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Drama Mamas: The dull, gray blur of skipping content
Whenever I struggled with some painful but ultimately voluntary "solution" in my young life, my mother was fond of reminding me, "If it hurts, stop banging your head against the wall." Motivational monster Susan Powter put the idea a little more forcefully for her legions of followers in the '90s: "Stooooop the insanity!" This week, an admittedly WoW-obsessed player overshoots the mark while ramming his partner through what was intended to be an enjoyable Recruit-A-Friend introduction to WoW. I have a little problem that the two of you may be able to help with. I am a slightly obsessive WOW player (9 max level toons) who is currently in the honeymoon phase of a relationship. I have been able to convince my partner to join me in game and we are currently using the recruit a friend option. I am running him on my Protection Warrior while he plays his Mage. The thing is we are leveling so fast in dungeons that I am unable to convey the lore behind the things we are doing. All of the things that I loved about the game when I first started (the discovery, exploration, story etc.) are not carrying over to his experience in game. And when I look at things through his eyes I feel as if we are indeed playing a very boring game. He seems more glad it's over when we finish dungeon rather than excited and ready to see what's next. I know he only joined the game to spend more time with me since I would regularly leave him to his own devices while I got my WOW fix in and I would really like for him to enjoy it as much as I do. And who am I kidding the more time he wants to play with me the less time I spend feeling selfish and guilty that I am not spending time with him outside of the game when I play. I suggested that we do BG's but he is a little bit apprehensive about diving into those and who could blame him he is a level 70 Mage with barely enough play time to be level 20. What would you guys suggest that I do or incorporate into our playtime with each other to make it more interesting for someone seeing WOW for the first time but playing the game with a seasoned vet? Should I bite the bullet pull off my heirlooms and quest alongside him even if doing this would make me into the bored one? He is really eager to learn the game and I am sure that he would enjoy it as much as I do if I could convey even a little bit of the experience that I had in the beginning. Sincerely, No time to smell the roses
Drama Mamas: Tips on getting wife back into WoW
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at dramamamas@wow.com. Before I show you the letter this week, I'm going to fully disclose my sympathies here. First of all, I can't stand high-maintenance players. Questions about things? Yes, please. But "ne1 help me?" over and over (particularly if it's something above your level) means a polite warning followed by a gkick if not heeded -- also mockery about the use of "ne1." Ask once for help on something and if no one answers, it's not that they didn't hear you. It's not that they are mean and unhelpful. It means they are too busy with their own fun to help you at this time. On the other hand, I totally feel the pain of being married to someone with a different playstyle. The Spousal Unit is an accomplished raider. I'm an altoholic casual who is increasingly more and more RP-curious. We used to have wonderful times playing SWG and CoH together. But we have rarely been able to match up our playstyles since we moved to Azeroth. Mostly I blame him, fairly or unfairly, because he won't make a WoW duo with me. Jack and Jane Blaze were so fun! /sigh But it takes two to tango. And if he would rather go line dancing with his raider buddies, then I either need to get a pair of purple cowboy boots or see if I have better success convincing him to do the hustle. Tired of dancing around the drama? Then turn the page.
Neglecting kids isn't videogame addiction-- it's bad parenting
The AP is reporting on the story of a couple in Nevada who claim they were so addicted to "the Internet and video games" that they neglected the health and well-being of their two children, a 22-month old girl and an 11-month old boy. I won't go into the details, although you can read them in the article, but it's a horrific story. WoW isn't mentioned-- "the fantasy role-playing Dungeons & Dragons series" is, but does that mean DDO or does the reporter just, as usual, have no idea what they're talking about?At any rate, (also as usual) the report eventually turns to videogame addiction and what a "serious issue" it is. Exactly zero mention is made of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of parents who play WoW and other online games right alongside their children, happily and healthily. A few of my guildies are parents and often play with their kids, and our own Robin Torres writes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about doing exactly that and how to handle issues like playing with your kids. You'll also note that almost no attention is paid to the other problems with this couple-- they gained $50,000 in inheritance, and spend it on computer equipment and a plasma screen rather than anything for their two children. This isn't "abuse rooted in videogame addiction"-- it's abuse rooted in bad parenting.Kayholder over on WoW Ladies says she gets attacked for playing the game with young children at home-- people automatically say that having children around to take care of should automatically exempt you from playing a game like World of Warcraft.That's just plain wrong. Any game can be played responsibly by anyone of age, World of Warcraft included. Kay even says that she doesn't raid because she doesn't think she has the time (which is fine as well), but one of my guildies who just had yet another kid is actually our main healer. Good parenting and videogames aren't mutually exclusive-- in fact, in some situations, they're better together.
Women's Health Mag: Grab your man's joystick
Los Angeles-based social psychologist Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. explains for Women's Health magazine that the couple who plays together, stays together. The games they recommend in the piece are Guitar Hero II -- excellent choice. Lego Star Wars and Spinter Cell -- still with you. Then they go for Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition -- yeah, that's a bit of stretch. Mario Party, WoW or even co-op Halo/Gears of War would have been less of a reach -- women like to chainsaw enemies in half too, you know?Despite the Cpt. Obvious factor of this article, having a partner who is interested in your gaming lifestyle can help sustain the relationship after you get bored of lovingly staring into each others eyes. So, do you game with your significant other and what games do you play?
