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Is World of Warcraft a waste of time? I'm sure there are many arguments on both sides...the yeas and the nays. I would suggest it is what you make out of it.

Some would say people who play WoW sit in closed up dark rooms for hours upon hours doing nothing else but playing WoW. They have no other social interaction or other life. The fact WoW is a MMORPG is overlooked. In other words, at any given time, you will or can interact with any number of people.

For a simple quest you can group with up to five (5) people and they can be from any place in the world. If you raid one of the larger instances, you may be going on a 40 man raid. In order to participate in one of those types of events, you have to have some type of social and interacting skills. The raids are finely tuned and sometime choreographed to the nth degree by using a feature called "teamspeak" of some kind or the other. Through teamspeak players speak to each other in real time...across the globe. That's not total isolation. Even if you solo you will interact in some way with other players.

Within the game like minded players form guilds. This is usually a group of people (minimum of 10) who enjoy playing together, questing together and helping new players learn the ropes and get a start in the game. In other words, they're a friendly, helpful bunch of people.

If you saw two players sitting in a room playing Chess or Battleship or any other game of strategy would you contend they were sitting closed up in a room wasting their time? I think not. Why? Because those games are traditionally excepted forms of game playing and entertainment. Well, WoW involves just as much strategy, planning and thinking

There are accusations WoW and other games like it are addictive. I would suggest that if a person has an addictive personality then, sure, maybe they could develop an addiction to WoW. Otherwise, I think most people know how to find the proper place and balance in their life for WoW. They hold jobs, go to school, have active social lives and are just normal Joes...and Jills. You may pass by one every day and not even realize it.

Another misconception is the game is only played by the young, the youth of our society and therefore WoW is sucking the brains out of their skulls leaving a brain dead generation. Surprise! WoW crosses age barriers and is played by people of all ages. One guild I was in had a married couple who played that was in their 70's. They played for entertainment and fun. Is that a waste of time? Why should they choose shuffleboard over WoW? Maybe they do both.

My husband and I both fall into the "older generation" bracket. We play for fun and entertainment. I tend to play more than he does. I'm disabled and at home more. Sometimes I play every day. Sometimes I have other things to do...like read, visit with family or friends. Sometimes we play with his sister and her husband who live in Minnesota. We meet online and it gives us a chance to catch up and have some family time. Is that a waste?

We've had friends who were inspired by their game playing to go back to school and go into technical fields. One young fellow decided he wanted to become a game designer. His goal was to continue his education, because he played WoW.

Anyone could contend any game or pass time or hobby is a "waste". We could say racing, tennis, football, boxing, baseball, bowling, chess, poker...get my point? We could go on and on claiming anything is a waste. There is an old adage: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Well, I would paraphrase and say: "Waste is in the eye of the beholder." And "Value is in the eye of the beholder."

Learn more about this author, Beverly Hicks Burch.
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