World of Warcraft is one of those games stereotypically played by pimply "nerds" and sun dodgers alike, only emerging from their darkened quarters between raids to refuel on microwave meals and Red Bull. These fiends sit in their swivel computer chairs for hours on end, ridiculing other players less advanced than them as they direct their characters through dungeons, one wrist resting on a custom made mouse mat, the other elsewhere...
Whilst this outlook of World of Warcraft players is all very stereotypical and overstated, some do get in over their heads. People have actually died of starvation playing this online game in a bid to just reach one level higher, or get that extra bit of epic gear, like it wouldn't all be there the next day.
In places like Japan, China and Korea, centres called "PC Bang's" exist where people congregate to play these sorts of games. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the gamers come to sit at row upon row of tiny Ikea computer desks, all turning their eyes square in front of PC's that they have to pay for by the hour. Heart attacks are a regular occurrence and statistics show that most of these obsessive gamers are playing World of Warcraft, often for days on end.
The game is gigantic in terms of popularity, generating hundreds of millions for its developer Blizzard, who apparently take little responsibility for its often devastating effects. Borrowing a similar ideology to that of an arms dealer stood in the dock, Blizzard say that they simply make and sell the game; no-one is forced to abuse it.
But despite the lack of self-discipline in East Asia, the ridiculous profits made and the banal tasks repeated in many quests it offers, World of Warcraft is a pretty good game. I should know. I played it almost obsessively for a year in 2009.
At first I felt a lot like everyone else does about World of Warcraft, it seemed like crossing a line. I like dodging the harsh light of reality as I play video games as much as the next man, but it just seemed too hard-core for my liking. I mean I've done my fair share of hours sneaking Solid Snake around with a box over his head, and relentless grinding in the world map of Final Fantasy 7 was a necessary evil, but World of Warcraft just seemed like a chore without end, from what I'd heard.
That was until I happened to walk into my mate Stu's house as he sat perched over his PC one day, destroying some kind of fish looking monster with a load of bright spells and noises. He'd always been a gamer and I knew he was playing WoW, but I hadn't actually seen it before. I glanced the screen and it was a flash of axe swinging butchery and phosphorous raining spells that killed his enemy, who he then robbed blind for gold coins. I'm guessing it was the inner kid inside of me that stirred up some kind of excitement, that or the fact I'm a total geek, but it suddenly appealed to me.
After a while, Stu had me playing as well, he got some kind of bonus for getting a friend to sign up so I convinced myself I was helping him out. To be honest, I think I just thought I was too cool for it to begin with, tragic I know, but I really did. I made my first character anyway, an Anadrol built dwarf with a platted beard and ginger locks. It was bizarre. I sat alone at my place on the laptop running around cutting down wolves and eating their flesh as Stu's character fended off trolls, orcs and other threats. I loved it - gaining levels, salvaging new weapons and then selling my old ones on.
Eventually I realised that the stigma of WoW didn't always apply, my mate Stu was a drug experimenting party fiend at the time, and I was training toward some weird ambition of being a natural bodybuilder (don't ask). But between fighting, bulking, raving and all the rest of it, we both sat like hermits at our homes when we could, slaying bosses and exploring lands thieved from Tolkien's imagination. Stolen moments of free time were spent sourcing new armour and joining groups of remote strangers to fight through dungeons with. It was fun but I was actually no good at the game, which was a huge annoyance to just about every other player on the server. I'd have top level goons messaging to tell me how bad I was and that I should "learn to frackin play the game n00b!" it was hilarious, most of them take the game far too seriously.
Eventually though, real life took over and neither of us had the time to level alts or finish quests. Stu swapped WoW for Fifa and I concentrated properly on writing. Perhaps our time spent playing World of Warcraft just makes us massive losers, and people will say that we should've known better, but it was a laugh and I'd play it again tomorrow if I had the time.
Now I know this is a game that many claim to be addicted to, but I wasn't. Addiction isn't the word. Oxycotton is addictive; World of Warcraft is more obsessive than anything else. If someone genuinely avoids real life situations and problems to play games, then it's more a fact of them being incapable in my opinion, rather than them being an "addict". To coin overly infatuated gamers who spend all day and night button bashing, with the same term as heroin addicts who often inject dirty needles into themselves, is a bit hollow. But apparently the experts say gaming is highly addictive, but so is coffee and sugar if you have too much. I'm probably just trying to convince myself now though as World of Warcraft was definitely worth the time and effort.