Evergreen Posts From The Time Machine
I'm taking advantage of the summer to sort through digital files; digging into folders with names like "Sort this" and "New folder (2)." They are the things that have been carefully copied from computer to computer over the years. Looking through them is like opening a time machine.
Today I found a folder called "WoW" with a handful of World of Warcraft adjacent scribbles. It had the orientation speech I wrote when I co-led a guild, the notes for a custom guild event I put together, and a short series of blog posts I wrote as I philosophized about the game. I'm re-posting those here without commentary. The content is surprisingly relevant.
6/29/2005 - Warcraft and Education
I believe that it is more important (and more valuable) to spend money on developing one's intellect and character rather than feeding one's appetites for pleasure. This has caused me to wonder if my playing WoW is a waste of money. True, it is only $15 a month, but $15 every month adds up quickly and could probably be put to better use. This post is an attempt on my part to figure out if WoW is money well spent.The fact that this game has caused me to think about reality from an angle I hadn't even seen before indicates that, perhaps, WoW could be an intellectual pursuit. But intellect is not education, and education is what I am after.
Everyone has secrets, and everyone withholds some information from those around them. This is often a very prudent decision. Certain things, however, are difficult to hide in the real world. Warcraft has no sight, no sound, no sensory observations whatsoever. Your eyes tell you little about the person behind the character that you see on your screen. You must rely on text, emotes, and general demeanor.
So, can you really say that someone you have met in the game is a friend?
True friendships require real experience and observation of a person, and that requires a real identity. If Warcraft cannot communicate those, you cannot call a guildmate or a group member your friend. This, as with many other things I muse about this game, gets me into unpleasant territory very quickly. I want to call the people I have met my 'friends,' but I must face the possibility that the person I think I know does not exist! Not as I know them, at least.
In Warcraft, you are only what you say you are. All I know is what you tell me, what I read between the lines of purple text and see. But I wonder, is this all that different from real life?
If you told me you were an astrophysicist, I would believe you. I would believe most anything you told me. But that doesn't make me gullible. I see no benefit to cynicism. Seeing through everything leaves you bored and apathetic - a curse my generation has foolishly chosen.
Life is much more interesting when you dare to believe in something great.
8/29/2005 - A Mind of Their Own
I have noticed that my Warcraft characters are starting to take on a life of their own. This is something I never expected and definitely don't understand (which is why I am blogging it!). Here is how it happened:
I took two of my characters to the Darkmoon Faire, and got a fortune for each of them. To get a fortune, you answered a short series of questions. The questions were the same for each of my characters. Surprisingly, the answers were different.
I found that I was not able to choose the same answers with each character, and the answers were opposite what I thought they would be. I found this whole experience rather strange, but it got me thinking.
I had never thought that the characters I played were anything other than digital paintings that I spoke and acted through. I never paid much attention to roll-playing anything particular. Therefore, I assumed that I would be able to answer whatever I wanted, without sacrificing the identity of my character. The characters had no identity other than my own, so how could I?
But how could a created character come to have an identity of its own? And why, of all things, would this happen when I was not deliberately trying to find an identity for them!
The Darkmoon Faire instance, however, is not the only time this has happened.
I discovered early on, with one of my characters, that there was a place in the Warcraft world where she seemed to blend in. I did not create her with that place in mind, but she fits there nonetheless. There is nothing I can attribute it to, other then the fact that the place has a part in her identity. You may think I am crazy for saying all of this (and maybe I am), but this sort of thing happens all the time to writers.
I had a friend once lament how particular characters in her novel had started to do something she never anticipated him doing. What is happening with my Warcraft characters fits in the same category.
Perhaps it just goes to show how well-crafted the game is, if a character can blend into the storyline without the consent of his/her creator.
(11/15/2005) - Friendship Revisited
Several weeks ago, I logged into Warcraft very late at night. Family issues were weighing heavy on my mind, and I could not sleep. I whispered a friend of mine, and we chatted for an hour or so about the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head. This friend is someone I have never met in person, and 6 months ago I would have questioned the validity of our friendship. Not because he is a bad friend, but how could I call someone I have never seen a "friend?"
My ideas on this have changed for many reasons, but I am still confused. How do you define friendship? And how does it work when you have never seen or heard your friend? Isn't physical presence required for some level of friendship?
It is tempting to say that the people I have met on Warcraft are not friends, but acquaintances. The kind of people I see from time to time, and wave "hello," but not the kind of person I'd tell anything important. But some of them don't fit into that category at all. I have talked about serious and personal things with some of my Warcraft friends, things I would not talk about with an acquaintance (unless I was desperately lonely).
