WOW! ARE YOUR SERIOUS OR WHAT? Volume II

Having finally awoken to the seriousness of the Horde threat, Azeroth 's human nations presumably began to pursue large military build-ups in preparation for war. Meanwhile, the Horde began to consolidate its new holdings in the far south, further pillaging Stormwind City and effectively destroying all human holdings south of the Burning Steppes. Warchief Doomhammer now fervently pondered the future of his people, and eventually came to the conclusion that the Horde must march against the remaining human nations.

Doomhammer was aware of the gathering of leaders in Lordaeron from his scouts, and realized that if the Horde did not strike against this threat immediately, then they would surely be overwhelmed by the combined might of their enemies. Thus, Doomhammer began to prepare the Horde to make war once more. The Warchief learned much about human politics and culture from prisoners, and came to recognize the strategic and overall symbolic importance of Lordaeron 's Capital City.

Yet, to take the capital, Doomhammer required more powerful weapons. Four years after their arrival on Azeroth , [7] the Horde's strength was much depleted from constant war, and they now sought means to strengthen itself in preparation for the renewed offensive. Much of Stormwind 's previously-strong infrastructure now lay in ruins, and the orcs failed to salvage much of use from the kingdom's ashes. The Dragonmaw clan , on the other hand, had recently unearthed an ancient artifact known as the Demon Soul , a disc of immense power dating back to the War of the Ancients.

Potent though it was, the Dragonmaw required more time to fully unravel its secrets, a task given to Nekros Skullcrusher. The orcs had recently opened contact with the Amani tribe of forest trolls , who were delighted to learn of Stormwind's destruction, having harbored a hatred of humans dating back many years.

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The trolls pledged to support the Horde in its continued war, on the condition that Doomhammer rescue the Amani leader Zul'jin , who had been captured and was currently being held near the town of Hillsbrad. The warlock Gul'dan eventually emerged from his magically-induced coma after attempting to probe the mind of Medivh during the First War not long after Stormwind's fall. Having purged the Shadow Council and other elements of Gul'dan's warlocks from the Horde, Doomhammer fully intended to complete the task by dispatching their leader.

Desperate, Gul'dan produced a proposition should his life be spared: Though distrustful, Doomhammer gave Gul'dan the chance to prove his worth, and provided his consent for the warlock to form a clan of his own, the Stormreavers. Gul'dan then set about delivering on his promise, though he attempted to ensure that the powerful new warriors created were loyal to him alone. Along with his ogre lieutenant Cho'gall , Gul'dan gathered the spirits of the slain members of his Shadow Council. Though Horde dead were sacred, slain humans would serve as the perfect vessel for these disembodied souls.

Eventually, the orc warlock succeeded in infusing the spirit of the once-orc Teron'gor into the corpse of a deceased knight. Teron'gor, now known as Teron Gorefiend , would rise as the first of a new type of soldier, the death knights. These beings wielded necromantic , rather than fel magics, and though their horrifying appearance and foul nature disgusted Doomhammer, their incredible power would be required in the coming conflict.

Though Doomhammer managed to reinforce the Horde with ogre enforcers, most of the forces on the other side of the Dark Portal couldn't be mobilized in time for the next war. For this, the orcs turned their attention on the nearby dwarven kingdom in Khaz Modan. Occupied by the Bronzebeard clan of dwarves , the region of Khaz Modan was rich in a variety of resources, including valuable metal ores and oil, in addition to the dwarves' mighty forges.

Before launching their assault on Lordaeron , the Horde thus decided to first seize Khaz Modan, and they quickly began a full-scale invasion of the region. Six years after the opening of the Dark Portal , the orc army advanced into Khaz Modan amidst a major blizzard, though their arrival did not take the dwarves by surprise.

Demolition teams skillfully collapsed numerous mountain tunnels and passes, delaying the Horde's approach, while the dwarves also contacted their traditional allies: Together, the dwarves and gnomes pooled their resources to resist the invasion, and established strong defensive positions across Khaz Modan. Despite their organization, the dwarf-gnome coalition was little match for the Orcish Horde. Outnumbered, their outposts and settlements eventually fell one by one before the furious advance of the orcish forces.

