Reflections on WoW

I've been playing World of Warcraft for about two years at this point, and I've never been able to get a character to level 70 in all that time. This is probably due to the fact that, until recently, I played exclusively by myself. I just saw no need to find a buddy to play with, since most of my friends played on different servers or stopped playing by the time I go on the bandwagon. However, over the past several days, my roommate and I have begun playing WoW together for a couple of hours each day and having a much greater time at it. We are able to progress through the beginning quests very quickly, taking on harder and harder mobs, in larger groups, with less effort than I used to apply in solo play.

In thinking about group play versus solo play, I began to see several procedures in the game design that benefit from playing well with others. Instance raids and group quests aside, I found that basic quests, trade progression, and producing a survivable character became much easier, and more enjoyable, when playing with another player. From creating rare arcanite items to successfully defeating an elite mob without burning a lot of high-level spells and potions, the game is geared to benefit sociable players. As I said in my previous post, this is what I will be investigating in the paper for this class. Procedures in World of Warcraft influence and privilege team play.