Let me know how many times you've heard this:
"You're on that damn computer all the time!"
"What are you playing, that War of Worldcraft and wizards crap?"
"You better not be on that computer!"
"When are you going to do something else besides sit there and do nothing!?"
[insert something about you being a failure here]
Or how about this lovely trap scenario:
"The family is going to ______ around 7 tonight. Do you want to go?"
"Ah, I can't."
"Why not?"
"'Cause I'm busy."
"With what?"
"I'm just busy."
"With what? What are you going to do?"
"Nothing. I just can't go."
"What's so important that you can't come with us? Is it that stupid game?"
Now, at this point, you know that they know what you're going to be doing (it's Tuesday night after all) and you can tell because they have a smug attitude when they ask what you're doing; they just want you to say the words, "computer" "internet" or "Warcraft" so they can rain down hell on you. You can do either one of three things... all of which trap you in a corner of nothing but bad endings:
Option 1: Avoid it. "How does what I'm going to be doing matter? You asked if I wanted to go and I said no. I could be solving world peace or organizing my Pogs and Slammers collection for the next few hours. My selected activity has nothing to do with the validity of my choice to not go."
Result: First of all, yes I still have my Pogs. Second, this starts an argument about you being in their house and them having the right to know everything you're doing at all times, and 5 minutes later you're in the backseat of the family car, going to your little brother's 15th soccer game, and texting your friend some made-up excuse about not being able to raid tonight because a car crashed into a telephone pole a block away and it knocked out your power. Or your dog's on fire.
Option 2: Lie. "I just have a lot of homework to do," or "I'm not feeling well," etc.
Result: Depending on your past history with school and homework, this may or may not be believable. Chances are, if you're a Warcraft raider, you're probably not exactly a Valedictorian candidate. But whether or not they believe you, you'll be asked to show the completed homework (which you of course didn't do), and worse, they'll be back home before you're done raiding anyway, thereby catching you red-handed. And if you "weren't feeling well", you'll be asked how you can play games and talk online but not be able to sit quietly somewhere else for a couple hours. Basically, you've doomed every future excuse 'til Cataclysm. And maybe Emerald Dream.
Option 3: Tell the truth. "Mom. Dad. I'm going to play World of Warcraft."
Result: You might as well be saying this while getting your jacket on and walking out the front door.
It can be hard being a kid living with parents who don't understand. I thankfully moved out of my house and came to California when I was 19, so I never had to deal with the finger-shaking and "roof over your head" lectures. I also grew up with three brothers, so video games were just another avenue of lifestyle in my home, to the point where family members would come over during the holidays and play Mario Party and Goldeneye. In that regard I count myself lucky to be surrounded with people who understand the video game cosmopolitan.
Fast-forward to 2010 and I'm 24 now. Over the last five years of playing and raiding in World of Warcraft I've heard some pretty crazy things on Vent (two of which sparked Viacom-Blizzard investigations). And the most common anomaly is a parent, girlfriend/boyfriend, husband/wife yelling at my guildie about playing Warcraft. Sometimes it's justified ("Why didn't you take the kids to school today!??!" "It's patch day, honey!!"), but a lot of the times it's not. I think World of Warcraft, while being the phenomenon that it is, has become a flagship for an unfair stigma that non-WoW people attribute it to. That being, if you play World of Warcraft, you're a loser and a nerd with no real life friends, and you have an Orc costume at home that you sleep next to. Be honest, you hide the fact you play WoW to most people, don't you? And to those that do know, you downplay it. "Like, I dunno, maybe an hour or so a week," you say. "Just for fun." Why is that? Why do we lie? It's because we don't want to get nailed to that stereotype of a 40-year old basement-dwelling, 300 lb. virgin on a strict Hot Pocket/Mountain Dew diet who sports a 4chan preach fuzz 'stache, breathes through his mouth and has Hentai wallpaper on his desktop (apologies to anyone who fits this description). So we become ashamed in a way, and Warcraft becomes our secret little life on the side when no one's watching.