Second War

Hundreds were killed in defense of their homeland, [12] but these defenses gradually withered before the onslaught. The dwarves and gnomes ultimately retreated to their mountain strongholds of Ironforge and Gnomeregan respectively. Doomhammer focused his attention on Ironforge, seeing the dwarves as the greater of the two threats, and quickly laid siege to the underground city. The dwarves recognized that this would be their last stand and were prepared to dying fighting. They mobilized all of their resources and nearly their entire population took up arms to resist the siege.

Though the Horde assaulted Ironforge in great numbers, the death toll proved horrendous for the orcs. For every dwarf that fell, ten orcs were brought down with them. Eventually, the cost grew so great that Doomhammer called off the siege. At the same time, some orcish forces also advanced on Gnomeregan, though with similarly disastrous results. The gnomes used their advanced technologies to defend their home, rigging various powerful explosive traps in the forests surrounding Gnomeregan that exacted a bloody toll on the invaders before even reaching the city. When the attackers finally reached Gnomeregan, the city's virtually impenetrable great iron gate withstood weeks of bombardment from Horde siege engines.

The siege of Gnomeregan too was ultimately called off. The two cities had proved too costly in time and manpower to take properly, but Doomhammer already had what he needed in the form of Khaz Modan's rich resources. The warchief stationed the Bleeding Hollow clan outside each city, ordering them to keep the dwarves and gnomes contained for the duration of the war. Horde smiths quickly got to work in the region, and before long were fully equipping the Horde with vast quantities of new armaments and siege weapons, placing the orcs one step closer to their goal.

Those in attendance still found themselves debating a proper response to the orcish threat, as well as the merits of human unity. In attendance were all major rulers of Azeroth 's human nations, including: Refugees from Khaz Modan brought news of the conflict there, as well as the Horde's intentions on encroaching north; news which shocked the human leaders and gave a sense of urgency to the council.

King Terenas and Anduin Lothar pushed heavily for all of humanity's kingdoms to unite into one mighty Alliance in order to defend their people. Lord Admiral Proudmoore was also supportive, largely due to his friendship with Lothar, and King Trollbane's close relationship with Lordaeron also secured his support. Archmage Antonidas too was in favor of an Alliance, having received firsthand accounts of the orcs' power. Only Kings Greymane and Perenolde stood in opposition to unity, at first due to skepticism as to true threat the Horde posed, and eventually out of a fear of losing regional power in the process.

Additionally, King Perenolde personally feared that there existed no real hope of defeating the Horde, and King Greymane was adamant that Gilneas would be able to stand by itself without the aid of others. The arguments between the human leaders began to grow so intense that Gilneas and Alterac threatened to quit the negotiations entirely. It was then that Turalyon , one of Lordaeron's most famed priests , stood to address the gathered rulers. With Stormwind's young prince Varian at his side, Turalyon delivered an impassioned and charismatic speech, pointing to Stormwind as an example of what awaited any nation that fell to the Horde, and urging those in attendance not to let their pride and lust for power lead humanity to destruction.

As he concluded his address, the priest cited humanity's shared virtues of bravery, devotion, and leadership as proof that they could overcome any foe together. Turalyon was rewarded with widespread applause, his words having gotten through to even the most doubtful present. That very day, the council voted unanimously to form the Alliance of Lordaeron , comprising all of humanity's kingdoms. It was soon decided that Anduin Lothar would best serve as commander of the new Alliance's military, being from Stormwind and thus occupying a uniquely neutral position among the kingdoms.

Lothar accepted the position with humility, recognising the near-unprecedented power he now wielded as Supreme Commander of the Alliance army; few in history could ever call upon the collective might of humanity combined. Lothar's first order was for the Alliance's forces to gather in the Hillsbrad Foothills , a region blocking the Horde's advance. Amid this preparation, Lothar also began to look into finding something for all the disparate nations to rally behind, irrespective of heritage. Though clerics of the Holy Light were suited to this role, they were wholly unfit for the dangers of combat, as evidenced by events in the First War.

