WoW Does Not = SL
I’ve been thinking off and on for several months of checking out World Of Warcraft. Now, that being said, I have to explain that I’ve never actually been in an MMORPG style game, before. Second Life is the closest I’ve ever come to that. I know the whole point of WoW is to run around and kill stuff.. but that isn’t really ‘me’. I wanted to see if I could play things ‘my way’, and do more exploring and socializing then leveling.
It was really thanks to Phaylen Fairchild and her hilarious ‘Divas’ episodes, where her SL self travels into World Of Warcraft, that inspired me to go ahead and sign up for the free trial.
Last night I ventured into the world for the first time. I was lost and pretty confused, but once I figured out how to move around, I spent the first night just exploring. I ran into a lot of wolves, and little rat looking people that everyone on plurk told me were kobolds, but nothing bothered me that first night. Maybe because I was still level 1 and hadn’t attacked anything yet. After I got bored, I went ahead and killed some of the wolves to get to level 2, then went to bed.
Logging back in today, I either ended up in a different place, or found an area that I had overlooked last night. I was in a pretty forest, with a lot of cool looking houses around. My first thought was to wonder how I could rent one of the houses.. then I realized that in WoW, you probably can’t do that, lol. I saw a couple of people marching back and forth near one of the houses, so I went over to get a closer look. Last night, I could click on certain NPCs and interact with them. I thought I’d try the same thing, here.. as I got closer, one one that had been pacing turned and started running towards me. I was so shocked when he pulled out a sword and started to attack!
I sort of backpeddled for a moment, then tried to turn and run, but it was too late- I met my first encounter with death and got to explore a bit as a ghost. But the huge angel in the cemetery is pretty cool.
The graphics in general are pretty nice.. sometimes they look a bit cartoonish, but for the most part, I find most of it really beautiful. I managed to sneak my way into one of the cabins without getting killed again. There were cats everywhere! They are adorable. 🙂 Apparently you can buy them.. I tried, but I don’t have enough money yet. I took the time to figure out my camera controls and take some pictures.
I just have to be very, very careful not to accidentally click on them. Old habits die hard, but I’m learning that things don’t work the same in WoW as they do in SL. While wandering around, this cute cow came waddling up to me and stood there for a moment.
It seemed to be waiting for me to do something, so I thought maybe I could pet it, ride it.. or even just click on it to make it ‘moo’. So, I did the same thing I would have done in SL.. without thinking much about it, I right clicked on the cow, expecting to see an option to ride, or pet.. instead, I pulled out my swords and stabbed it to death! Oops! I actually slapped both hands over my mouth in RL, when it fell over dead. Yikes.
Poor thing..
Luckily, my plurk friends have been teaching me how to use the interface, as I go along. At least now I’m able to minimize the viewer window so I can answer IMs when I hear them, or write this blog post. Unfortunately, I found out that isn’t always the best thing to do, depending on where you are in WoW.. cause I came back, to this.
I’m not sure what killed me, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that deer. (Maybe.)
Oh well, I probably should try and figure out how to get some armor, or something. Is there shopping in WoW?
Through my eyes.. 
That was just wonderful! I was laughing so hard at your descriptions because I think that is exactly how I would play WOW! Thanks for the giggles! 😀
There is shopping in WoW, and the crazy cat lady (that’s her actual in-game name), is only one example. The sellers are mainly NPC characters (the in-game version of narrow AI) but there is also an auction house system. You can create things to a limited amount using professions. While some of the game is about running around and killing staff, it’s only a portion of the game. Social interaction is a large part of the game. There are many other things you can do in-game, from fishing and cooking to exploring the game lore (story). I find that since I started playing WoW, poor Bluesmoke Hextall have been abandoned in SL. WoW just offers a much richer and more challenging environment to explore.
Hillarius. If you are on Scarlet Crusade, my name is Grimtrick. It’s not as fun to solo in WoW. If you have a friend, it’s better. If a friend used the Refer-A-Friend program with you, you could level up to 60 really quick.
One thing I noticed is that going back to SL, the walking is horrible. I keep wanting to right-click on my character and then left click to walk. Most 3D games seem to walk in the same way except for Second Life. I suppose this is part of the interface problem that people complain about. You can only walk in SL if you use the arrow keys.
