Cancelled.

Well, my World of Warcraft time is finally up. I had just leveled my second character to 80 (the current level cap) a few days ago, and suddenly--POOF--all gone. I guess it's for the better, though. Until I can afford to pay the $15 my slight addiction requires per month, it's better off that I'm going to have time to focus my efforts elsewhere. This will greatly speed up my help around the house, my lack of exercise, and hopefully my job search. All things to be pretty happy and excited about, I suppose. But I'm not here to talk about work or exercise today. The thing on my mind as of right now is the negative reputation we WoW players get from the non-WoW players.

Let me share with you a story. It was on my grandfather's 80th birthday. My mother and aunts had managed to gather most, if not all, of the family from that side of things, at a little restaurant in our town. It was nice, everyone seemed in good spirits, and aside from the expense of the place, things went very well.

Now, because my boyfriend lives in Australia, he was not here at the time. My cousins all brought their girlfriends and boyfriends, and basically it was just me and my younger brother who were without another that evening. Pretty lame. Most of my family is thin and fairly good looking, so it made sense that their significant others were all pretty, thin, young women.

Enter me. I'm short, overweight, and at the time, was working a part time job, still living in my parents house, and yes, was an avid WoW player.

So one of the girls turns to me, looking lovely and gorgeous and the antithesis of how I view myself, and asks me, "So, what do you do?" I had been trying to keep to myself that evening, as I was fairly uncomfortable being smushed in with the other people roughly my age, all of which were attending school of some sort. I looked up at the girl, and smiled, trying to be sincere.

"Oh, I work at [Insert discount store name here]."

She asked me if I went to school, which I replied I did not. She asked me if I was living out on my own, which I replied that I did not. She asked me what I did in my spare time, and I replied that I played WoW.

Then, the look.

You who play WoW or any MMO like it may know it. The raising of the eyebrows, no movement in the eyes, fake smile, as they nod quickly and reply that "that's cool" or some other similar phrase. Yes, she flashed me this look, and I did not pay much heed to it, thinking that it was over.

Well, of course it wasn't. She then proceeded to ask me about it, saying that sooo many people get addicted to it and that it's bad and people basically waste their lives doing it. All of this may be true. But she didn't exactly have to say it right there. Queue small bits of food such as nuts and wads of straw paper being flicked in my direction. Ahh, yes. Family, gotta love them.

World of Warcraft is extremely popular. People will even go so far as to buy several accounts, leveling several characters up at the same time. It can be a fun game most of the time. Yes, there can be those moments when you actually notice the grind, such as in the Nesingwary Quests. But there are good times too. Like when you /roll on something that's definitely an upgrade for you, and actually win. Or when you realize that your Guild is amazing. Or when you come across someone in-game that you could see yourself spending forever with.

I guess this is more of a reflective post than anything; I do enjoy playing WoW, even though it can be filled with idiots and gold sellers a lot of the time. I will be renewing my subscription after I have the funds for it, and I will play again. Until then, I can rest assured that my Warlock and Death Knight are waiting for me.

That being said, no, I'm not taking a shot at anyone in particular.

-Manda-