"Warcraft Friends"

I decided to jump headlong into online communities recently by joining the gaming community of World of Warcraft. I have, in my teens, played the original Warcraft, a single-player, PC-based game. World of Warcraft is an online game where players interact with one another, as well as work together in campaigns against the environment as well. Specifically, World of Warcraft, WoW, is an MMORPG, a mass multiplayer online role-playing game. According to the game’s developer, Blizzard Entertainment, there are nearly 11 million monthly subscribers to WoW, making it the most popular online game ever .
I can now count myself as one of those 11 million subscribers. Just a few weeks ago, I signed up for an account for the nominal fee of $39.99. To get started, I set up my account, and had to choose a server to play on. I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I joined a server on which one of my friends currently plays, hoping he might be able to help get me started. Next came selecting my character. Again, not knowing much about the game, I chose one that was visually appealing to me, the Orc Warlock. Now that I was all set up, I started my campaign.
The game was utterly confusing, which I certainly was not expecting. Having played various videogames on gaming consoles as well as PCs, I was expecting to be able to pick things up quickly. However, I have found it quite difficult to get going. Each player is rated according to their level of progress, from 1 to 70. Just starting out my rating was 1. It seemed that so many players I came across were level 60 or above. This did very little for my confidence, but stubborn as I am, I was determined to make some progress. After a little advice from my fellow gamers, I can now proudly proclaim that I have advanced to level 6!
But the real reason for joining was to get a sense of an online community. I must admit that I was skeptical at first, but have seen the light. While I wouldn’t consider any of the players I have met on WoW true friends, I do feel that they fall into a special class of friends: Warcraft Friends. I look forward to getting online and meeting up with my Warcraft friends. We help each other while in the game by giving each other advice, leading one another to items and power-ups, and battle together. There is a unique kind of trust that comes with being Warcraft friends.
Trust is the key to any strong friendship. While I wouldn’t call one of my Warcraft friends to carpool to school, or pick me up from the airport, or bail me out of jail, within the confines of virtual reality, I trust these people implicitly. Should I face an ambush from fiendish, drooling, undead wizards, there is no other group of people I would rather have at my side. There are eight consistent members of my Warcraft gang, with a handful of friends-of-friends who join us occasionally. We play together, we text chat within the game, as well as speak to each other through the game using headsets connected to our PCs. There is an allegiance to one another, but how strong is it?
I had only intended to play WoW for a short time, but am now considering keeping my account active for at least another month. This is, to some degree, due to my friendship with these players. However, given the current state of my personal finances, I may have to say goodbye to my Warcraft friends. While considering whether or not to re-up my account, I never considered continuing my friendship with them but canceling my WoW membership. I think this speaks to just how strong our bond is. Apparently, examining my decision-making process, our bond is potentially not worth an extra $14.99. Since I am on the fence as to whether I will continue my gaming experience, I must conclude that our friendship, our little community, is only worth about that much. I must ask myself: would I stay in the game if it only cost $10.00? Where is the price point at which the benefit of the community and the joy of the game are considered worth the expense? As yet, I do not have an answer to this question. But I do know this: no amount of money can make me even remotely consider giving up on any of my true friends.