World of Warcraft

There was this thing once I used to have, it was called a 'social life' - and then World of Warcraft (WoW) arrived in my life, and all was changed..

My WoW alter ego is called "Caer". Now this in itself is confusing: Caer, in Irish mythology, was the daughter of a Prince of Connaught, every other Samhain (Halloween) she would change into a swan, and remain so for a year, becoming human at Samhain again. Legend has it that her lover had to identify her from a large group of swans and when he did, they flew away together both as swans. (Pretty isn't it).

So my Caer is female, right? Wrong, I just thought it was a pretty name - my character is actually a male, and looks strangely like Antonio Banderas:
http://armory.wow-europe.com/?#character-sheet.xml?r=Eonar&n=Caer

I'm currently a level 46 Human Rogue, meaning I'm sneaky and vicious. I'm disappointingly low level (the max is level 70) due to the annoying requirement that I sleep, eat and work.

The problem with WoW is simple: it's hard to tell if it's a game or a virtual reality. It has all the aspects of a good game, with the added benefits of the social interactions with other players. Many of my friends IRL (in real life) also play Warcraft - and this is where it's main attractiveness lies - this game consumes you by giving you entertainment, social contact and also a common ground with other geeks. It's the Dungeons and Dragons of this online generation (though, before anyone gets angry, WoW is a vastly simpler and more mainstream game than D&D).

My issue with is this 'IRL' stuff - it's such a vast game, it tempts you into playing it at all available opportunities, and that gets in the way of that pesky thing that is your actual life. I've seen friends spend hours, days, weeks and more on this game - and it does beg the question, where does 'real life' end and the game begin, is it a virtual version of your own social life, if you have a social network, of people with common interests and goals? Personally, the temptation of it has somehow actually repulsed me from getting too far into this game - I just can't feel comfortable with something that removes me from reality to that extent.

With the recent onslaught of such entertainment, Second Life being a prime example, it seems like this may become more widespread than just a 'geek' phenomenon...it does make you stop and think..