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Why You Should PLay WoW
This morning, I will be trying to convince the person to my left, who has never played the game before, to subscribe to World of Warcraft.
At the same time the person to my right has already subbed to the game at some point in the past and subsequently left, and I'm hoping I can take to opportunity to try and convince them too that this is the perfect moment to return to the Game.
Don't expect me to sell you any great new features like quest hubs and end-game content however. That's not what this game is about.
No, really, all of that's just a passing phase.
What both of you will need to do first therefore is to leave your preconceptions at the door, because half the problem Warcraft suffers from right now is how the rest of the world perceives it.
The decision also has a lot to do with you, because if begin your journey believing Warcraft's purely diversion or entertainment, you're mistaken. In fact, the moment you start talking about WoW as 'just a game' is exactly when every issue surrounding it rears it's ugly head.
This isn't simply a game, it is a journey, and a lifestyle choice to boot.
Not many CD's in a box can claim that as their reason for being, after all. There are a few: pick a first-person shooter and you might occasionally get close. Every fantasy title has it's core of followers, but for most who play the allure is fleeting and never really sticks, because they don't make the vital connection.
There is an ancient proverb that states:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Beautiful and foreboding, all at once.
What you need to grasp before you even open the box with Warcraft, before you fire up the Battle.net website, is that this is NOT a journey you will ever undertake lightly if you want to experience the game as it should be, and it CANNOT be completed successfully alone.
This may come as a surprise to all those gold farmers out there making their millions unaided across the many auction houses of Azeroth, but without the player base they'd have no game to exploit.
The beating heart of this game is what makes the place as brilliant and terrible as it undoubtedly is, pretty much simultaneously, and it is is that which is the first point of contact in our task to make you want to play.
When you pick up the game and hold it in your hand for the first time [*], you bring all your existing preconceptions to the table of what this type of game (MMO) should be like.
Are we living in a cardboard box?