Rant: It IS a game, but it is also more.

Bear with me (Pun intended) when you read the title of this post. World of Warcraft is a video game played on the computer to entertain the user. It goes along the lines of playing a first person shooter, RPG, Sports game or another other genre. It is a game that you turn on when are looking to be entertained for awhile and have fun with it.

The difference between WoW and most other video games is the fact that there is no "pause" button. The whole game is played in real time. If you sit in the spot where you just killed an elite mob and go make yourself a sandwich, the odds are that when you return you will be laying in a pile with the elite patrolling over your body laughing at you. As Hedwig and Matheo know, when a baby starts crying it's hard to explain to them that you can't come over there just yet because Skadi the Ruthless is spinning in your direction. In a lot of situations there are people depending on you hitting that 5 button one more time or the group will wipe. It's a team game that when in dungeons, raids, PVP, and group quests requires you to lean on other people and for them to lean on you.

So what are you getting at Nash? I'll tell you. It is a game made for entertainment but when played it should not be treated like Halo. It should not be treated like Mass Effect 2. You can't run around doing things in the game without thinking about how it would affect other people.

The reason I write this is because I recently tranferred my 44 Orc Hunter to the Azuremyst server and was shopping for a good Horde guild (GASP!). I finally found one, but not after the drama I created in the first small one I joined. One of the guild officers didn't think there was any problem with him leaving the guild he officered to go to another guild for the purpose of getting guild bank access in the other guild and ninjaing their GB then returning. He then started bragging about it in guild chat about how pissed off they were.

Well I proceeded to berate him for his actions and let him know that I couldn't believe he thought that that was ok. His answer to me, and the one he stuck to the whole time mind you, was that it was "just a game" and "it doesn't mean anything". This is the whole purpose of this post guys. It does "mean something" and it might be "just a game" but it's a game that people spend HOURS and HOURS a day playing and working hard to get the things that they put in the guild bank to help out their fellow guildies. So someone purposely ninjaing guild banks to get stuff for their own guild bank is rediculous.

You aren't going to NPC banks and taking their stuff. You aren't pickpocketing NPCs for some awesome loot. You are undermining the work of people that actually play the game with respect for the other players. I got the idea for this post from the recollection of a recent pug that Blackbear wrote about in his blog. Their was a DK in their totally disregarding the fact he had no idea who he was playing with. I think BB might have forgotten, but the last draw was the DK's use of the word "nigger" in party chat. If BB hadn't initiated the kick, I would have. You are being held accountable for what you say in game, and that is both offensive and bigotry at it's best.

So the point of this post is that yes, we are playing "game". But I tend to take seriously something that they make me pay for monthly. People get banned from WoW all the time for doing things that they think they can get away with cause it's just a game. So think about that all you loot ninja's and trade chat trolls when you start doing things that others in game would frown upon and just think to yourself...

It is a game, but it is also more.