I've got a small guild of friends who have been playing computer games together for the past ten years. As much as it pains me to say it, we're currently playing World of Warcraft. I honestly wish that I could call it the worst MMORPG I've ever played, but then I remembered the free trial of Lineage II, so I can't say that anymore.

Several nights ago, Jes, our newest member, asked in the Vent server what we do after the Daily Heroic instance. Rak told her that we run ToC seven times. She, of course, asked why? I told her because playing Warcraft is fun, so the more we play, the more fun we have!

The groans spoke for themselves. Not one single person thought that running ToC seven times would be fun. Although not all at once, that is exactly what we do. We run it once a night, every night. The unspoken followup question is this: if the game isn't fun, then why are we playing it?

The answer is pretty depressing. In my case, I would say that the only reason I continue to play WOW is because it is what my friends are playing. If you asked each of them, they would all give you the same answer. Well, all except one of them. But we'll talk about him later.

So what does it all mean? We're stuck there. As much as we hate the game, like cattle or lemmings we continue to herd ourselves in, afraid to break free. Logging into the game is a chore for me, and most nights I have to really push myself to do so. The only thing that motivates me enough is to tell myself that I would be alienating myself from my friends if I quit playing. And that is a valid concern. I know that, as long as I keep playing the same games, I will always have that group of friends. If I quit now, inevitably we will drift apart and someday cease to be friends. Maybe it's because the game is all we have in common to begin with. I must admit that several of these people I probably would not have become friends with if it weren't for the game. Of course, there's Rak, who I have considered to be my best friend for the past ten years, and his friendship is not something I'd want to lose. Everyone else is disposable.

Not only is the game itself a terrible grind of XP, gear, and reputation statistics, but it is filled with the absolute worst people the internet has to offer. Everyone who plays WOW is an asshole. Period, no exceptions. When I play WOW, I'm an asshole too. The community in this game is a constant reminder to me of why I hate society, and the people it is comprised of. I consider myself to be a pretty compassionate person. I care a lot for the people close to me. Possibly even too much at times. But somewhere deep inside is an evil monster, who has no rightful place in society. Every time I log into WOW, that monster stirs.

Everyone I hate in this game falls into one of three categories. They are:

A - Total idiots who have no idea what the fuck they are doing.
B - Elitist asshats who think that their gearscore turns them into superiour human beings.
C - Whiny bitches.

Trying to get a random team is a real task. Most of the time you'll end up with a team consisting entirely of Category A. You don't want one of those! Occasionally you'll see a team being started by Category B... but they only recruit other Category B's to their team. Chances are, if they haven't already invited you, they don't want you. While it's easy to hate them, there is a legitimate reason for it. When you're trying to assemble a team of 10 or 25 people to do something, you want to be sure that you are going to succeed in doing it. They don't want a team full of Category A's any more than you do. Unfortunately, they make no distinction between Category A's, and competant players who simply haven't attained whatever gearscore rating they require to join their team. The fact is, even if you do know what you are doing, if your gear isn't good enough you could still cause the deaths of all 25 players. Gearscore is a perfect example of what is wrong with this game, yet at the same time it has become a necessity.

Gearscore, however, is not foolproof, as it is entirely possible to have a high gearscore and still be a dumbfuck.

So the dilemma becomes: Why would I spend countless hours teaming with Category A, who I hate, in order to be able to to join a team with Category B, who I hate even more, all the while being assaulted by Category C, who I hate the most? The short answer is, I don't. I log in just long enough to help my guild with whatever they intend to do each night, and then quickly log back out. Many times I pretend I'm going to sleep, but I'll stay up another 3 or 4 hours and play something else.

Amazingly enough, there are people who do just that. One of them is in my guild. He, and others like him, have a legitimate LOVE for this game, that I simply cannot comprehend. Part masochist, part suck-up, I suppose, is the only way to succeed. Well, there's no doubt that he's a more social person than I am. I'm about as antisocial as they come, after all. He's always in guild chat telling us about all these hard 25-man raids he's on and what loot he's hoping to acquire, and the thought of it quite literally makes me sick to my stomach. Several times he's invited me along, and every time I refuse.

I wish this game would die in a fire. Edge Magazine, however, recently named it Game of the Decade. I wish they would die in a fire, too.