Hi there!
Awesome post. I was chuckling throughout, because I know exactly what you were doing during your various perils. 🙂 Next time, just try left-clicking on moving things. That will let you look at them without choosing auto-attack. 🙂
I am a terribly casual WoW player. I managed to join a “social” guild on the Lightbringer realm called “The Crimson Coven”. The only requirement for guild membership is that you have to be a girl. (in game, no one cares what you are in RL) We find that it keeps the hormonal adolescent boys away because they would never play [gasp] a GIRL. The guild is mostly fairly mature people, a lot of them grown women with children and hubbies. If you go on “Guild Chat” (type /g into the chat bar) you can talk to the other guild members, and trust me, it’s like a goddamn coffee klatch. (I say this with total love) I can’t even TELL you how many times I’ve been on WoW just chatting away with guild members so much that I actually FORGET to finish the quests that I’m on. They’re a fun group of people, and I’ve made some real-life friendships through this guild.
I guess what I’m saying is that if you find a nice, social guild that isn’t too concerned with running raids and leveling, you can pretty much approximate Second Life, or at least the social aspect. Unfortunately, you do have to experience combat if you want to get past level 2, and you kinda want to do that if you’d like to explore beyond the “safe” regions. But a good guild can help you with that. Just be careful, some guilds are relentless in their efforts to recruit every unaligned person they see, just to get their numbers up. :O
If you happen to be on Lightbringer, look me up. My characters are Lachrymae, Lachrymissa, and Ysphodel. Otherwise, good luck, and happy hunting. 😀
— Craig
Thank you for the comments!
Whispers- Glad you thought it was funny. 🙂
Guy- I saw the crazy cat lady the day I did this post! Those Defias guys kept killing me when I was trying to get to her house. Now I think I have enough money to buy a kitty, but I can’t seem to find it again, lol.
Dedric- I’m not on Scarlet Crusade (Is that the expansion?) I think I play on a server that starts with Tek.. it was like the 2nd on the list. Funny thing with me- I actually don’t WANT to level up to 60 quickly. I think its more fun to take your time and level up slowly. Sometimes I go in and watch the chaos in Goldshire, and don’t do much in the way of xp, and I’m fine with that. I’m confused by what you said about walking, though. I walk the same way in WoW as I do in SL- with the arrow keys. I don’t know what you mean by clicking? The only difference I notice is that it took me awhile to get used to the speed my WoW character moves in.. and then after playing for hours and going back into SL, I felt like I was walking in jello cause it was so much slower, lol.
Craig- I really enjoyed your feedback! Thank you for the tip about left clicking- maybe I won’t kill anymore cows or kitties, LOL. I haven’t felt ready to join any guilds yet- most of the time when I come across people in Goldshire, they either give me a troll head or keep trying to challenge me to a dual. 😀 I haven’t actually talked to anyone. (I kind of like the troll head- I feel like I won’t have to worry about people hitting on me cause I’m a girl!) After I’m more comfortable I may open up and start talking to people, although my free trial should be ending by the end of the weekend. I’m going to try the Everquest trial next.. which is 14 days. And possibly an Aion trial after that, if my friend who plays has another invite. After all that, I’ll make my decision of which game I’ll stick with. Hopefully if nothing else, it’ll result in some more blog posts. 🙂
Funny videos.
lol, if you level up a little you’ll find you like killing stuff, especially those Defias people. But, if the cow bothered you, whatever you do never right click on a fawn… 😉
The walking thing he was referring to the ability to walk by pressing both mouse keys at once, you can also turn by pressing the right mouse button. I too found going back into SL frustrating because I tried to walk like I do in WoW, then again SL in general is frustrating due to bad performance.
I play WoW myself, on the realm Ursin, one level 80 Paladin and a variety of other characters of different levels. I have a few piddly characters on other servers, but Ursin is my main home.
While sometimes cartoony, as you say, there are some very visually interesting places that you’d probably like. It is very much a game, though, as opposed to SL which is more self driven. The quests, though, are like a big story that you get to read as you go along. Actually, multiple stories, it can be quite entertaining as you go through and learn the history. An interactive story book, in a way.
Hope you decide to continue playing it.