Maybe that is the key. Are people so lonely and disenfranchised that they will divulge there innermost secrets to a stranger they have never met?
We live in a very fragmented society that does not foster relationships. We are too busy to just chat with people. Deadlines, projects, family & work obligations, and the clock all conspire against us.
When I was younger, I began to notice that nearly all old houses had massive front porches. Porches with room for large families, friends, and comfortable chairs. Certainly, a lack of air conditioning is partially responsible for large porches, but I think they are symbolic of much more. If you were sitting on your massive porch at the turn of the century (1900's), you could wave to your neighbor passing by on his horse-drawn carriage. You could even say "hello." Not only would he be able to hear you, but he'd have time to shout back before he turned the corner.
It doesn't work that way anymore. Cars are too insulated and too fast to shout "hello," and nobody walks to the corner store. Front porches have recessed into back porches, and back porches are invitation-only.
So, what does this have to do with World of Warcraft? I am getting there.
'Community' is the key word for this entry. Neighborhoods are not built to create community. Work is not built for it either. Neighborhoods are too disconnected, companies are too busy, and schools are too large. But humans desperately need community. It is programmed into our very core of being! So, what do we do?
Enter the Internet.
It is no surprise that chat-rooms and websites designed to connect people (like MySpace or Friendster) have taken over such a huge portion of the web. People are desperate for community, and have turned to technology to provide it. World of Warcraft works in a similar way. Guilds are (often) communities, a place where someone knows who you are, a place to connect.
But can/should digital-only community take the place of physical, face-to-face community? That is where I am stuck.
I am trying to solve the same problem on two levels: an individual level (can someone I have never met face-to-face be called a "friend") and a community level (can digital-only communities without face-to-face interaction fully satisfy the need for community that is built into every person).
Figuring this out seems almost essential, as it has a bearing on everything else I think about the game. But every time I think about it, I come to the same conclusion. There is something about digital-only that leaves me suspicious, but I cannot place what it is.
True education involves the formation of character, the development of intellect, and a greater understanding of reality as it is rather than as someone perceives it. This is not always what people think of when they hear the word 'education,' but that is because we have a lame educational system.
Becoming educated is a lifestyle of seeking for good, beauty, and truth. It will inevitably form your character and begin to transform you into a better person. If Warcraft can encourage the pursuit of education, it is certainly worth $15 a month.
Warcraft is a strange blend of reality and illusion. The world is entirely fictive, and it is populated by digital shadows of real people. There are aspects of reality to it; the world mirrors our own, and our characters mirror us, but does that make it real?
Perhaps, in the end, it doesn't matter. We are shaped by illusions all the time. Every time we watch a movie, read a book, or watch a theater production, we are influenced by its content. People are wired to hear stories; it is part of how we learn. Telling a story allows someone to re-live and witness the experience of the storyteller. In this way, the hearer shares the experience and (possibly) the lesson of the story.
In Warcraft, we experience someone else's story, we interact with it and build on it. Like a story you might tell around a campfire, each person adds a part. We shape the future of the story.
So, if stories and legends can shape and build character within us, and Warcraft is a story, then Warcraft has the ability to shape and build the character of its participants.
So, if stories and legends can shape and build character within us, and Warcraft is a story, then Warcraft has the ability to shape and build the character of its participants.
The direction it shapes a person is largely due to the actions of other players and the preexisting character of the person being shaped. Those who are cruel will be cruel, those who are kind will be kind, and those who look for ways to exploit the environment will find them. Certainly, it is possible for someone to play a role as something they are not, but that is a topic for a different post.
7/8/2005 - Name and Meaning
If I were to ask you a question in WoW, would you answer honestly? It would be very simple not to. There is little chance we would ever meet outside the context of the game, and in that respect, you are anything you say you are. Because Warcraft cannot communicate ALL a person is, you are free to show what you choose and withhold the rest. What do you choose to do?Everyone has secrets, and everyone withholds some information from those around them. This is often a very prudent decision. Certain things, however, are difficult to hide in the real world. Warcraft has no sight, no sound, no sensory observations whatsoever. Your eyes tell you little about the person behind the character that you see on your screen. You must rely on text, emotes, and general demeanor.
So, can you really say that someone you have met in the game is a friend?
True friendships require real experience and observation of a person, and that requires a real identity. If Warcraft cannot communicate those, you cannot call a guildmate or a group member your friend. This, as with many other things I muse about this game, gets me into unpleasant territory very quickly. I want to call the people I have met my 'friends,' but I must face the possibility that the person I think I know does not exist! Not as I know them, at least.
In Warcraft, you are only what you say you are. All I know is what you tell me, what I read between the lines of purple text and see. But I wonder, is this all that different from real life?
