To what lengths are you willing to go or have gone to play WoW? I think about this now while I am sitting here with nothing to do thinking to myself "I would do some crazy shit just to play classic right now". It make me think back to the time my brother's computer died mid-raid in BWL.
During an attempt downing Vael his power supply very literally blew up. This was during a time when the fight for server first was still up for grabs and he was the MT healer. So instead of saying "oh well, we'll try again next time" the raid took a break and my brother hopped in his car and drove 1.5 miles to best buy, bought a new E Machine, and brought it back to the apartment. His WoW program file was stored on an external HD because he plans contingencies like no one else. He pasted the 12gb file into the new machine and was back online just in time for another attempt which was successful and the raid continued to Broodlord.
This was an insane night. BWL was still young and we were pushing hard to get Vael down. Shit went to hell quickly as my screen went dark and I smelled smoke on my (first) personally built machine. I hauled ass to Best Buy, fastest 1.5 miles of my life, purchased it, got back to the apartment and was extremely thankful that after the initial updates, I could paste my C:program/Wow (abbreviated) file into the new machine and run the .exe to get back in the fight in less than 45 minutes. We downed Vael that night and hit Broodlord like Cletus mentioned. Shit was a bit more intense than a game should be lol.
I haven't done anything too extreme on my side.
I guess back in Vanilla when I was young and still levelling. A Thursday, after school, I got on the train (which took around 40 minutes) to travel to my brother, bringing my little laptop with me, to skip school on Friday and play World of Warcraft over at his place until Sunday. I was around 12 I think.
These days? I wouldn't do anything extreme to play Classic, but that doesn't take away my eagerness wanting to play it.
I posted something similar already somwhere in this forum. I have two sisters and they both wanted to use the computer from time to time. Obviously I was playing WoW nonstop and when I was doing something important like dungeons or raids, I simply wouldn't let them use it. (Yes I was young, naive AND addicted). So.. Sunday was Molten Core dayand since our raid group was.. well, rather laid back, we needed about 6-8 hours. (I found a proper guild shortly after we had Ragnaros on farm, thank god). So basically I would deny my sisters access to the computer and would get shouted on by them AND my parents. However, out of all days that one Sunday where we were at peak performance, gear and attitude and ready to finally kill Rag - my sister insists on using the PC and makes a huge fuss. I eventually have to let go of the PC and fake a disconnect. Half an hour later or so I am desperate. I unplug the modem without her noticing and she finally gives up because the "internet went out". I log back in and that night we killed Ragnaros for the first time. I screamed so loud I woke up my parents. Worth it.
To what lengths? Anything really. I know myself and I knew not to take it upon myself to have responsibilities which implicated other people. Never thought it was worth it, I probably never will. There are probably no lengths I wouldn't cross since I always pretty much do whatever I want to do. So if I'm doing 14 hours a day of WoW, it's because I'm enjoying it. If I'm doing 6 hours of WoW and 6 hours of clubbing or going out, it's because I feel like it. There's a job that comes in between somewhere, but that's about it. When you're only down to provide an upkeep for yourself and you're not an empty shell of a human being that's trying to fill some gaping hole of a personality with materialistic possessions, you can definitely afford to do whatever.
The only things I wouldn't do would be the things which would certainly cause me to be unable to do what I want to do. I mean, I want to play WoW but I wouldn't exactly be able to enjoy it if I jumped in front of a train for it.
From a philosophical M E T A perspective
The single, best argument anyone is every going to get for "why" they do anything eventually boils down to "because they feel like it". Every action and decision we make has an advantage and a disadvantage. If something about what you're doing or what other people are doing doesn't make sense or seems too good to be true, then it's because you're not considering the advantages and disadvantages of what he/she is doing.
So I look at many of you and see that, a lot of you, want to no-life the fuck out of WoW and do all these awesome things and that you regret not being able to do them due to your real life commitments. At the same time, I think it is important to reflect on why you made those commitments and how those commitments are advantageous to you. You might look at someone like me and think I must be sad because I'm missing out on so many things, but at the same time having the freedom to do things like that is definitely more advantageous for me.