Before I go on, I'd like to set something straight. I'm not aiming this article at the kids who are failing in school because they play Warcraft 12 hours a day till 4am, or the 18-30 year olds who play WoW every day but don't have a job, go to school or have any other important obligation like kids or taking care of a family member. World of Warcraft - or any other leisure activity such as other games, surfing, shopping, going out, sports etc. - is at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of priority. A person's priority should be: Job/Family > School > significant other > prior obligations like sports, bands or clubs > telling Jack Bauer where the bomb is > Punching people in the face just before eating > World of Warcraft. Sure, there's some moments when you can put aside something for a little "me" time with Warcraft, especially if you let people know that you're busy Tuesday - Thursdays, 7pm-10pm. That's not asking for a lot. Just a little polite consideration. But it's always surprising to me how I can spend all day at work or the park or beach or just driving around doing errands with nary a call or text. But around 7:10 half of southern California needs me somewhere and takes it personally if I decline. So this article is sympathizing with the kids who play it straight and still take heat for playing Warcraft.
First of all, why is playing Warcraft so bad? Is it really such an awful alternative? So you stay home at night during the week. If I was a parent, I wouldn't mind that at all. I've lived the party nightlife and I've seen what happens and what goes on. And no doubt my kids (if I ever have any) will have an even crazier and risque world to grow up in. So while the other kids are going out, learning to smoke, drink, flirt promiscuously, and gather STD's like Tony Romo gathers playoff chokes, I'd rather be inside, safe, warm, laughing with friends both online and in my room. And if I was a parent, I'd rather have the peace of mind in knowing where my kid is at night instead of worrying how the party went and why he's still not home at 5am and not answering his cell.
Secondly, a movie ticket is, what, $11? Popcorn and a soda is another $13. Candy is $4, and a hotdog requires you to give them your first born child. How much do you think beer costs at a party or a club, $5 a glass? Cigarettes are $7 a pack. A tank of gas is $35. Pizza is another $18. So at minimum, a safe night out can set you back at least $100. Imagine going to Vegas for a weekend. And a bad night out? A seat belt or cell phone violation is $55, and a speeding ticket can kick you in the coin sack for $300 plus. How much is it for AAA to tow you home? To fix your car? The insurance premium increase for having to pay for the other person's car? What about taxi fare when you were too drunk to drive home and your friends ditched you? How much are abortions nowadays? Even if you found a coupon for a free one in "Amy Winehouse Weekly", the emotional and mental scars will cost you more than you probably realize.
Oh, what's that you say? Warcraft is only $15 a month? Less than fifty cents a day? That's less than that bald guy with a beard begs you for as he surrounds himself with skinny brown kids with flies on their faces and makes fun of you for forgetting the phone number on your screen. Next time your parents give you guff about how much Warcraft costs, ask them how much money they spend in their personal free time like shopping or smoking or drinking or fishing or whatever. And if they're the ones paying for your account with a credit card, just offer to give them forty-nine cents every day and watch them roll their eyes. Suddenly $15 a month isn't such an important amount, is it?