If you told me you were an astrophysicist, I would believe you. I would believe most anything you told me. But that doesn't make me gullible. I see no benefit to cynicism. Seeing through everything leaves you bored and apathetic - a curse my generation has foolishly chosen.
Life is much more interesting when you dare to believe in something great.
8/29/2005 - A Mind of Their Own
I have noticed that my Warcraft characters are starting to take on a life of their own. This is something I never expected and definitely don't understand (which is why I am blogging it!). Here is how it happened:
I took two of my characters to the Darkmoon Faire, and got a fortune for each of them. To get a fortune, you answered a short series of questions. The questions were the same for each of my characters. Surprisingly, the answers were different.
I found that I was not able to choose the same answers with each character, and the answers were opposite what I thought they would be. I found this whole experience rather strange, but it got me thinking.
I had never thought that the characters I played were anything other than digital paintings that I spoke and acted through. I never paid much attention to roll-playing anything particular. Therefore, I assumed that I would be able to answer whatever I wanted, without sacrificing the identity of my character. The characters had no identity other than my own, so how could I?
But how could a created character come to have an identity of its own? And why, of all things, would this happen when I was not deliberately trying to find an identity for them!
The Darkmoon Faire instance, however, is not the only time this has happened.
I discovered early on, with one of my characters, that there was a place in the Warcraft world where she seemed to blend in. I did not create her with that place in mind, but she fits there nonetheless. There is nothing I can attribute it to, other then the fact that the place has a part in her identity. You may think I am crazy for saying all of this (and maybe I am), but this sort of thing happens all the time to writers.
I had a friend once lament how particular characters in her novel had started to do something she never anticipated him doing. What is happening with my Warcraft characters fits in the same category.
Perhaps it just goes to show how well-crafted the game is, if a character can blend into the storyline without the consent of his/her creator.
(11/15/2005) - Friendship Revisited
Several weeks ago, I logged into Warcraft very late at night. Family issues were weighing heavy on my mind, and I could not sleep. I whispered a friend of mine, and we chatted for an hour or so about the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head. This friend is someone I have never met in person, and 6 months ago I would have questioned the validity of our friendship. Not because he is a bad friend, but how could I call someone I have never seen a "friend?"
My ideas on this have changed for many reasons, but I am still confused. How do you define friendship? And how does it work when you have never seen or heard your friend? Isn't physical presence required for some level of friendship?
It is tempting to say that the people I have met on Warcraft are not friends, but acquaintances. The kind of people I see from time to time, and wave "hello," but not the kind of person I'd tell anything important. But some of them don't fit into that category at all. I have talked about serious and personal things with some of my Warcraft friends, things I would not talk about with an acquaintance (unless I was desperately lonely).
Maybe that is the key. Are people so lonely and disenfranchised that they will divulge there innermost secrets to a stranger they have never met?
We live in a very fragmented society that does not foster relationships. We are too busy to just chat with people. Deadlines, projects, family & work obligations, and the clock all conspire against us.
When I was younger, I began to notice that nearly all old houses had massive front porches. Porches with room for large families, friends, and comfortable chairs. Certainly, a lack of air conditioning is partially responsible for large porches, but I think they are symbolic of much more. If you were sitting on your massive porch at the turn of the century (1900's), you could wave to your neighbor passing by on his horse-drawn carriage. You could even say "hello." Not only would he be able to hear you, but he'd have time to shout back before he turned the corner.
It doesn't work that way anymore. Cars are too insulated and too fast to shout "hello," and nobody walks to the corner store. Front porches have recessed into back porches, and back porches are invitation-only.
So, what does this have to do with World of Warcraft? I am getting there.
'Community' is the key word for this entry. Neighborhoods are not built to create community. Work is not built for it either. Neighborhoods are too disconnected, companies are too busy, and schools are too large. But humans desperately need community. It is programmed into our very core of being! So, what do we do?
Enter the Internet.
It is no surprise that chat-rooms and websites designed to connect people (like MySpace or Friendster) have taken over such a huge portion of the web. People are desperate for community, and have turned to technology to provide it. World of Warcraft works in a similar way. Guilds are (often) communities, a place where someone knows who you are, a place to connect.
But can/should digital-only community take the place of physical, face-to-face community? That is where I am stuck.
I am trying to solve the same problem on two levels: an individual level (can someone I have never met face-to-face be called a "friend") and a community level (can digital-only communities without face-to-face interaction fully satisfy the need for community that is built into every person).
Figuring this out seems almost essential, as it has a bearing on everything else I think about the game. But every time I think about it, I come to the same conclusion. There is something about digital-only that leaves me suspicious, but I cannot place what it is.
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