Is Nothing Sacred Anymore??

Gamer.

Pronunciation: \ˈgā-mər\
Function: noun
Date: circa 1630

1: a player who is game; especially : an athlete who relishes competition
2: a person who plays games; especially : a person who regularly plays computer or video games

That would be me. I'm proud to say that I've been a gamer for quite some time, going back to the days of Space Invaders and Pong. And what is it, exactly, that consistently draws me to these computer and video games?

Well, there's definitely the technical and sci-fi aspect of it all. As computing power has advanced over the years, game designers continue to push the envelope on what could be presented on the monitor. The graphics on any console game released this year are simply mesmerizing, begging to be admired for their detail and fluidity in animation. And sure, at a base level video games are just plain fun. But, the real reason I love gaming boils down to this: Escape.

Does this mean I'm unable to cope with the daily trials of modern life? Absolutely not. It just means that I can put aside the daily trials for a little while to focus on a different frame of reference and act/react to what goes on in this other world. Warcraft is a great example of this.

That's my hunter with his trusty pet wolf. A rather dashing night-elf, don't you think? He's come a long way to level 27, thanks in part to some serious shared pwning of worthless foes with Mr. Shakes (who has since turned this padawan into a monster at the auction houses). And even when I don't catch my friends online for some questing, I enjoy flying solo (with the trusty wolf) in this separate world, a world with its own rules and potentials, a world where one can truly escape for a moment before returning to the assault of reality that we know all too well.

But now, all that will change as reality is poised to assault the World of Warcraft:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's internet regiment has come to World of Warcraft-- a group of his supporters are planning to form a guild on Whisperwind and do a march from IF to Stormwind (which means they'll probably be Gnomes or Dwarves, which is too bad, because I liked the idea of "Trolls for Ron Paul") on New Year's Day at 8:30pm EST.

Luckily, I've not rolled any characters on Whisperwind. But honestly, a fucking Ron Paul march in an online MMORPG? His supporters are that fucked up that they need to bring a real-world political rally to Warcraft? I know this isn't the first time something like this has come up in the online world. If you recall, John Edwards set up shop in Second Life.

The march, in of itself, will probably prove to be interesting. My guess is that there will be plenty of other characters lined up along the route to provide some "distraction" to the marchers before the Whisperwind server crashes due to volume. I play Warcraft to get away from the real world, not to have it follow me into a virtual domain. I can just see it - "United States political activist" will be a new profession you can train for. You first gather piles of turd to forge into a clipboard which you can then use to cast a Drain Signature spell on any character. Wonderful.

US politics isn't what Warcraft is about, and it's certainly not what people are paying a subscription fee for. Warcraft is about escape and writing the never ending story. I can only hope that this doesn't set a precedent. If you want to set up a rally for someone, then do it on the REAL streets. Leave the online RPG ones to the Alliance and Horde.