And third, Warcraft in and of itself isn't even that bad. In fact, it's thousands of times more informative than Solitaire or Freecell, which is what your parents play on their $2,000 deck of cards they call a computer (you know, that thing they always ask you to fix and still has AOL on it). Warcraft not only teaches you hand-eye coordination, but you have to work as a team in raids and especially Arena. Communication. Memorization. Responsibility. Execution. And if you're a guild master, raid leader or officer, you must develop leadership skills to keep people in line and to get them all to work together. And you do a lot of math in your head on the fly. A lot. Looking at Omen threat meters versus your Damage-Per-Second while keeping an eye on DotTimers ticking down all of your debuffs and counting Global Cooldowns in your mind while choosing which spell to use next so the next three don't clash. I bet if you could sit your parents down with an open mind and actually explained to them what you do, it would blow them away:
"Mom, dad, here's what happens in World of Warcraft when I play. I have to make sure all my gems and enchants are maximizing my statistics to their maximum, which means hours of theorycrafting to figure out the best way to increase my healing throughput. When that's done, me and 24 people start an encounter. I have to put Beacon of Light on the off-tank and Sacred Shield on the main tank, because I'm using a Flash of Light build which increases my Spell Power by about 3,000, and Sacred Shield absorbs damage based on a coefficient of my 75% Spell Power plus 500. And because Sacred Shield causes Flash of Light to crit and I mainly use Flash of Light, I want the main tank to receive the majority of my heals while the off-tank gets the benefit of the run-off via Beacon of Light. During the fight, I make sure I use Judgement at least every 59 seconds so my heals receive 20% Haste, making them faster. Then I have to take into account which if my heals - 9k, 12k, 23k - I should use at any given second to match the damage taken and damage incoming, and what class is taking the damage and what the source of the damage is. Certain classes can take more damage than others, so I have to take that into consideration too, every second. Also, proper use a spell that mitigates the raid's total damage and increases my Aura's elemental resistance also must be used at a moment's notice. Every flask, every buff, every spell, every heal, every thing the tank does and gears with, and every choice I make has a mathematical value and consequence to it. This is why all 25 people in the group have to do their own math and execute their job performances perfectly; because we all depend on each others effort and skill to succeed.
"And I process all of this information every second, every minute, for four hours straight."
I bet getting high on a curb somewhere wouldn't nearly be as impressive. If you can, try to explain Warcraft to your parents. Break down the game for them. Show them what you do. Lay out the the math required and thinking it takes behind the game's flashy graphics. Teach them to the respect the game as more than just a screen you look at that has a bunch of sounds. It may not make then fans of the game to where they buy BlizzCon tickets for themselves and make Murloc jokes at dinner, but planting a little seed of common sense can go a long way over time when it grows and they hear and see all the awful things other kids do with poor choices. You won't look so bad in comparison.
World of Warcraft isn't an evil thing. It's a game. If WoW didn't exist, you'd just be doing something else with your free time; probably something more expensive and dangerous; Like birdwatching. Statistical fact: On average, more people die per year birdwatching (157) than playing World of Warcraft (2; damn Koreans not eating). This isn't to say you should never go outside and that video games are an ideal substitute for sunlight and human interaction. Matter of fact, I recommend one day of no playing for every night you raid. So if you raid Tuesday and Wednesday, make sure you take at least two days out of the week Warcraft-free; Buy a gym membership. Learn to play the piano. Go Lazer-tagging with friends. Heck, read a book. They're like really long magazines. You can still do your 5-man Daily for the Frost emblem. Just remember to take care of real-life things first. Once you've done your chores or come home from work or finished homework, feel free to unwind any way you want, even playing Warcraft with friends.
And if your parents are still wreaking havoc over a silly game and they won't listen to logic, then the problem goes much deeper than you and a computer and you should have a long talk about what's truly bothering them. If you're not doing what they want you to do or becoming exactly the kind of person they want you to be, that's fine. But don't blame World of Warcraft. It's rarely ever, ever the problem. Unless the kid was a straight A+ student for nine years but then the day he started playing WoW his grades dropped, his attitude went bad and he mumbles, "...totheground... totheground... totheground" in his sleep, then the problem probably lies with something else. Maybe he plays because his friends have all become bad people and he doesn't want to follow along. Maybe she plays because she doesn't want to listen to mom and dad yelling and screaming all the time. Or maybe your kid plays because they know it angers you but that's the only way they can get your attention anymore. The bottom line is, don't blame the symptom. Warcraft is just an avenue for passing time, no more than watching TV or taking a nap does the same. It's just a game. As a parent, take a deeper look.
If all else fails, get rich and move to SoCal. =P
♥F.
