WOW
About five years ago I stopped playing computer games, almost entirely that is. Chiefly, I just didn’t have time to get involved in them. But alas, the state of the art has made huge leaps and bounds in just half a decade — and a so-called “friend” suggested I meet him online in World of Warcraft. My mistake, of course, was actually trying it.
Most computer games are finite and limiting and therefore reasonably safe — after all, their charm will eventually peter out, revealing the true waste of time they really are. Not so, it seems, with “WOW.” This online community of gamers, now over 3.5 million members strong, provides all the elements our psyche needs to suck us involuntarily into a fantasy world of magic, mahem and visualized imagination. Clear, finite goals, team-based play, unpredictability, and constant expansion — there’s always somewhere new to explore, someone new to befriend, some horde of fiendish enemies (played, of course, by other members of the online community) to mount an attack against. The psychology of gaming has evolved.
Well. At least my dual Powermac is able to render all the visual glitter, making the experience as enjoyable as possible. As I try to limit the time I put into the game, I also wonder when — and if — the charm will wear off. Perhaps if my friends and family stage an intervention.