A solution was presented by the Church of the Holy Light. Its head, Archbishop Alonsus Faol , worked closely with Lothar in the formation of a new order of warrior-priests, the paladins. A handful of chosen knights and other individuals were trained stringently in both the ways of combat and the Light. Representing the highest values of humanity, this group of paladins became known as the Knights of the Silver Hand. Faol's training of the paladins training was vigorous, and they accompanied the Alliance army as it massed in Hillsbrad.

Each paladin was gifted with a unique and sacred libram by the Archbishop which embodied a specific virtue they were to adhere to. Lothar himself was so impressed with their progress that he took paladins Turalyon and Uther as his lieutenants. Lothar continued to bolster his forces, seeking aid wherever it could be found in preparation for the war ahead. To this end, the Supreme Commander contacted the high elven nation of Quel'Thalas.

As a descendant of the famed king Thoradin , Lothar was able to make use of an ancient oath sworn to the ancient king by the high elves in times past, during the Troll Wars. Despite this, the high elves proved reluctant, not viewing the Horde as a serious threat. King Anasterian Sunstrider only subsequently sent a small, token, fleet to aid the Alliance.

Some high elves, however, disobeyed the king's orders, choosing instead to join in the fight against the orcs , and answering Lothar's call to war. Chief among these was the renowned ranger captain Alleria Windrunner , who led a handful of her kin south with her.

Though disappointed with the generally poor response from Quel'Thalas, Lothar nonetheless welcomed those elves who arrived, particularly Windrunner and her skilled rangers. As the human kingdoms rallied in the north, Orgrim Doomhammer and the Horde plotted their next move. After crossing the Wetlands just north of Khaz Modan , and overrunning more dwarven strongholds at Dun Algaz and Dun Modr , the only land route to Lordaeron led across the Thandol Span , a narrow crossing and one that could easily be fortified and defended.

Doomhammer subsequently chose to do the unexpected; the orcs would construct a fleet of warships and launch a surprise attack directly into the heart of the humans' lands. With the support of Gul'dan and his Stormreaver clan , Doomhammer succeeded in convincing the Horde of the plan's merits. Thus, construction of a vast fleet began at a bay in the southwestern Wetlands the eventual site of Menethil Harbor.

While the orcs possessed little maritime knowledge, the Horde's ogres and Amani trolls were able to guide them in building varied and crude vessels. To augment this, Doomhammer also enlisted the aid of the goblin Steamwheedle Cartel. The warchief provided the goblins with vast quantities of gold as payment for new technologies, maps, information, and ship-building services. The orcs had virtually no need for gold currency, and they were still rich in it from plundering the Kingdom of Stormwind. The Horde and goblins subsequently set to work on constructing the new fleet.

At this same time, the Red Dragon Aspect Alexstrasza and her red dragonflight were on a hunt for the missing artifact known as the Demon Soul. The weapon had been recovered by the Dragonmaw clan through the subtle guidance of the black dragon Deathwing and thus Alexstrasza's search eventually led her to the Horde. Disgusted by the violence the orcs' had wrought in Khaz Modan , the Life-Binder and her servants quickly descended upon the one who possessed the Demon Soul: The red dragons had underestimated Nekros, who was still being guided by Deathwing, and the ensuing confrontation proved disastrous.

Unleashing its full and terrible power, Nekros struck out at Alexstrasza with the artifact, forcing the Dragon Aspect to crash into the nearby mountains. Nekros then had Alexstrasza subdued and placed in chains, lashing out at her if she or any member of her dragonflight attempted to intervene. The Dragonmaw now exercised complete control over the red dragons, who desperately feared something would befall their matriarch if they resisted.

Warchief Doomhammer, overjoyed at the subjugation of the dragons, ordered the Dragonmaw clan to occupy the nearby fortress of Grim Batol , an old and long-abandoned Wildhammer dwarf stronghold. The orcs chained Alexstrasza in Grim Batol's depths, forcing her dragonflight to follow. There, Nekros and his followers set about training and fitting the red dragons as they had done with the rylaks of Draenor. With the eggs that the Life-Binder continued to produce, the Dragonmaw hoped to create a new generation of loyal and deadly mounts.

