Over on twitter today, @RhoWoW suggested people participate in @Alternativechat‘s 10 Years, 10 Questions writing… thing (challenge? exercise?? event?!?). It seems like a cool thing to do to reflect on the last however many years I’ve played WoW and write about it. Plus, it gets me blogging/writing. Something I’ve been struggling with for awhile now. So here goes!!
1. Why did you start playing Warcraft?
I was a huge EverQuest player. Top-end guild. Break-neck raiding. WoW came out in the middle of all of this and was very popular, very quickly. I picked up WoW on a whim, to see if I would like it. In the middle of playing a TON of EQ, I found that WoW was too different for me at that time. I picked it up again a few years later because of @Kurnmogh.
2. What was the first ever character you rolled?
A Night Elf priest. I think I named her after my EQ character (despite how different and unrelated they were).
3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game?
When I first picked up WoW, the only factor was character models. I wanted to be cute and pretty! Night Elfs were this choice at the time. Later, when I made Hestiah, I was limited to which classes could be druids, the class I wanted to play. I will never forget Kurn’s rants about druids being in the wrong spec and how expensive it was for them to respec (before the days of dual-spec). She said that the druids were the worst because they could never make up their damn minds and stick with a spec!
4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why?
This is a hard one. There are so many. But I think running around Southshore with Kurn and Daey and her ranting about murlocs is up there. Lots of death and laughing and corpse running. I also think questing for my Warlock epic mount is up there. That was so much trouble, and so ridiculous. I am SO glad I did it. Even once.
Raiding has also been fun. Killing Lich King and getting the title. Doing “Herald of the Titans”. Killing tough heroic bosses. Getting meta mounts. [What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been]. Too many to list, really.
5. What is your favourite aspect of the game and has this always been the case?
I dunno that there is any one thing that is my favorite, but probably the social aspects. I have made some of the best friendships because of WoW. Friendships that well surpassed any “it’s just a game” situations. Some friendships have remained, some have been lost. But the one thing that always kept me coming back were the people playing.
6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?
Nagrand. Darkshore. And Badlands. Nagrand is just so pretty. It makes me smile to go there and sit on a floating rock. Darkshore has a lot of story that I miss. And a lot of story that I still enjoy. Grimclaw will make me cry every. single. time. (I blame @_Rades for this! *shakes angry fist*). And Badlands because of [Rhea’s Egg] questline. I have a lot of love for that egg.
7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?
I played a month in Vanilla, though I have no clue when (month-wise) that it was. And came back at the end-ish of BC. I got dragged along on some raids and was generally awful. Then again about midway through WotLK. Since then I’ve been mostly consistent. played most of Cata. Most of MoP. And will be around for WoD.
8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not?
Usually, no. I speed through most of it without paying any attention. Except for some questlines/stories. I love the Grimclaw stuff in Darkshore. And I love the Rhea’s egg stuff in Badlands.
9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?
Some of the guilds I joined were instantly regret moves. Some people I befriended and trusted. But these have little to do with WoW and more to do with personal interactions (ie. me).
The only real regret are the friendships I let lapse for some reason or another. The time I spent playing too much and not doing schoolwork or work-work. I have few regrets.
10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming?
This is probably the most personal question, which yields the most profound answers. Warcraft has introduced me to some of the most amazing people. Friends who became my family. Boyfriends. Loves. Enemies. Acquaintances. All of them have had some impact on my life, one way or another.
Many friends have lasted years. There are inside jokes. Similar complaints. Talking about the mechanics of a heroic boss fight that annoys you the most. Achievements you’re farming. Company you have in doing really silly, grindy stuff. I got to know the people. Their lives. Their struggles. Their joys. Their hardships. Their accomplishments, in game and out of game.
I wouldn’t trade any of that in.
It always means I get the strangest looks from people. Folks who don,’t understand that internet friendships are real friendships. Who question my sanity when I say I’m meeting someone from off the internet. Or that I live on twitter and no I will not let you friend me there or on Facebook. That there is a whole other part of me that exists that has nothing to do with business casual attire and welfare benefits and jobs and such. When I do talk about that part of my life, it’s interesting to see who is secretly judging me and writing me off and who feels like they’ve meet a friend for the first time.
My time in WoW has helped me be a better person, even if I falter from the pedestal of my own creation. I’ve learned to accept that I’m not good at all things. How to accept constructive criticism. How to engage in difficult conversations in a more productive manner. I probably would have learned these things eventually, but it was my interactions (failed and successful) with people I knew because of WoW that made me reflect on myself more.
I am a better person because of World of Warcraft.
