follow-up: "...and my friend slayed dragons."

On the day I was writing about (in this post), I was observing battles and quests in the MMORPG World of Warcraft.

To say the LEAST, I find this game fascinating. The design, the popularity, the social aspect - it all blows me away. My brain doesn't work in the way it would need to in order to be successful at that game and that's really OK with me. This makes it more fun and more engaging to observe. If I could, I'd still be watching my brothers play Zelda.

Since this was the third time I've observed (and the second and third time I asked almost every question in my mind ...which were many) I thought I would be able to make some comment on the subculture in this here blog post but I'm really still fully unequipped. That's OK.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's a cool & unique experience to observe something you have almost no point of reference for. (I feel similarly in art galleries. They drive me crazy with their mysteriousness or inaccessibility but I can't get enough.)

Here are the quotes I wanted post from other players who could be heard through the speakers talking amongst themselves or to my friend.

(1) A retort:

"Well, at least my helmet's enchanted."
(laughing) "Touché."

[To the best of my understanding, this may have been a legitimate brag. Even if not.]

(2) A demonstration of wit:

"Hey, Baffler: [beat, insuring attention is caught] If you liked taking moderate risks but still cared about important causes, would you call yourself Raffler?"

[Both of us had a few waves of delayed laughter at this - mine loud and my friend's with disbelieving head shaking - replaying and piecing together the whole statement.]

(3) A smackdown:

Puzzles (matter-of-factly, on hearing someone use the word "undergarments"): "I think you are the first human being in the last sixty years to use that word."
Raffler: "You don't call them 'small clothes'??"
Puzzles: "They prefer to be called 'little clothes'."

[This one has made me laugh out loud TWICE just now. At the time it was almost too much to wrap my mind around. These guys constantly come out of nowhere and pile on the quips like pros. It is some quality cheap entertainment.]