Warcraft as a Social Environment

2 Written by Anna on September 10, 2008 – 10:30 am

This morning Leafy posted about Warcraft and how its become a lot more than just a game for many people – it’s become a Social Operating System.  Definitely worth a read, especially in the light of all the “ZOMG <NEW GAME> IS SO GOING TO KILL WOW ZOMG!”  posts that crop up periodically.

For me, as well as for many people that I know, the social aspect of the game is a large one.  Especially as a roleplayer, where the social aspect is more than just me hanging out with *my* friends – the Annas have friends in game as well.  Do I play other games sometimes?  Sure.  But I keep coming back to WoW, and probably will for quite a long time, so long as that social network continues to be there.

The odd part is, that network is very different now than it was 4 years ago when I started playing.  I think there are probably 3 people from those days that I still interact with regularly.  One of them I’m married to, one of them I’ve been best friends with since 7th grade (and she’s even on another server now), and the other because she’s become as much a real life friend as an in game friend, even if we live many miles apart.  Much like real social networks, acquaintances and “friends by association” come and go as our groups change, but real connections can get made as well.

Thanks for the food for thought this morning, Leafy.