The Warcraft civilization social science in a virtual world ( PDFDrive )

TheWarcraftCivilization

SocialScienceinaVirtualWorld

WilliamSimsBainbridge

TheMITPress

Cambridge,Massachusetts

London,England

inanyformbyanyelectronicormechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformation

storageandretrieval)withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.

MITPressbooksmaybepurchasedatspecialquantitydiscountsforbusinessorsalespromotionaluse.For

information,pleasee-mailspecial_sales@mitpress.mit.eduorwritetoSpecialSalesDepartment,TheMIT

Press,55HaywardStreet,Cambridge,MA02142.

WorldofWarcraftandBlizzardEntertainmentaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofBlizzard

Entertainment,Inc.intheU.S.and/orothercountries.Theopinionsexpressedbytheauthorsandthose

providingcommentsaretheiralone,anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheopinionsofBlizzardEntertainment,

Inc.Imagesprintedwithpermission.

ThisbookwassetinStoneSansandStoneSerifbyToppanBest-setPremediaLimited.

PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData

Bainbridge,WilliamSims.

Thewarcraftcivilization:socialscienceinavirtualworld/WilliamSimsBainbridge.

p.cm.

Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.

ISBN978-0-262-01370-3(hardcover:alk.paper)ISBN978-0-262-28837-8(retaile-book)1.Computer

games—Socialaspects.2.WorldofWarcraft.3.Sharedvirtualenvironments.4.Virtualreality—Social

aspects.5.Onlineidentities—Socialaspects.I.Title.

GV1469.27.B322010

794.8—dc22

2009021236

10987654321

mailto:special_sales@mitpress.mit.edu

http://lccn.loc.gov/2009021236

Contents

1Entrance1

2Heritage25

3Religion53

4Learning81

5Cooperation111

6Economy139

7Identity169

8Transcendence199

Notes229

Index245

1Entrance

I am Incognita, one of theUndead. I enteredWorld ofWarcraft, also called

Azeroth,intheShadowGravecrypt,deepbeneaththegroundnearDeathknell.

IunderstoodthatthetimewasmidnightonthesixthofMarch2007,butIknew

little ofmyprevious existence.Unlike a newborn child, I could talk, reason,

read,and takecomplexactions,although therewasmuchIneeded to learn. I

had some knowledge but few memories. My skills were terribly

underdeveloped.ItissaidthatHumanswonderwhatwillhappenaftertheydie,

butweUndeadwonderwhathappenedbeforewedied.

ThefirstthingIsawwasthetrash-strewnfloorofthecrypt,lifelessgraylike

the walls. Then the flickering light revealed two tiers of niches where

disorderedbones indicated thatHumanbodieshadonce lain.Eachnichewas

decorated by a grim, carved skull, shaped from the same gray stone as

everything elsewithinmy field of view. In one niche, a stout, oddly shaped

candlekeptvigiloveramoundofdirthintingatthefleshthatoncecoveredthe

bones.Atorchonthewallbehindmemirroredanotheracrosstheshallowpit,

lighting a stone staircase. I ascended, turned left at the landing where more

carvenskullssupportedshallowarches,andascendedagainpastcobwebsand

thedustofages.Thethirdflightofstairsbroughtmetothesurfaceofmynew

world.Gross stonecolumns,with the same skullmotif, framed theexit from

thecryptintoadesolategraveyard.

Waitingformewastheundertaker,whospoke:‘‘Abouttimeyouwokeup.

Wewere ready to tossyou into the firewith theothers,but it looks likeyou

madeit.IamMordo,thecaretakerofthecryptofDeathknell.Andyouarethe

Lich King’s slave no more.’’ Somehow I found myself thinking like an

anthropologist, or perhaps a linguist.Mordo, I hypothesized, came from the

Latinwordfor‘‘dead,’’morsinthenominativeormortisinthegenitive,related

tomorbidusmeaning‘‘deceased.’’Ilookedathisbaredteethandwonderedif

thewordmordere,meaning‘‘tobite,’’wasabetterderivation.Deathbites,does

itnot?TheGermanwordfor‘‘murder’’ isMord.WhowasthisLichKing,of

whomMordospoke?Alich-gateistheplaceinachurchyardwherethecorpse

waitsforburial,andlitchfieldisanoldwordfor‘‘cemetery.’’PerhapstheLich

Kingwas the king of corpses, cognatewith theGermanword for ‘‘corpse,’’

Leiche,Norwegianlik,andDutchlijk.

MordotoldmetospeakwithShadowPriestSarvis,whocouldbefoundat

thebottomofthehill,inadecayedchapel.WhenIenteredthebuilding,Isaw

no religious symbols, and the boardedwindows admitted no daylight. Sarvis

said tome, ‘‘No other race onAzeroth has suffered asmuch as our people,

priest.Tolaughin thefaceofdeathhasbecomesecondnatureforallofus.’’

