A Virtual War with World of Warcraft

My guess is that most of you are familiar with massive multi-player online games such as World or Warcraft and myriad others. For those of us (ahem) who lived in the early computer years, such gigantic creations are dreams come true (anyone remember Mega-Wars on CompuServe?). These online roleplaying games, or virtual worlds, are becoming worlds in themselves - the stuff of science fiction of two decades ago. Not only do they provide worlds, maps, entertainment, but they also create micro-economies. And when in doubt, if it has a viable "economy," it is as real as any other economy.

I know many people who enjoy these games, some who spend only a few hours a month playing them, and others who have given up their physical lives for virtual ones. But, this weekend, while I was attending CodCon XIII, I happened to overhear two young men (college students) discussing the woes of World of Warcraft (WoW). The basic and heated discussion was an old one. It seems both young lads had roommate/girlfriends who felt that the lads spend too much time playing WoW. From the sound of it, they dedicated a mere few hours a day to the game. Compared to television viewing, this might not seem like much time.

But the locus of their discussion was how unfair their roommates were treating them - accusing the fellows of not spending enough time away from the computer. Of course, both of these young men also attended bi-weekly pen-and-paper roleplaying games. For those who have played these games, just like the electronic counterpart, they can take hours. Really, these games (at one time) were the stuff of college life.

Here is the rub. Both of the WoW players felt they were being treated unfair. They both said they went to movies and rented videos with their girlfriends, even though they didn't enjoy those activities. Nonetheless, they did them to prove their devotion to the relationship. As a result, they both felt that being allowed a few hours of alone time, in another room, away from their roommates, was fair and deserved.

After a few minutes of rumination on the topic, both gamers decided they were most certainly being victimized by "girls who over rationalize everything." (I don't think they were using "rationalize" properly here, but I understood their meaning). One of the two said, "You just have to put your foot down. You can't give up all of your fun for 'her.' Sure she'll complain, but she goes shopping and to the gym. Is that fair to you?"

This statement garnered a positive response. The second fellow asked, "Is that what you did? Does (name deleted) understand why you play WoW?" The reply was: "We don't live together anymore. She said she was paying for half of everything and that she didn't want to pay for WoW."

So it seems, one of the relationships dissolved over the dispute of time sharing and a virtual world and "real" economics." Undaunted, the second fellow decided to give his roommate an ultimatum. He was determined to play WoW. In fact, he said if he couldn't, then he would do "much worse things." I took this to mean that his fidelity might be in question if not allowed to play WoW.

And that led to the next topic. It seems the two girlfriends felt the gamers were finding virtual girlfriends while online. This also fueled the fire on both sides.

In the end, both students decided to take a stand for their basic human rights, and were determined to find females who understood and accepted them, and didn't "over rationalize everything."

Now I'll add into the mix that Congress recently held hearings about virtual worlds. This is truly an historic moment. It seems there are national security concerns about terrorists using Second Life (another VR system) to plot, communicate, and plan future attacks. Not to be outdone, several members of Congress made WoW jokes about experience points and levels during the session.

I suppose what I find interesting is how "real" the "unreal" is becoming. With economic engagement and emotional engagement and national interests at stake, these VR worlds are becoming just as much of a problem as the former analog world (that's the one we live in presently, although many argue it is just as fabricated, except with human brain/computers - we see what we want, in other words).

Honestly, all of the above is something I would have expected to read in SF books (particularly cyberpunk novels) back in the 1980s. Today, they are very serious problems. Life decisions are being made around entertainment systems. And if what some people claim is true, even the security of human lives are at risk due to digital creations.

Perhaps all of this is called escapism, and no different from reading a favorite genre novel or watching a film. But when it overlaps with the real world, or influences the "real" world, maybe it becomes just as "real" as the "real" world. There are so many possibilities, I wonder where all of this will lead?