Thursday, January 19, 2012

Random Ramblings Redux: Old People are Awesome

  Over on WoW Insider today, there's an interview with a 70 year old raiding GM. It's awesome, and you should read it.

  I just want to highlight and comment on a couple of things she said:

  "...other players took great pains to explain to me (with much leet laughter) that I was the only woman in the guild at that time..."

  This is better understood in context. You read the interview, right? Anyway, one of the interesting things I notice about cross-cultural interaction (I was in the military) is the manner in which words and phrases are appropriated. She could have said "many LOL's and ROFL's" but instead went with "leet laughter" to describe what must have been a hilariously paradigm-shifting moment. The slight amount of cognitive dissonance hearing the word used differently than I usually hear it lends a unique flavor to the description of the event.

  "World of Warcraft is sort of like the French Foreign Legion of games when it comes to age. As long as you can do your part, it's rare for someone to ask "How old are you?""

  I have found WoW to be one of the most egalitarian communities in existence. A player's race, nationality, religion, gender, orientation, age, geographical location, you name it, doesn't matter. You are a player. You are welcome so long as you play by the rules.

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