I am Weebus, God of Azeroth

This is a semi-response to Elona's post "Jersey Shore and Dustin Kidd" which can be viewed at http://ekhoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/jersey-shore-and-dustin-kidd-normal-0.html

I call this post a semi-response because it's not really a response to Elona's post. I was reading her post on the links between Jersey Shore (which I am addicted to, but I think The Real World has more drama now) and the Dustin Kidd article when I got inspired to talk about the religious effects of gaming. Most popular games such as Call of Duty and Halo are extremely addictive and have even spawn professional leagues (http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/). However, I am here to talk a about a game commonly referred to as 'WOW', World of Warcraft. WOW is a massive online multiplayer game where there is estimated 12 million subscribers to the game. Another game which can be put in the same category as WOW is Couter-Strike, commonly known as CS. Counter-Strike is a first person shooter that is primarily played online. I can confidently say that CS is the number one reason why teenage boys started video gaming all night. Similar to Harry Potter, WOW and CS has also significantly affected the gaming world without contributing much to society as a whole. I will try and apply Kidd's theory to these two games.

Creating Norms: When I was a child, hanging out would mean going outside to play with your friends. With the advent of CS, hanging out was soon relocated to the internet cafe, where kids would spend hours playing CS online with their friends. I think I've played de_dust so much I have the map ingrained into my brian. I still remember all the best camping spots. More importantly, I think these games have made gaming more acceptable. Popular Hollywood stars such as Mila Kunis admit that they play World of Warcraft.

Maintaining Boundaries: As an ex-World of Warcraft player, I can honestly say that I could strike up a conversation with anyone that played WOW. Sometimes when I tell non-WOW players that I play the game, I would often receive "Oh, you're one of those" responses. Video game players are often labeled as anti-social and nerdy or geeky. Furthermore, these games have developed slang that only gamers use such as gg (good game), and camping (a spot on the map where it is hard to kill you but easy to pick off enemies).

de_dust

Developing Rituals: Similar to people bonding while watching a tv show or participating in sports, gamers bond virtually, and if you're playing with friends, you can bon in reality too! In WOW, there are events called "raids" where anywhere from 5 - 30 characters participate. Before each of these raids, every group goes through the same ritual: checking that all gear is repaired, and developing a game plan. It is similar to pre-game rituals seen in hockey or football.

Innovation: CS and WOW both made gaming acceptable in the mainstream. Furthermore, within the gaming world, both these games are extremely innovative in the way they have developed gameplay. CS for its multi-player online first-person shooter, and WOW for its subscription massively multi-player online role playing game.

Social Change: As stated above, both CS and WOW have helped gaming to the point where there is a professional league which is sometimes show on Sportsnet. WOW has even made and appearance on South Park. Furthermore, some slang such as noob (slang for newbie) are now commonly used.

WOW is designed so that it is almost a reflection of the real world. Within the virtual world, we can find different organizations (guilds) with people from all socio-economic classes from all over the world. I once met a Ph.D. student on WOW who was doing his thesis on the similarities between the WOW economy and the economic structure of the "real world". By applying effective real world economic theories on the WOW economy, he actually managed to make alot of money. This just goes to show how immersive the game can be. Events such as raids, create a sense of community and a develop strong emotions similar to those experienced during a sporting event. No joke, I have witnessed families breaking up because of World of Warcraft.