Quote:Original post by DrjonesDW3d
This post just shows how truly ignorant you are of this topic. Allow me to list off a little of what we gain from our 'accomplishments' outside of the gear and screen shot for our website.
- Working with 40 other people every night, all to accomplish a common goal
- Putting time into 'tedious' work that you might not wanting to do, but seeing the benefit that properly preparing for something generates
- Pride in knowing that you put a lot of effort into something, and were able to accomplish what you set out to do.
- Knowing how to deal with a situation in which other people rely on you to perform under pressure
- Being able to make split second decisions caused by unpredicted changes in a stressful situation
- How to get along with and interact with people that you wouldn't normally approach and be friends with
- How to learn from people from different personality types and backgrounds from yourself
- Learning how to take something you really enjoy doing, and turn it into something more than just a pure form of entertainment.
- How to work in a structured environment, where people at the top make the big decisions, and people at the bottom figure out the details.
I don't know about you, but any of those things are things that I would look for in a resume. The kill of the boss is simply the end product, there is a LOT that goes into it that you (and others) are unaware of. If I was in a position to hire someone, and I found out that they have killed Nefarian or some other major boss, I would be very impressed, because I know that doing so takes everything from patience to teamwork.
Here is a little example. If you had some experience playing WoW, the 'hardcore' endgame is not simply running around killing things and gaining levels. That isn't what we do 8 hours a day.
A typical situation, would be us having an encounter that we have not yet beaten. We will log on 3-4 nights a week, and attempt that encounter. We come up with a plan, make sure everyone knows what they are doing, then engage in combat with the boss. We will all die. We will then look at our plan, what went wrong, and come up with a way to fix it. This entire process can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on the boss. We will continue doing that, for 5-6 hours that night, each time, making a little bit of progress, learning something new, or getting some practice, but we will still not get the kill. We will do that all night, 3-4 nights a week, for maybe 4-5 weeks. This adds up to sometimes more than 100 attempts, all of which have ended with us dieing, not the boss. Eventually, we make that change that is the last piece of the puzzle. It's the final piece. We then engage and we come out the victor. The sense of accomplishment that you feel here is indescribable. It's something that you can feel pride in, knowing that everyone has accomplished it. The guild has invested literally thousands of man hours into this task, and it finally paid off. You figured it out, and can now move on to the next one.
If you think that process leaves you with nothing more than some new gear, you are very very mistaken.
Also, while difficult and challenging, this is not as intense as it may seem. I have been playing with many of the same guys for over 2 years now. We have a blast. During those times online we BS about all kinds of things, give eachother a hard time, and basically do what friends do when they hang out. It is really quite the social experience, especially when (as I said before) people are from such vastly different backgrounds than you would assume.
Now, I know you can sit there, without any idea of what you are talking about, and come up with another post based on false assumptions that you think makes sense, but I can tell you, as someone who has done this for 2 years, there is A LOT more to it than you are giving it credit for. I have learned so many valuable things doing this that extend far outside the realm of the game. It's easily been one of the most enjoyable and beneficial parts of my life thus far. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
First, let me dispell your ill conceived conclusions of me and inform you that I *have* played WoW, as well as other MMOs, including Runescape, Guild Wars, and Eternal Lands; I am no stranger to MMOs and I do not shun them as worthy pursuits of entertainment. WoW was an activity that I engaged in with some of my coworkers. At my peak, I was playing 3 or 4 nights a week for about 4 hours a night. It was how we socialized when we couldn't go out to a bar or club. I even picked the game up again when I was considering moving to Illinois so that I could stay in contact with them, but by then none of us were playing the game anymore. It was not, however, to the detriment of real social interaction, and I permanently cancelled my subscription when I started volunteering at a local theater house.
I have been playing various games of different types for the last 20 years. I do not deny that certain elements of WoW can be fun, I do not claim that entertainment is a waste of time. The problem emerges when you spend the equivalent of a full-time job on a game for nothing more than "a sense of self accomplishment." When I said "in 5 years your accomplishments will mean nothing" I did not mean "because all the gear you won will be lost" I meant "because the game will lack relevancy". The majority of WoW players today never played UO, and the "accomplishments" of the UO players that moved on to WoW mean nothing to the WoW players with no UO experience. Your experiences are not commutable. The only person who will care about your accomplishments is *you* and that amounts to not much more than intellectual masturbation. In contrast, volunteering with a local community service organization provides you with the same socialization opportunities, the same project management opportunities, provides a meaningful, positive impact for the community, and is demonstrable to future employers of skills that you have learned.
You continue to describe the WoW endgame, which I am already fully aware of due to my own experience with the game, as well as conversations with my friends. In fact, it was the deciding factor for me leaving the game. The WoW endgame is a bad game. It uses psychologically addicting elements to hook players and keep them playing. The "100 deaths before 1 victory" that you describe is not a "masterfully crafted puzzle." A sufficiently brilliant person should be able to figure out any puzzle without resulting to trial and error. Trial and error runs are the
de facto indicator of poor game and puzzle design; this is known.
In relating your activities, you have only managed to make me disrespect you more. Here, you are capable of phenominal levels of teamwork and project planning, and yet you choose to use those skills in completely selfish and meaningless endeavors. As I said before, you could be volunteering at a local shelter. A "sense of accomplishment" is nothing, it can't feed you, it can't clothe you. Entertainment is important and valuable, but entertainment ended long before 8 hours a day. It is unhealthy and selfish.
