Azeroth Interrupted: Happy Father's Day!
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with WoW.
Today is the day we celebrate Dads, so I thought I would pay tribute to my favorite WoW-related Father/Child relationships, in no particular order.
Micah and Ezra: The story of Micah and Ezra playing WoW together, strengthening their relationship, and helping Ezra deal with the awful realities of a brain tumor is a truly inspirational one. Blizzard making Ezra's WoW wishes come true is even more so. I hope that Micah and Ezra are able to continue playing together for many years to come. Happy Father's Day, Micah!
Rob Pardo and daughter Sydney: Rob Pardo is the Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard and plays WoW (among other games) with his daughter, Sydney. Talk about balancing real life with WoW, Rob says that playing with his daughter has taught him to look at the pure fun aspects of the game to round out his overall perspective. Happy Father's Day, Rob!
South Park's Randy and Stan: Whose eyes didn't tear up after Randy's character was mortally wounded when handing the The Sword of a Thousand Truths to Stan's character? An excellent example, albeit fictional, of a father and son becoming closer together because of WoW. Happy Father's Day, Randy!
Siscotoquark and Dragonflie: They may have started playing Final Fantasy VII together, but their first MMO is WoW and father (Siscotoquark) and son (Dragonflie) not only play together, but Siscotoquark is the Druid Class Leader in the guild of which his son is the Guild Leader. I think that many fathers would have a hard time being under the in-game authority of their sons, but not in this case. Happy Father's Day, Siscotoquark!
Onnix and Emme: Pictured above is my husband, Onnix and my daughter Emme, when she was three months old. When she was this teeny and not very mobile, Onnix would hold Emme while playing WoW. And I will be forever thankful that he didn't do what this guy did and play WoW while I was in labor. Well, ok, he did, but so did I at first. I was doing anything to keep my mind off the contractions, but he didn't abandon me to play WoW. I believe he logged on when he went home to feed the cats while I was still in the hospital, but he had to announce the birth, didn't he? Happy Father's Day, Onnix!
Terenas and Arthas: Admittedly, this relationship didn't end very well, but it did move the Warcraft plot along rather nicely. When Warcraft III came out, a coworker played the cutscenes from his collector's edition during breaks. I had played Diablo and Diablo II before, but after I saw Arthas strike down his father in that gorgeous and moving cutscene, I went from being a Blizzard game player to an all out Blizzard Fangirl. I still get a thrill when running through the throne room to get to the Undercity. So, rest in peace on this Father's Day, King Terenas Menethil -- we will all remember your tragic end as a noble sacrifice to our gameplay enjoyment.
Do you play with your father or are a father who plays with your child/children? What is your favorite WoW-related Father/Child relationship?
Happy Father's Day, WoW Dads!
Robin Torres juggles one level 70 Tauren Druid, multiple alts across multiple servers, two cats, one toddler, one loot-addicted husband and a yarn dependency. After years of attempting to balance MMOs with real life, Robin lightheartedly shares the wisdom gleaned from her experiences. If you would like to ask Robin's advice, please email Robin.Torres@weblogsinc.com for a possible future column.
