Well there goes any hope of me getting a job

[Ginger]

. A recruiter for media companies was quoted last week saying that employers ask him specifically to avoid World of Warcraft players because they "cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere [and] their sleeping patterns are often not great".

Taken from this article about how wow is responsible for student dropouts. I agree that this is a possibility it could have an adverse affect, but wonder if those how are "addicted" distract themselves by other means if it wasn't for wow. Also I think the article is taking quite a strong stance in favour of the statement considering that the only evidence it supplies to support it's claim is that in one university 5 individuals have reported that their addiction is having adverse affects on their studies.

[DanJW]

Did this come up already in a different tread? In any case there were other reports earlier last year that employers were looking favourably on people in WoW guilds, as they require quite high levels of organization, cooperation and management techniques.

edit: also I believe that one of the comments in the thread of that article points out why the 'news' story is a bunch of shite. It's basically one guy speculating wildly.

edit edit: that comment was in the original blog post that spawned this story. Well done The Guardian on your wonderful levels of research. You just turned a rumour into a news story.

Edited January 6, 2009 by DanJW

[Scrobbs]

See, there's your problem. Ditch Warcrack and start playing Eve.

[DanJW]

Also, ooh people discriminate and make assumptions about gamers. ooh ooh ooh what else is new?

[ThunderPeel2001]

edit edit: that comment was in the original blog post that spawned this story. Well done The Guardian on your wonderful levels of research. You just turned a rumour into a news story.

Good lord. What's going on?? Did they suddenly make research illegal?

[syntheticgerbil]

The internet is dangerous, not WoW.

[Karimi]

Forget the lack of sleep and commitment , I'd be worried about lack of bathing and poor social skills.

[Salka]

Screw all of the above, I'd be more concerned about the fact as they believe WoW is the pinnacle of awesomeness, they deny that MMOs can be any better or achieve any more than WoW already has, and insist that the gameplay is awesome and that they enjoy grinding really and actually it's really good that 10 bears will only have 1 Bear Flank between them and so on.

Actually I don't think I've ever met a WoW player with poor social skills, everyone I know who plays it seems fairly normal.

[Spaff]

I wonder if the employer in question was Blizzard

[twmac]

By normal and not being deficient in social skills do you mean that they won't shut the fuck up about WoW if you give them the chance?

Soem of the people I work with drive me round the bend with their wittering on about DPS and what not.

[Jake]

Again, like that "what the fuck" thread, the problem with this article might be that someone in the UK press decided that it was worth making a big deal about, so people could have some more bullshit to stir themselves up about. That's my dumb take, at least.

[Scrobbs]

I think you're right Jake. I can't wait to leave this fucking country.

[Salka]

By normal and not being deficient in social skills do you mean that they won't shut the fuck up about WoW if you give them the chance?

Soem of the people I work with drive me round the bend with their wittering on about DPS and what not.

I hate those people. I've often been sat in pubs where everyone has just been talking about stupid WoW crap. I've played and enjoyed WoW but it still winds me up.

[DanJW]

On the other hand non-gamers probably feel the same way about an evening with players of any game. There are times when I have to try and end a game-related conversation quickly, before the bystander's eyes actually dissappear into her skull (yes it is likely to be a girl).

Or at least there used to be times. I haven't been out much lately

[gdf]

I don't think the article in question was particularly taking a stance against gamers. You'll want to look at the Daily Mail for that. It was a badly researched article, but how many times do online gaming sites take rumours and run with them (I find Kotaku useful, but they're one of the worst)?

Also, I failed to see the big fuss about WoW when I played it. Then again, I was doing it basically on my own, so maybe a key part of the enjoyment was absent.

In the words of Jackie Chan's Uncle from that awful animated series which aired on Fox Kids: "One more thing!" Darkfall is a very exciting looking upcoming MMO. It will probably trounce WoW in many ways, but obviously can never hope to reach the same userbase.