Although they had taken efforts to conceal their activities, the Horde 's work to build a fleet was eventually discovered by human scout ships. The orcs remained unfazed, however, and finished their construction work before eventually boarding the ships. Doomhammer remained confident that the Horde would arrive in Lordaeron before the newly-formed Alliance could muster an effective defense.

The warchief's sights were firmly fixed on Lordaeron's Capital City ; if the capital fell, he believed the fledgling Alliance of nations would subsequently unravel. Hundreds of ships packed with soldiers and supplies departed from the Wetlands and set a course for human territories. As they traveled through the Great Sea , the Horde fleet was spotted by naval forces under Admiral Daelin Proudmoore , and were eventually intercepted near the island of Zul'Dare. The Horde's lumbering ships were significantly outmatched by Proudmoore's forces, which hailed from the traditionally-seafaring island nation of Kul Tiras.

The human ships were able to easily outmaneuver their enemies, and their cannon volleys succeeded in tearing the orc vessels apart. As dozens of transports sank, and countless Horde soldiers drowned, Admiral Proudmoore redoubled his efforts, realizing that the destruction of the entire orc army was within his grasp. However, the Horde fleet was not alone. Doomhammer, who had been wary of the humans' naval superiority, had ordered the Dragonmaw clan to supply the newly enslaved red dragonflight as support. Though reluctant to do so as battle mount training had not yet been completed, Nekros Skullcrusher sent three red dragons to protect the Horde fleet as it crossed to Lordaeron.

When the Battle of Zul'Dare began, these dragons descended on the Alliance ships, wreathing them in flames. Unable to respond to this new aerial threat, and suffering increased losses as a result, Admiral Proudmoore called for a full retreat. As the Alliance armada scattered, the Horde forces were preserved and continued their advance toward Lordaeron. Very few defenses were pre-existing in the region, and as human forces rushed to the area they floundered in disarray.

The entire Horde army continued ashore though the red dragons refused to go any farther and kill any more humans , and began securing territory inland. Doomhammer's forces marched towards the Alterac Mountains , which would provide them a clear, if perilous, path to the Capital City. Alliance forces were hastily ordered to block the orcs' path, which had been predicted by Supreme Commander Anduin Lothar.

Though all northern and western routes to the capital were now barred, the human armies remained in a brittle state, terrified by the overwhelming numbers and ferocity of their foes. Many were reassured by the presence of the paladins of the Knights of the Silver Hand who, having completed their training, now rode among the Alliance ranks. Before long, the two sides clashed, constituting the first time the full might of the Horde met that of the Alliance. Amid the carnage, the human forces held; in addition to Lothar's paladins, they were supplemented by Alleria Windrunner 's highly skilled elven rangers , as well as powerful magi of the Kirin Tor led by Khadgar.

Gruul the Dragonkiller - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft

Both groups rained death down on their enemies, slaughtering many Horde warriors. As the fighting intensified, an unnatural and deathly fog crept over the battlefield. Where the mist touched the bodies of the Alliance fallen, they would rise again in undeath and throw themselves back at their former comrades. Heading this effort was a group of hooded, shadowy figures atop skeletal horses; the death knights. The unholy warriors proved highly effective in battle, able to bring to bear potent necromantic magics against their adversaries. Additionally, the death knights had devastating psychological consequences on human soldiers.

Deeply horrified by the mounted knights and their magics, the Alliance lines quickly began to buckle. The day was ultimately saved by the paladins, who charged into the fray wielding the full power of the Light. Their radiance steadied their human brethren, struck down the reanimated dead, and drove back the death knights' foul mist. Turalyon , Uther the Lightbringer , and the other paladins used their powers to heal wounded Alliance troops, and boost the morale of those still in combat.

Having rallied under the inspirational aura of the paladins, and recovered from their initial shock, the Alliance forces regrouped and slammed into the Horde lines with renewed determination. A stalemate eventually developed, with isolated battles continuing across Hillsbrad. Although both sides were evenly matched, Doomhammer and the Horde leadership were aware that as time passed, the Alliance could amass more and more reinforcements. The decision was made to push east in an attempt to find a longer, but unprotected, path to Capital City. For this, Doomhammer needed the Amani trolls to act as guides for the region; the trolls agreed to help on the condition that the orcs made good their promise to help free the captured Amani warlord Zul'jin.

