Community and friendship truly does make a game such a better place. I was lucky enough to find WoW through (an awful) person that I had met years back. While the circumstances were pretty bad, while patrolling through The Exodar with said person, I came across a guild by accident. A man was looking for members to sign their charter and sure enough, we filled the spots. What I didn't know at the time was that this guild was my blessing back then. It was an extraordinary family. They were kind, they were helpful, and they lifted my spirits when I needed it the most. Days passed and one thing led to the other and soon we were chatting on Vent and just having a great time. Eventually by surprise, they even took to their car and visited me. All the way from Texas. I was thrilled! If they showed me anything, it was that friendship can come from anywhere, especially through a game! Unfortunately, we don't nearly talk as much as we used to, since life goes on. But they are absolutely always carried through my daily thoughts and memories.
I know now, years later, that WoW doesn't exactly work that way anymore. People are so encumbered by 'working' to get things or specific tasks done, that I rarely see anyone truly talk. And if they do talk, it bursts into a giant war and it's all about complaining and fighting or bragging. Generally negative thoughts, things I dislike to be a part of. I could only imagine it would be a lot harder to find friends now, for someone who is new. Either it was luck back then or the style of gameplay, but I certainly wish it was the same now. I think everyone deserves to find that one person(s) that they can talk to and confide in, just as that family did for me. Fortunately in this day and age, through the power of YouTube and TwitchTV and the relation of WoW, that is how I managed to also find such wonderful best friends. It might not have started through the game itself, but they are just another blessing that I will always carry with me and I feel fortunate to have them. Every single one of them. And even though we don't personally see each other up close and personal (at least not yet), they mean the world to me and are part of something that I've never even imagined!
Thank you for the wonderful article, Qelric, and also for being a wonderful friend to me as well. :)
World of Warcraft: Community
Friendship and loss in the gaming world.
Losing a long-term guildie in World of Warcraft (or indeed any MMO) can be difficult to deal with. The player might have left the guild for another, further progressed, guild, or they may have left the game completely. Either way, it can be a struggle for those left behind, and in a game as old as WoW, I’m sure it’s happened to all of us at some point.
WoW used to thrive on social relationships. Now, not so much. With in-game features such as ‘Looking for Raid’ providing access to content otherwise unseen by players unwilling - or unable - to find a place within the social structure built by the majority, players no longer need to build relationships with other players in order to progress.
I’ve always been a social player. If you wanted to raid back in the days of Vanilla and the Burning Crusade, you had to be. Grouping with friends made dungeons easier too, as heroic 5-mans were often time consuming and patience-testing. Looking back at how the game’s changed over the years, I’ve found that it is those relationships that have kept me playing WoW for so long.
I’ve enjoyed good times with my online friends and they’ve also been there for me through the bad. During TBC, my computer broke down and needed to be taken away for repair as it was still under warranty. Out of work at the time, I relied heavily on the social connections I’d made in-game to get me through the day, and so the realization that I could be without my PC for the better part of a month was, in all honesty, distressing.
A guildie whom I’d never met in real life, but had spoken with many times over Ventrilo, came to the rescue. Incredibly, it turned out he didn’t live far from me and the very next day he delivered to me his spare computer. It’s a gesture I’ve never forgotten.
More recently, I mentioned in guild chat that I was looking for a new television as the one I had was old and huge and would not fit in my new apartment. Next thing I know there’s a 32” flat screen TV being delivered thanks to another guildie who’d just bought a new one. He didn’t want any money for it, not even to cover the delivery costs.
Reading this, one might believe me to only enjoy in-game friendships thanks to the materialistic perks, but the point I’m making is I’ve met some wonderful people in WoW. Kind, trusting people. People who would chat with me at 4am because I was depressed and suffering from insomnia. People who would drive seven hours through the night to support me through dark times.
These people play World of Warcraft, and I am proud to be counted among them.
I have to wonder though. If I were a new player, with all of the in-game features that have removed the need to socialise…would I meet these amazing people? And would my heart break every time one of them left?
Penny for your thoughts,
Follow me on Twitter: @QelricDK