in RL find so amazing as to cause the misguided belief that it's common.
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11-16-2006 @ 3:06PM
Oldbear said...
To #10... He's from Toronto. The rest of us Canadians don't count the big TO as part of Canada.
As to the story, I can see the humour behind it - but WOW is not a dating site, I don't play WOW to meet ladies. If he wanted to find a date online - go to "myspace", or "ratemybody" or some other smutty/slut site - stay of World of Warcraft you sicko.
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11-16-2006 @ 5:23PM
Theadrick said...
I thought it was funny. We were all clueless newbies at one point!
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11-16-2006 @ 5:50PM
Woild said...
Hey, everybody needs some humour sometimes and this made me laugh so hard it hurts, struggling through a friday at work, some nut has written and article on WoW about a warrior with a voidwalker, comedy gold.
Seriously though, coming from a background in journalism I see this as extremely irresponsible reporting.
General journalists shouldn't report on items of a hobbiest nature because there is always going to be people, (at least seven million of them,) who know more about the subject at hand.
Well, it was good for a laugh at least; now I'm going to go change my pants! cheers all
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11-16-2006 @ 5:58PM
Ngnsewa said...
What? i totally though WoW was a dating service when I joined up!! its like written on the WoW box and everything
"hit on orcs and elves"
well im not sure it the 'on' part was there....
or well any of that, but like .....
ok i give up, i think this guy is a tool. the article is well written and i do see some humor.... but he is still a tool :P
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11-16-2006 @ 8:51PM
Savok said...
WoW isn't the granddaddy of shit, anyone who knows how to turn on a PC knows this.
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