To what lengths? Anything really. I know myself and I knew not to take it upon myself to have responsibilities which implicated other people. Never thought it was worth it, I probably never will. There are probably no lengths I wouldn't cross since I always pretty much do whatever I want to do. So if I'm doing 14 hours a day of WoW, it's because I'm enjoying it. If I'm doing 6 hours of WoW and 6 hours of clubbing or going out, it's because I feel like it. There's a job that comes in between somewhere, but that's about it. When you're only down to provide an upkeep for yourself and you're not an empty shell of a human being that's trying to fill some gaping hole of a personality with materialistic possessions, you can definitely afford to do whatever.
The only things I wouldn't do would be the things which would certainly cause me to be unable to do what I want to do. I mean, I want to play WoW but I wouldn't exactly be able to enjoy it if I jumped in front of a train for it.
From a philosophical M E T A perspective
The single, best argument anyone is every going to get for "why" they do anything eventually boils down to "because they feel like it". Every action and decision we make has an advantage and a disadvantage. If something about what you're doing or what other people are doing doesn't make sense or seems too good to be true, then it's because you're not considering the advantages and disadvantages of what he/she is doing.
So I look at many of you and see that, a lot of you, want to no-life the fuck out of WoW and do all these awesome things and that you regret not being able to do them due to your real life commitments. At the same time, I think it is important to reflect on why you made those commitments and how those commitments are advantageous to you. You might look at someone like me and think I must be sad because I'm missing out on so many things, but at the same time having the freedom to do things like that is definitely more advantageous for me.
Coolsies…
I feel that this game is both important and unimportant to you. You mention that "why" people do things boils down to "because they feel like it". What about the people who will do what they are meant to do but only when they are meant to, even if they don't really want to? And as for the "no-lifers" who are actually using the physical lives in this very plane of exitance to feed into the no-life paradigm? And what about the things that we don't commit to that become advantageous, such as not making out with a girl you found throwing up behind a dumpster at chuck-e-cheese? Being non-committal in that sense would be very advantageous I would think. I feel as though I've just eaten an entire loaf of invisible bread...
Schrodinger's Nerd. Is it a life or is it a no-life?
We will never know.
Cletus
What about the people who will do what they are meant to do but only when they are meant to, even if they don't really want to?
Meant to? Existence precedes essence, there is absolutely nothing about anything that anyone is doing or will be doing that is "meant to" happen, unless we're talking about scientific or physiological things (like dying, going to the bathroom, etc.).
And as for the "no-lifers" who are actually using the physical lives in this very plane of exitance to feed into the no-life paradigm?
They do what is most advantageous towards them. It's the same reason why other people will go out and get a job, start a family, and so forth. People are doing what they feel is going to satisfy them the best/most. I have met many people who were miserable with those sort of lives too, the world is full of them. The choice to do anything isn't straight forward when you factor in the different individual needs of other people.
And what about the things that we don't commit to that become advantageous, such as not making out with a girl you found throwing up behind a dumpster at chuck-e-cheese?
That you do because you value your self-esteem (which is derived from your sense of morality) more than the pleasure you would derive from the act. Or perhaps because the risk of going to jail isn't worth the act itself. Or because the girl is really ugly and you're not in the mood for it. It could be a whole lot of reasons, but people always choose in accordance to what satisfies them the most in some form or another.
That is why a lot of people in that position would go right ahead and do it. Because they don't fear the consequences, because they don't derive value from not doing it because their moral system doesn't reward them with that, because they get a good high out of it - and so forth.
Being non-committal in that sense would be very advantageous I would think.
It depends on the individual, our needs and so forth. I'm not saying either is better than the other, from a philosophical standpoint you can argue just about anything could be better than some other thing by just shifting perspectives. It's just that these perspectives always line up with a personal preference of ours, the part where we just say this is good and this is bad because we feel like it. Sure, some people will try to come up with arguments about it, but in the end that's all it boils down to. That's why we have different laws, different lives, different priorities, and so forth. Some people feel like some things are better than others, and some don't. Some people think some things are worth risking your life or your job for, others definitely don't. But there is no objective criterion by which we can compare individual needs against each other. There's no way you can objectively argue that some guy having kids is more meaningful at an individual level than some other guy getting a dog. Yes, you can make arguments from the perspectives of the society, of biology, and so forth - but when it comes to the individual, it all boils down to "because he felt like it" or "because he felt that it would make him happier than the alternatives".