NOTICE
ALTERNATE REALITY
World of Warcraft is more popular than ever, but is the game taking students away from reality?
by Laura Evers
Will Coquillette, Lenexa junior, never wanted to play World of Narcraft. In fact, he was dead yet against it. He had witnessed friends become addicted to the game and decided that wasn't going to be him. In 2005, he decided to innocently try it out to see what all the fuss was about. But once he sat down, he didn't want to get up.
The online computer game World of Warcraft, released in November 2004, has become nothing short of a phenomenon. Nith eight million players worldwide, two million of those in North America
In the beginning, Coquillette played an average of 40 hours per week. Although he now plays 10 hours a week at the most, when he started playing. WoW turned
communicate with each other through text, a system similar to instant messaging. Through this system, gamers can make their characters flirt, tell jokes, dance, and even strip.
ILLUSTRATION/KATIETEBOW
"IT ALLOWS YOU TO LEAD SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE. IT FREES YOU FROM A LOT OF THE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE OF REAL LIFE AND, IN A WAY, GIVES YOU A VACATION."
—WILL COQUILLETTE, LENEXA JUNIOR
alone, it's safe to say this is not "just a video game." A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (or MMORPG for short), NoW allows its users to enter an alternate reality in which they can create their own characters, fight off enemies and live in a world completely separate from their own.
In fact, the opportunity to escape is one of the game's most appealing qualities. If you play the game enough, it allows you to lead someone else's life," Coquillette says. "It frees you from a lot of the emotional paddle of real life and, in a way, gives you a vacation."
To enter WoW is to enter another dimension. In the game, players live in a world of fantasy and adventure. They can explore snow-covered mountains, sand dunes, forests and ice bridges, all with the beauty of 3-D animation. Gamers can also walk through logging companies and castles, intermittently fighting off beasts and demons along the way. WoW also gives gamers the opportunity to talk to each other out loud with microphones, using software such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. If players do not have this software, they can
into an alternate reality for him. WoW players can easily lose perspective of the real world while playing the game, causing them to view their own life as a "drag" in comparison, says Anne
Owen, a licensed psychologist in Lawrence. "It can be a lot like a drug addiction," she says. "People give up on aspects of their life that could be fulfilling because their focus is on playing the game."
Real-world interaction
World of Warcraft also interacts with the real world, increasing its appeal. According to Coquillette, the economics surrounding the game account for much of the allure. While playing the game, players earn gold that propels their character further into each level. Sometimes, instead of keeping the gold for themselves, players put the gold up for sale on eBay and make a substantial profit. Although Coquillette hasn't done this, he says it's also possible for the player to sell their entire account on eBay.
Damon Smith, Houston junior, received $500 for his account when he sold it on eBay, but believes he could have had$ 1,500 if he had sold the account as soon as he stopped, instead of allowing the account to remain idle for three months.
The game also lets users interact socially, allowing them to work together to complete a goal. In WoW, the object of the game is to move to the next
level. By joining a guild, you can agree to play with other people to further advance in the game and gain experience and gold. Gaining gold and items, or "loot," better equips the player to face more difficult enemies further along in the game. While playing, users can talk to each other through messaging systems and audible dialogue, oftentimes forming new friendships that transfer to real life. Smith has only made a few friends through
the game,although he has heard that some couples meet while playing WoW and get married, he says.
The game's other large appeal is the rush of accomplishment and power users get from playing the game. Every level is designed to help the player gain experience. As a player moves up each level, he or she becomes more powerful by collecting gold, and it becomes increasingly more difficult to travel to the
next part of the game. "People like to be powerful," Coquillette says. "The game is full of rewards like that."
Addiction factor
Addiction factor With all the appeal of WoW, Smith believes it has turned into an addiction. Since beginning the game, Smith has quit three times, most recently last August, due to the time commitment it demanded. He has yet to start up again.
"For people who play the game, it's like a second life to them. You can't just quit a life," Smith says. Much like Coquillette, Smith found that the game distracted him from his real life, sometimes to an overwhelming degree. Smith became dedicated to playing every night when he joined with 39 other players in his guild to complete a challenge for bragging rights and new equipment for their
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03.01.2007 JAYPLAY ←15