Scouts reported Zul'jin's location to the warchief, and Doomhammer wasted no time in organizing a large raiding party to attack the prison camp located near Durnholde Keep. The warchief's forces easily overwhelmed the defenders and liberated the Amani leader, who was then offered a permanent place within the Horde for himself and his people. Zul'jin initially refused Doomhammer's proposal, viewing it as a path to servitude under the orcs. After being reassured that he would retain full autonomy over his people, and stand as an equal to the warchief, Zul'jin changed his mind, on a single condition: The path to the high elven kingdom would require his forces to move farther north than previously planned, yet Doomhammer understood he needed the trolls' support.

The Horde's position remained precarious, and he would require every advantage he could muster to ensure victory. The Troll wars were a big part of pre- Dark Portal history, but I felt as though we only got a few pages, where it should have gone on for quite some time. Again, I'm comparing it to the Warhammer fluff, but I really do wish that the writer s were given creative license to flesh out the battles and heroes in the way that a Warhammer book is written.

I don't mean to sound so negative, but I just want this trilogy to be the new gold standard for books like this.

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• Gruul the Dragonkiller.

That said, I originally rated the book 5 stars. I took one star off for my aforementioned caveats. This book presents the history of Warcraft from mythic times right up to the opening of the first Dark Portal. The beginning is fascinating, being the creation narrative of the Warcraft universe. It was a little hard to follow for me after that, when it talks about Loken and minor Gods that are hard for me to conceptualize, but things pick right back up when you get to the trolls and the elves. This is a vitally important lore source that any serious Warcraft fan definitely should have in their collection.

Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Kindle version is awful. Just a bunch of papers, poorly cut and not fitting into iPad screens. I'm a huge Blizzard fan and ready to support them at all times - but this Kindle version just ruins the impression from the obviously beautiful thing. This starts from the beginning - gives For anyone not familiar with the whole history of Warcraft - the entire universe, including the titans, old gods, azeroth, etc. This starts from the beginning - gives you a sense of just how everything came to be - up to a certain point, of course.

You can follow it up with volume 2, which I look forward to. I've played the game for a long time, and though sporadically these days, I've never quite understood just who all of the characters in the game are and how they fit in the greater scheme of things - this book is a great start. They both refer to the Chronicles, so I said These books are awesome. They add substance to the game world and really give insight into the factions.

Also, the cosmology is presented in an understandable way. Finally, if you are a table top roleplayer, these books would be an excellent resource for building your own world. The pages are thick and the books are put together very well. Well worth the money and a welcome addition to any fantasy library.

The artwork is something to behold, each piece providing glimpses of the ancient Warcraft stories. Everything is presented in chronological order from the beginning of time until the arrival the Burning Legion in Azeroth. I enjoy reading every excerpt in the chronicle, and if you are a fan of Warcraft to any degree you will too!

See all reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Pages with related products. See and discover other items: There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. However, the acronym is awkward and not entirely accurate. World of Warcraft is a social world as much as a game. It is similar in some ways to environments such as Second Life in which participants create characters and activities in a three—dimensional virtual world see Klastrup, I will refer to environments such as World of Warcraft and Second Life as virtual worlds.

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In these worlds, participants 1 create an animated character, 2 move the character in a three—dimensional space, 3 have means for communicating with others, and 4 access a rich array of digital objects. As elsewhere, the culture of a virtual world is enacted through human conversation and designed objects that mediate activity Leontiev, ; Vygotsky, Virtual worlds perhaps feel more authentically like cultures than chat rooms because of the elaboration of space and objects.

While in a long line to purchase memorabilia at BlizzCon, an older man and a younger woman stood in front of me. They played together casually at first, then started talking in voice chat, then arranged a face—to—face meeting, although they lived across the country from one other.

Things went well, and they got married, had a baby, and seemed to be living happily ever after. Baby was in the hotel with hubby and grandma, who also played, so that mom and granddad could have some free time at the conference. By the time I got to BlizzCon I was not surprised to hear this story.

