The Wonderful World of....Warcraft?

About two months ago, I started playing World of Warcraft.

(Cue the eye-rolling and the thoughts of "another one bites the dust")

Thankfully for you, I'm not here to insist that everyone play this game or drone on like a geek. No, I'm here to talk about a different facet of World of Warcraft, or WoW, that seems to slip under the mountain of quest seekers, dungeon masters, gear professionals, PvP artists, and, well, you get the point. This aspect is the social side of the game.

You may think, 'With millions of people playing that game, isn't the social side of the game really the goal? Bringing people together to enjoy a game?' Yes, it is, but my point drives deeper than that. I'm talking the social interaction between players, the friend-making, the good times.

This is the reason I love playing WoW so much. Many players get so caught up in the game itself, trying to gain the next achievement, find the rarest drops, pick up the epic loot, etc., that they sometimes lose the social nature of the game. Yes, maybe they group up for a quest or dungeon, or belong to a guild, but it's just a means to an end.

*Note: I'm not saying this applies to all WoW players.

And this brings up another point: World of Warcraft is just a game. (I can hear the hardcore games gasping and protesting now.) Yes, believe it or not, it is just a game. A fun game, a very enjoyable game, a well-done game, but in the end, just a game.

*Note: Yes, I know that this game requires a monetary subscription, thus prompting more of a focus on the game itself, but that is the choice of those who play.

In the end, maybe you missed that one achieve, or didn't win the Need roll for an item you've been killing yourself to obtain, but you had fun doing it and enjoyed the people you were with and maybe made a couple new friends.

That's always a win in my book.