Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
World of Warcraft ate my family
World of Warcraft is the biggest MMORPG on the planet (MMORPG = massive multiplayer online roleplaying game). When we first bought into WoW, they had a population of one million. Eighteen months later, six million people participate in WoW.
We’re three of them.
I was the first addict, but after a while I realized I could either write a novel or spend half my life in a fantasy world. I put WoW aside, but soon after that, my son took up the battle. He became distracted by Warcraft’s other attractions — Warcraft Online, in particular — but this summer, he’s back in action with his undead warlock, Khufu.
I never thought Karen would go for this stuff. She hasn’t gamed since Civilization I; most computer games give her motion sickness. But now, she’s up to level 30 or 31 with her elf hunter Mygale. (Mygale = the genus name for one of her tarantulas, if I remember correctly.)
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. With these sleepless nights I’ve been having, there’s nothing much to do but take my troll rogue SheWitch around the Arathi Highlands, killing raptors, fleshstalkers, and a variety of elementals. I’m up to level 39 and I’m one mean bitch with a poisoned dagger.
WoW has spilled over into the real world, and vice versa. Search You Tube for “World of Warcraft” and you’ll find a wealth of videos (4,340) based on WoW’s pre-packaged animation* — WoW’s version of Too Sexy, for example, or the infamous show tune, The Internet is for Porn. In China, WoW is a big enough sensation that Coca Cola references it in their commercials. Folks have had their wedding ceremonies in WoW, and the WoW creators have honored the deaths of famous gamers with in-game tombs. Recently, an in-game funeral (for a guy who died in real life — just so we’re on the same page here) was raided by a rival faction, creating quite a controversy, since funeral attendees were all unarmed.
Like all good addicts, the three of us believe we are in control of our addiction. I’ll only play when I’m too tired to do anything else. Jake and Karen only play when our high speed internet connection is working and the house power isn’t out. We have limits.
Enough BS’ing. Time for me to do some real writing.
D.
*It’s considered a novel film genre, an emergent property of gaming known as “machinima“. Here, for example, is a machinima version of the famous courtroom scene from A Few Good Men. I think the Half Life 2 version of Tom Cruise is a better actor than the real thing, but that’s just me.
no, I haven’t read it so I need the rest of your novel. Now.
My two older guys are into WoW in a big way. That and guild wars.
WoW is certainly a time suck. (Says she of the level 18 Tauren Hunter and the recently leveled 13 Night Elf Warrior.)
Too bad you can’t see players on other servers. I’d say hi sometime.
Kate, you mean you didn’t get the last installment? I’ll resend it.
Noxcat: my realm is Hyjal, but I have three lower level characters in Gorgonnash. Where are you? What are your characters’ names?
I’m on Lothar. My Tauren is Ahriaz and my Night Elf is (what else) Noxcat. 🙂
I find some of the names people pick to be highly amusing. There’s a Horde character on my server named ‘Bassetofwar’. Another hunter on their named their raptor pet ‘Bitey’. I get quite a kick out of both.
This is kate’s son #1. For shame, playing a night elf. shame, shame, shame. I’m a lvl 47 tauren shaman, and I hate night elves and gnomes. And dwarves. And humans. But gnomes worst of all. All my other chars (lvl 29 hunter, lvl 18 warrior) are horde. My question is: do gnomes really use troll sweat for steak sauce? I checked in horde general and that’s what they said.
Hi Kate’s Ichiban. I’m with you — horde all the way. I’ve deleted my alliance characters. SheWitch is my top character (now level 40, go me!) in Hyjal, and I have four other horde characters (all level 20 or close to that) in Gorgonnash. Jake’s and Karen’s characters are in Zuljin.
I think you have that backwards, by the way. Trolls use gnome blood as the base for brown gravy, with which they serve human livers. Yum!
lol i love playing it with my 22 undaed mage named olair but hey what server are you on im anetheron and if your on that server and need help just ask me
undead****