Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Clawcon debrief

I'm going to write some initial thoughts about our Clawcon-west meetup, though I don't know exactly how coherent I'll be given that I flew out of Seattle on a red-eye last night, got into Chicago at 5:50 am this morning and drove straight in to work.

The pic above is the view from the front porch of our beach house in Indianola, WA. Purty! A couple folks joked (or perhaps it was a thinly veiled threat) about whether I was going to be posting any pics from the weekend on the blog. Come on guys, give me some credit. I would not post pics of you guys on here! This landscape pic is about all that's going up here.

Anyways, at one point when we were hanging out, I closed my eyes for a minute and all of a sudden there I was back at my desk in Chicago talking to these people on vent. Then I opened my eyes, and ZOMG, they were right there! I could give Jess or Shmoobert a face or a look if they said something not of my liking! Hooray!

I did end up calling people by their toon names probably 95% of the weekend. Even in front of strangers, which was sometimes quite funny and perhaps embarrassing for them. Now unfortunately this beach house we rented did not have internet access. I do think it would have been quite amusing to watch each other play.

Anyways, in a nutshell what I learned is that yes, you can get to know people well through this game. Damn well. No one really surprised me. The core impressions and feelings that I had of them through the game and vent conversations were the same impressions I had after hanging out with them for four days.

I think I expected this going into it, perhaps more so than anyone else. While others were slightly more nervous about meeting each other, my take on it was come on, we already know each other! It was thus amusing to see some of these impressions confirmed and to think, "Geez you really do get to know people online and via vent". That gut instinct reaction you have about the core of people, as well as the chemistry you have between people truly does somehow travel through miles of cords and wires.

And yes, there was a lot of WoW terminology thrown around. Some could only go so long without bringing in some WoW reference. For example when we were grilling corn on the cob in the husks and the husks caught fire, there was a mention that we should have put up a fire resist aura. We had comments and jokes like that all weekend. All weekend. Sigh what geeks we are...

I'm going to be completely honest here and say that for the last couple of months I have been unsure if I will play Cataclysm. This was something that the guildies and even Jess didn't know. I shared this uncertainty over the weekend, with the addendum that now that we've hung out, it makes the decision even harder. I think the pendulum has swung back to playing Cataclysm.

We come from such different places and backgrounds, that for most of us there is no way in hell that our life paths would have crossed if it hadn't been for the game. It blows my mind that this game can bring people together in this way at a depth comparable or even deeper than some real life relationships. It's so much more than passively watching a movie or TV, or knitting, or whatever other hobby you want to insert in there.

This game brings people together. And for the people I've met through it, I am incredibly grateful.

13 comments:

  1. I get so much guff from others about my hobby of playing MMO's, that it unsocialable, or brain-numbing. Really? I met more people because of my hobby then one could meet anywhere else. I had the pleasure of interacting with some of the funniest, and most intelligent people that I would never meet at the bars I frequent.

    The same people giving me crap are the same ones who mindlessly plant themeselves in front of the TV to catch the latest Jersey Shore.

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  2. Watch a few beta vids on YouTube. After that, if you say you aren't playing Cataclysm, I'll know you are lying.

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  3. "This game brings people together. And for the people I've met through it, I am incredibly grateful."

    This. I's met some of the bestest peoples evah in Azeroth.

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  4. Glad you got to a) meet your guildies and b) see Washington, especially the coast. It's really pretty and relaxing. (This coming from an east Washington person who lives in a dry arid climate.)

    And some of the best people I know I have met through WoW. Many of whom I text all the time. In fact, my favorite times are during the school year where I help one of the guys do his math homework, or go over his math lesson so he gets it.

    Or when my boyfriend died. I called all the online group of friends when it happened, before I called all my RL friends. Many came out for the funeral and my mother laughed when no one would call each other by our real names - even though there were ten of us floating in the house.

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  5. I am also very grateful for the friends I have made. No dirty little creepers in our group!

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  6. And that was the best weekend ever!!! Yay pirate night... woot!!

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  7. Aww, I'm soooo sad I missed it. Though getting drunk-dialed by Rap at midnight thirty made me feel like I was there :)

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  8. Very cool, and interesting!
    Hadn't paid enough attention to notice that clawcon was in my neck of the woods!
    Glad you enjoyed it!

    I agree that while often behavior in the anonymous online setting is often disinhibited, antisocial, and plain off-the-wall, in a guild you really to 'get to know each other.' The long term interaction and many many hours of working together brings out the 'real you' in a way that few online situations do (or even real life for that matter).

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  9. @River and Ratshag: I totally agree.

    @Forreststump: It has nothing to do with the game itself or my interest in it, my back and forth with playing Cataclysm have more to do with RL stuffs.

    @Shalana: Its really amazing how deep your connections get in this game, isn't it? So much so that they can be there for you in a deeper or even more supportive way sometimes than people in RL.

    @Rappie: Well hon, we do have some creepers. But our creepers are good creepers. And yes! Pirate night! Yeargh!!! You were just as I expected Rap, the sweetest nicest girl in the world. <3

    @Nkm: We totally missed you, but yes Rap's drunk call to you was one of my highlights of the weekend.

    @Hinenuitepo: Your neck of the woods is very pretty!

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  10. Not much to add to the comments already on here. It's incredible the flak MMOs and social REAL video gaming still gets. It's amazing how many great people I've met in this game compared to time spent in high-school and college and in work places alone. I truly can't wait for the day when MMOs are mainstream in society, and I can look back and remember we were here first, we knew all along WHY we played.

    Also:

    "That gut instinct reaction you have about the core of people, as well as the chemistry you have between people truly does somehow travel through miles of cords and wires."

    I'm happy to see this rings true. It's something special to say that the same face to face human interaction that everyone _thinks_ you need, isn't necessary to develop strong friendships and possibly even more!

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  11. @Ampzilla: Jess and I were totally talking about how one day playing MMOs and video games will be so mainstream and accepted! And yes, we were here first!

    I was also happy to see that my gut instincts and the chemistry I had with certain people rung true in RL.

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  12. "I'm going to be completely honest here and say that for the last couple of months I have been unsure if I will play Cataclysm. This was something that the guildies and even Jess didn't know."

    Nah. As I told K...of course I knew. I've just been in denial.

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