WOW is Right!

         So, when I was thinking about what I was going to write for my second free write blog, I thought about the last topic we studied in class about Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games such as World of Warcraft.  I took an English Class Winter and Spring quarter of my Freshman year called Science, Technology, and the Self.  We studied things such as second life and MMORPG’s in this class as well.  We actually even watched the same video about the WOW convention that we watched last week in Sociology 49.  

         This subject really interests me because I have seen first hand what it can do to people and how it can affect real-life relationships.  My younger brother who is 17 and my ex-stepfather who is 43 both used to play WOW for hours and hours on end.  My younger brother was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder as well as bipolar disorder when we was ten years old.  When he was a freshman in high school he missed a lot of school due to chronic migraines.  When the migraines subsided, he tried to go back to school and continue where he left off however the amount of work that he had to make up overwhelmed him and his anxiety level was at an all-time high.  It also probably did not help that all of his friends, just as teenage boys do, gave him a hard time and harassed him for why he was not at school for of that time.  Due to this, my mom had to pull him out of our high school and start him in a local independent studies program.  

         Since my brother was no longer regularly attending school, or playing sports, his new interest was WOW.  He got into the game along with my stepfather at the time.  They would stay up all night together playing WOW and sometimes all day.  They would hide in their rooms and office like cavemen and wouldn’t come out unless it was time to eat or if they needed to use the restroom.  It was bad.  My stepdad still worked and only played at night but it was getting in the way of him and my mom because he would no longer spend his free time with her.  He used this an outlet when he was depressed or upset, which was most of the time it was a problem.  For my brother, he had nothing else to do.  He was not going to school, wasn’t playing sports, WOW became his life.  My mom was really worried about him because he wouldn’t go to sleep at night so his sleep cycle was all messed up.  He would play all night and sleep all day.  We would ask him, “Colten, why don’t you come out and play a game with the family?” His response would be something like, “I’m in the middle of raid, it’s going to be a few more hours.”  

         Luckily, my brother broke that habit.  He no longer plays WOW and if he does, it is only for an hour or so when he is home alone and both my brother and mom are at work.  He sleeps, eats, and goes out his daily routine in a healthy way, and no longer lets WOW dictate his life.  I am so thankful for that because we as a family, now can be a family and have dinners and other events together without having to wonder if Colten’s brigade was going to be a part of a raid that evening.  When it comes to my former stepfather, I am not sure if he still plays WOW, but I do know that he let this get in the way of his marriage and even though World of Warcraft was not the primary reason for my parents’ divorce, it was a contributing factor.  

         MMORPG’s are very addicting and they do cause a lot of people to withdraw themselves from their regular, real lives, and indulge themselves in a fantasy world.  The video we watched about the WOW convention and how people feel about WOW makes me cringe.  I do not understand how people can actually consider their brigade members on facebook to be better friends than with people they can relationships with face to face.  I do not understand how people can get engaged when never meeting each other.  I think that MMORPG’s are terrible.  Even though I do believe that one can play in moderation as a release without getting consumed by it or having it run their life, I also do not suggest ever allowing a loved one to begin playing WOW or other games like it as there is that chance of it becoming their life.