Lately I've been playing WoW again. There are infinitely better things to do with my time, like exercise or ministry or schoolwork. But I just got to the point where I could no longer find happiness in life, I could find joy in Christianity, but not a fun kind of happiness. So I started once more. I've played probably like 5 characters so far, I can never pick just one. I'm tempted on many days to just pick one and delete the rest, even though i've literally spend weeks ingame on some of them. I think my 61 Priest has like 16 days of playtime. I'm now restarting with a blood-elf hunter.
But why would I play Wow? what makes it different. Here are some answers, not all of them are good or healthy, but they're just thoughts.
Escapism - I'm so tired of life and the stresses that I've lived with for so long, that at times I just need to escape. This is the reason many people drink or use drugs, and in many ways those are more socially acceptable, but Mennonite and Baptist backgrounds die hard and I doubt I'll ever use either.
New Reality - The pre-modern man struggled to survive in the world, the modern man discovered and conquered the world, and the post-modern man invents his own world. Given these 3 options I would choose the modern world. I would love to explore and discover things, but i'd like to be in shape as well. My brother Jeremy is to me the hero of this modern period, out in the wilderness and on the edge of civilization, if I had it in me, I'd like to do the same thing.
In WoW I can enjoy the best of Post-Modernity. The world of warcraft is full of new and exciting places to see and things to do, I can find my own friends from all around the world and have a ton of fun living as a brave new explorer in a brave new world.
Pure Fun - at the end of the week, I can usually (this week excluded) just jump on and have a ton of fun. Last night is an example, I just jumped on my Shaman and rode around on my wolf through an Alliance (enemy) area, and I found other low level players and would kill them in one shot and then dance on their corpses and ride away. This is entertainment for me.
I like playing games, and as I said it is a horrifying thought that I have spent this much time in a fake world doing essentially meaningless things, but when faced with the reality of life that to have fun in this world I would have to diet, exercise, face all of my problems, try alot harder, pass my G test (which I'm still ignoring) and go into new and scary situations. OR I could jump on a game and get almost all of the same enjoyment. Sloth is a sin, but it is the reality of my life, and thus I play World of Warcraft.
