World of Warcraft Blog

I don’t particularly enjoy being watched while playing World of Warcraft. I am talking about being watched in real life and not in-game of course (that would be silly and may well result in me spending my time grinding away in Tanaris or some other half-abandoned corner of Azeroth). It’s not that I am shy or even embarrassed of my playing skill, it’s just simply off-putting having someone breathing (and possibly drooling) over my shoulder.

So yesterday I was healing my way through a rather one sided battleground. However, since I don’t yet have internet access in my new flat and my neighbours are against me stealing their internet (trust me, I tried) I have been resorting to playing in my friends flat. Just a word of warning: he happens to be a non-player. I swear I will stop talking to him as soon as I get internet access, honestly. So anyway, I was sitting in his living room and had the computer screen at what I thought was a big enough angle so he could not view it from where he was sat. A few minutes into the game he slams his drink down on the coffee table and screams ‘why is your screen gone all blue?’.

I know what you’re thinking and no, my computer did not crash (apple FTW). I had just simply died and apparently my screen looked blue from the angle he was sat. After me explaining what had happened I noticed (far too late) that I had embarked on a long journey down a one way path of questions, and there were no junctions insight. He promptly jumped onto the seat behind me (so fast I actually think he had been waiting all night for a reason to question me) and he then continued to ask and ask and ask…

However, amongst the many mundane questions you find level 5’s asking in trade chat occasionally, one caught my attention, and so much so I have been thinking about it all day. He asked ‘how do you know what you are doing’ to which I answered ‘with practice’. At the time I was most likely trying to fend off an onslaught of rogues hacking away at me so was unable to respond correctly. But if I could, what would I have said?

Do WoW players, and players of other equally difficult games, have a unique skill? A special ability many others on this planet don’t have?

Understanding what is happening and processing the information displayed to us correctly is something I could not have possibly done while I was starting out. Hitting buttons may seem simple, but knowing when to is of utter importance. Also, the acrobatics I find my hands preforming while playing does sometimes shock me. Running, selecting someone and firing up a spell is multitasking to the extreme (in my eyes at least).

Surely (and here comes the stupid suggestion) if pulling back a bowed arrow and letting go of it at the correct time is an Olympic sport (archery) then why can’t playing WoW also be seen on the same level? No-one can deny WoW requires a huge amount of precision and is most likely as strenuous on the brain as many other Olympic events. However, is it actually the same as a sport, or is World of Warcraft just simply a game which requires skill and dedication from it’s players? Who truely knows…

I shall round this blog up before I begin suggesting driver licence style cards for maxed level WoW players

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