But when I began my research, I assumed that the stereotype of the video gamer as self—absorbed young male with few social skills and little interest in anything beyond gaming was probably more or less true. I was pleased to run into a much more interesting mix of people. The WoW player population had considerable variance in age, gender, and social class. One of my online friends was a carpenter who worked in a factory making windows. Another was an intensive care nurse. An older guildmate had multiple disabling chronic illnesses.

He took many medications, some of which kept him awake. World of Warcraft was a major part of his social life, and he played at odd hours, day and night. A former guild master in Scarlet Raven was a graduate student in chemistry. A student we interviewed in San Diego described the demographic diversity of the 40—man raids he attended. No solid demographic information is publicly available for World of Warcraft. The problems of sampling 11 million players playing in seven languages and many more national cultures are daunting. My guess is that this figure is probably roughly correct for North American servers but almost certainly wrong for China, where my counts in Internet cafes showed about 10 percent female players.

There are no public data of any kind for European, Korean, Latin American, and other players of which I am aware. My goal is not to pin down precise numbers which is impossible but to suggest that World of Warcraft is more open to females and older players than games such as first—person shooters see Fullerton, et al.

How does one determine age, gender, and social class in a virtual fantasy world? Players themselves make this information available. The Scarlet Raven Web site had a photo gallery, so gender and approximate age were obvious for players who posted pictures. When players spoke on voice chat, gender was revealed. Age was trickier as voice quality was not always clear and age can only be approximately guessed through voice. Photographs on the Scarlet Raven Web site showed homes and furnishings typical of particular social classes.

Occupation is a good indicator of social class, and players often mentioned their occupations in chat or on the guild Web site. Smoking and social class are correlated Jha, et al. Players often paused for smoke breaks. My sense is that the statistically modal player in World of Warcraft is a male in his twenties see Yee, But statistics do not reveal the nuances of the social atmosphere created by the presence of male and female, older and younger players.

Scarlet Raven had a couple of young teens whose parents played in the guild. Occasionally the teens would make inappropriate remarks. One would often leave in the middle of a group activity when he had something else to do.

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While these events were annoying, it was part of the culture of the guild to tolerate the young people. Some of the older members such as an architect and a real estate agent were stabilizing influences, sometimes making calming remarks to defuse a tactless chat comment or ward off misinterpretation. The guild leaders were in their twenties and thirties, and one in his forties. They did not hesitate to remove players who behaved inappropriately.

One evening a young male player typed the URL of a porn site into the chat line. The next night I saw him removed from the guild as someone had reported the incident to an officer. Scarlet Raven was far from a squeaky clean guild, but promulgating porn was outside its boundaries. The presence of female players mitigated rough masculine discourse, toning down, although certainly not eliminating, profanity, homophobic discourse, and sexist comments. The male player countered that he always talked that way and could not change.

However, the dominance of male players statistically, and in terms of masculine rhetorical style, was assumed and protected a topic explored further in Chapter 8. Many players commented on the mix of players as a positive aspect of the game. A student at the University of California, San Diego, said:. Despite the reality of the diverse population playing World of Warcraft , the stereotype of the lonely gamer persists. See Ducheneaut and Moore, ; Ducheneaut, et al. Most have PhDs or law degrees and are generally well informed.

But they had encountered only media stereotypes about games centered on themes such as addiction and lonely kids with no friends. The game was an extension of their existing social lives. This was true in both North America and China. Nightflower, a 53—year—old mother of seven, explained in an online interview:. One player, who played with two siblings and a nephew, said that they used a voice chat program to talk while they played. In one of my guilds, a mother of two who homeschooled her children used WoW as part of the curriculum to study typing and math. A married couple I interviewed played together and had chosen the character names Toast and Jam to identify themselves as linked.

As will be discussed in Chapter 9, in China people often played together in Internet cafes with friends from their immediate neighborhood. Not only do people draw on existing social connections to explore virtual worlds, the virtual world itself is a stimulus to real world interaction. WoW was often a topic of off—line conversation for people who played together and even for those who played but not together.

Study participants commented frequently in the interviews about the importance of socializing. Those who come to the game on their own have ways of meeting new people in an open environment in which players expect to be approached by strangers Nardi and Harris, ; see also Brown and Bell, We approached a cave at the same time. Delbarth and I switched from local area chat the nearby vicinity to party chat just those in the formal party at about The players I encountered had interests beyond World of Warcraft.

