Bumped into this via a Facebook post…
MMO Melting Pot asks:
Pretty much everyone who plays WoW has had the “WoW stranger” experience, right? You’re at a bar, or a cafe, or a work conference, and you’re talking about WoW. Or you’re wearing something WoW-related. Or you overhear another conversation.
And the next thing you know, someone’s asked you if you play WoW, or vica versa, and you’re engaged in a long, detailed conversation about the game.
…
Do you think of WoW as a single community? Do you have anything in common with the people on the far side of the Azerothian debate?
Here’s their post: Is there still a WoW community?
Said post stems from a Big Butt Bear post on that subject:
I know that when I think of the community, my feeling is of the people I know in my guild, through my blog, and on Twitter that I chat with. I don’t think of an 8 million person strong community, just the names I see and know and chat with personally. I think of people in trade chat as being… well, being the outsiders. The lonely and sad. The shouts of people desperate for attention, any attention at all. They certainly aren’t part of any community I’m in. Are they?
Still, there is that thought, small though it may still be, that causes me to wonder; are we really all a part of the WoW Community, or are we beyond that now? Are we in communities formed by our mutual interests, and while WoW is part of that, we talk to our friends who like the role play, or the pet hunting, or who have similar attitudes to ours, or who love the raiding progression.
If we meet strangers who turn out to be WoW players these days, does the fact that they play WoW break the ice and make you instant friends, or do you check for trollish behavior before revealing yourself?
Here’s the whole post: Are you part of a single WoW Community?
Now the crowd that I hang out with has little experience or interest in WoW, generally. I don’t wear WoW apparel or interact with the gamer crowd, so I don’t bump into people much. I’ve made a some friends and contacts, though.
So how about you? Are you part of any form of WoW community? Is it just a pastime? Do you like the idea of being in a community or want to avoid it entirely? Do you have any interesting experiences with bumping into WoW players in the real world?