Wanderings and Musings

World of Warcraft is one of the most addicting, fun, entertaining, enjoyable games I’ve ever played… but in the end I had to quit because it was consuming my thoughts, my dreams and way too many of my waking hours.

Here is a short list of some of the things I learned:

1. Arbitrage - I never knew how easy buying low and selling high could be until I got into the auction house scene in WoW. All it took was knowledge of the normal prices of goods and you could buy at a low price from someone desperate or not as knowledgeable about the market and start to make a killing. There were days when I made 100G each day for maybe an hours worth of time searching the auction house, buying goods and reposting those that I had won. You can do this just as easily in the real world, all you need is to invest some time learning about the market you’re interested in.

2. Grinding sucks - I hate grinding whether it is grinding through levels or grinding through life. Live your life like it’s the last day you have because it just might be. Stop grinding through it all in hopes of a better future. There is a ton of content in WoW and most of it is actually fun to do, so there is no need to stay in one place endlessly grinding away at some mob. Enjoy the game you’re playing, after all it is a game. Life is just a game too. Play it and have fun, don’t grind through it.

3. Focus - You will get the best results by focusing your efforts. If you’re being attacked by 5 mobs and can’t/or don’t want to get away… focus on one at a time will usually yield the best results, starting with the easiest first. If you have 20 quests, don’t try to do them all at the same time, or you’ll probably end up spending more time overall. The same goes for life, intense focus yields outstanding results.

4. Experience trumps gear - I really learned this rule back when I played Multiplayer Battletech, a great game that was canceled before its time. If you were a good enough pilot, just about any mech would do for taking down the less experienced. It was all about learning the strengths and weaknesses of all the mechs. Same goes for WoW and life. If you learn enough about your skills and where they can best be applied very little can stop you.

5. Resource management - You have many different resources, but they’re all limited in some way. How do you want to use those resources? Although in games your resources are more constrained than in real life, it does teach you the importance of knowing how to balance where to invest those resources. Do you want to spend that much mana on killing that mob when another is right behind it? Do you want to fork over 100 gold for that shiny new chestplate or save it for the epic boots. A resource that many people fail to count is time. Time is your most important resource as it’s something that can never be recovered. Should you even be playing a game when your life is so short anyways?

6. Experience takes work - Experience only comes with time and effort, there are no shortcuts. Sure you can buy that uber gnome mage off eBay, but unless you have the experience to back it up - a green wearing warrior can mop the floor with you. Nothing else will give you the skills to conquer life than getting out there and trying, and failing and trying again until you succeed. That’s experience. You only learn from your failures, not your successes. Never be afraid to fail as it is the best way to reach your goal.

7. Life is about the adventure - One of the greatest lessons I learned from WoW was the uselessness of “gear” both in game and in real life. I found that “things” didn’t increase my enjoyment but usually rather decrease it because of the cost it takes to aquire them but also the added stress those items give your life. Owning an item may not at first seem like it would increase your stress in life, but every item you own is sitting somewhere in the back of your mind as an item on a checklist. Consciously or subconsciously you are constantly worrying: Is it where it should be, is it in good repair, is it the best thing for me or do I need a new one, should I sell it, did I pay too much for it, and on and on. To take a quote from Fight Club - “The things you own end up owning you.” What really increases my enjoyment is having great adventures with friends. Maybe it’s time to log out of the game, call up a friend and go do something you’ve never done before…

Tags: Computers, Games