I knew two players who bowled weekly. Members of Scarlet Raven participated in sports, including skiing, football, deep—sea diving, and river rafting. Others enjoyed off—roading, martial arts, photography, international travel, and amateur theatricals. One player built a truck. Another was a professional wrestler who posted his terrifying YouTube wrestling videos on the Web site.

Another played in a rock band. Parents in Scarlet Raven put up pictures of their children on the guild Web site. The general impression I had of many WoW players was that they were active people looking for intense, engaging, online experiences that complemented similarly engaging off—line activities. I met several young fathers at home tending sleeping children while their wives worked a shift. One of my guildmates sometimes left for several minutes to care for her young children who were watching television or playing together but needed a snack or other attention.

As in many online communities, WoW had its share of people with disabilities for whom the game provided sociality, challenge, and variety difficult to attain in other venues. One of the most striking things about World of Warcraft was the way it brought together social classes for authentic shared activity. I realized how limited my own social universe was when I began to perceive that I was spending many pleasant hours with people very different than I.

One player was a military wife whose husband had been to Iraq three times on the front lines. Many players worked weekend or late—night shifts. For my guildmate, the words were not an arch jest but expressed a difficult physical reality. Through voice chat, I experienced varied North American regional accents those so carefully cleansed from the mass media from places like East Texas, Alabama, West Virginia, and Quebec.

AFK means away from keyboard. The glue that brought people together was the game itself. As a guild master in Scarlet Raven remarked on the guild Web site:. Some guilds were built around shared characteristics such as a religion or sexual orientation. There were Christian guilds, gay guilds, location—based guilds, family guilds, military guilds, guilds of coworkers, and guilds of professional colleagues.

Such guilds tailored play to suit their values. Christian guilds, for example, usually requested that players avoid foul language such avoidance not being the norm in World of Warcraft. A spoof at a widely linked Web site that pokes fun at fundamentalist Christians satirized Christian gamers and the lonely gamer stereotype:. The spoof playfully twists the characterization of gamers as isolated losers seeking solace in a video game. As more diverse populations take up video games, the notion of the lonely gamer, and games as the last refuge of the socially unfit, becomes parody, satire.

My data, and that of others, suggest the fundamental wrongheadedness of the stereotype; instead of a withdrawal into fantasy worlds, we see the extrusion of the worlds into ordinary life as family and friends play together, as players gather in Internet cafes, and as they meet and socialize with others online. She is the author of many scientific books and articles concerning technology in human activity.

Although writing is a solitary pursuit, the influences of others are constantly present. I was fortunate in the guidance, advice, and encouragement generously extended by colleagues, friends, and family. At the University of Michigan Press, I am grateful to Tom Dwyer, who helped shaped the manuscript from our earliest conversations. Series editor Mimi Ito suggested useful means of restructuring the flow of the book and provided sound advice about what to leave out as well as in.

Heather Newman and Christopher Lehr produced images used in the book. Anonymous reviewers made invaluable suggestions on reworking critical arguments and improving the prose. Many, many thanks — you know who you are. I thank the Intel Corporation, which, at the behest of Eleanor Wynn, provided funding for the research I conducted in China.

I have many guildmates to thank — for good times as well as insights about game play. The guilds in which I conducted research must remain anonymous, but Terror Nova, a guild of colleagues with whom I play, was a source of scholarly input as well as friendly mayhem. My family guild, the Hoodoos, blasted through Azeroth with the tight coordination of people who know each other very well.

I would like to thank the players who agreed to be interviewed. They offered thoughtful commentary on their play experiences and called my attention to important matters that I did not pick up on from observations of game play. Many undergraduate students at the University of California, Irvine, where I teach, talked to me informally about their play, and I learned from, and very much enjoyed, those conversations. Throughout my career, nearly all of my research has been about the use of technology at work.

Moving to play, with its elements of whimsy, fantasy, freedom, and fun, was a pleasing turn to a novel arena of activity. But it entailed facing an unfamiliar literature going back 80 years. Surprisingly, very little of what I read was trite or uninteresting.