I Am Now One of Them

I used to make fun of these people. These geeks that would sit at home and play in these virtual worlds. These nerds that would rather get their exercise online by swinging a battle axe, or running to flee some big dragon. These dweebs who you would overhear talking about what level their characters are in Warcraft, telling of their previous night's adventure. I used to think, "Hey Nerd, have you ever kissed a girl?"

I am now one of those nerds.

The idea to at least try World of Warcraft was first implanted into my sleep deprived brain upon seeing those commercials. You know, the ones with Mr T, and "Mini Me" from Austin Powers telling the viewing audience a little bit about their characters. I guess one day I decided, "Ah, to heck with it" and give it a try. It's cool to try new things, right? So long as its legal, and does no harm to people, what's the big deal?

So, I downloaded the trial edition of World of Warcraft, created an account which was free for 10 days, and let loose. I first was presented with this vast array of realms, races, classes, traits, and all sorts of other strange things. I decided to just pick one, so I created a Night Elf and joined the default server/realm. After wandering around doing these tasks, or "quests", I was fast becoming aware that I was the Forrest Gump of Warcraft. I needed a kick start.

After casually mentioning my new leisure endeavour at work, it turned out that a co-worker was a player (of Warcraft, not "player" as in the Hip-Hop sense). I created a new character, a Tauren Hunter, and joined this guy's preferred realm. I’m glad I did, because he showed me the ropes quite a bit. Once you get that initial kick-start, it turns out to be fun. I only have 20 - 30 minutes every 2nd or 3rd night to play, but fortunately the game allows for a nice leisurely pace. My co-worker, on the other hand, says that on days off he enjoys putting on a chain-mail loin-cloth, donning medieval weaponry, and playing continuously until soiling himself.

I have a tonne to learn still, but I'm in no rush. I'll just allow myself to geek out a few times a week, and when I get tired of it, I'll cancel. But for now, I'm trying to figure out how to get me more weapons to kill these gnolls that reside to the south of Bloodhoof Village.

Wish me luck.