ThenIrealizedthatI,likeSarvis,wasamemberofthepriestlyclass,although

anuntrainedone.Inoticedhewaswearingredandlavenderrobesandholding

inhisrighthandastafftoppedwithasymbolatthetopvaguelyreminiscentof

across,butwith four rods formingadiamondshapearounda redgem.As I

was admiring his finery, Sarvis explained that our new leader was Lady

Sylvanas,whohadliberatedusfromtheLichKing.‘‘TheDarkLadyguidesus

inourwaragainstthehatedScourgeandtheholdoutsofhumanitywhodogour

everystep.’’

Ithenreceivedmyfirstcombattask,exterminatingtheMindlessOnes,eight

one-armedWretchedZombiesandeightMindlessZombies,whosebrainshad

beenpiercedbyarrows.Thiswasa sad task,because theywereUndead like

me, but lacking full consciousness.When I returned to the blasted chapel to

reportmy success,SarvisgavemeaHallowedScrollwrittenbyDarkCleric

Duesten, the localpriest trainer, tellingme, ‘‘feelblessed thatyourspiritwas

not released to theNether,’’ and suggesting I learn to dealwith the fact that

‘‘the people youonceknew, perhaps even cared for, are no longer!’’When I

presented it toDuesten,hecommented, ‘‘TheHolyLightno longerconcerns

you,thespiritsofyourforefathersarefairytales,andcreaturesfromtheNether

don’twantyou…Thereisonlyonethingyoumustknow:wehavesurvived

throughwill alone. It is faith in ourselves that separates us from others, and

withourpowers,wewillcausegreatchangeinallofAzeroth.’’

Moregrimtasksweregiventome:collectingmagicallyusefulorgansfrom

animalssuchasbatsandwolves,andexterminatingmoreofmybrothersand

sisterswhohadfailedtomakethecompletereturntoconsciousnessafterdeath.

I looted valuable items, which I exchanged for money, and I began to gird

myself with worn pieces of armor taken from those I killed. I learned with

mixedpleasureandrevulsionthatweUndeadcangainsustenancebyeatingthe

corpsesof thoseweslew.AsI interactedwiththeotherUndeadintheruined

village, they gave me advice: ‘‘Embrace the shadows.’’ ‘‘Trust no one.’’

‘‘Beware the living.’’NoviceElreth bestowed a blessing, ‘‘DarkLadywatch

overyou!’’ExecutorArrenaskedthechillingquestion,‘‘Whatwouldyouask

ofDeath?’’(Seefigure1.1.)

Figure1.1

Incognita,anUndeadpriest,atthechurchinDeathknell,betweenShadowPriestSarvisandNovice

Elreth.

The nature ofmy opponents changed fundamentallywhenExecutorArren

assignedmethemissionofkillingtwelveconvertsandinitiatesoftheScarlet

Crusade.Thesewerehealthy,youngHumanswho,unlikeme,hadneverdied.

They stood straight, whereas I hunched over, and they seemed filled with

health.Given these contrasts, itwas easy to hate them. Then I intercepted a

map carried by

theFirstWar.Thrall succeeded inbecomingaspywithin

theBurningBlade,thencarriedoutquestsinRagefireChasm,bothdirectlyon

Thrall’sorder,andasacovertThralloperativewithin thesect.49Tocomplete

his complex missions in this monster-infested underground dungeon, he of

necessityparticipatedinthreeseparatefive-personincursions,thuscooperating

withadozenothermembersoftheHorde.Aftercompletingeverylastoneof

theassignedtaskswithhonor,hereportedbacktoThrall,andthendisappeared.

IfTarkasisunderdeepcoveronanewseriesofdangerous,secretmissionsfor

Thrall,wemayormaynoteverseehimagain.Thinkingthathewouldstillbe

inthetwentieslevels,wearekeepinganeyeonFrayIsland,aspecialtraining

baseforlevel-30warriorsofftheeastcoastoftheBarrens,incasehegoesthere

forafightingchallengecalledtheAffray.Wefeelsurehewouldgreetuswith

theOrcshoutofvictory:‘‘Lok’tar!’’

2Heritage

IamMaxrohn,aHumanpriest,andthisisthestoryofmypersonalexpedition

from Stormwind City through Stranglethorn to the piratical southern port of

BootyBay.Myjourneyhadseveralpurposes.MostimportantforStormwind,I

was on an extended, multistage quest to find a missing diplomat. The most

recentof a long seriesof informants,Mikhail, thebartender in the innat the

porttownofMenethil,hadtoldmetovoyagetofardistantTheramoreandseek

informationfromCommanderSamaul.Coincidentally,butfarlesssignificantly,

Vincent Hyal inMenethil had askedme to take amessage to his brother in

Theramore. Rather than sail directly fromMenethil, I decided to take a far

moredifficult route.FromBootyBay, I could take a ship forRatchet on the

continent of Kalimdor, and from there, hike south along the coast to my

destination.Onepersonalmotivewastheadventurethatthetropicaljungleof

Stranglethornwouldafford,andanotherwastheopportunityforcollectingnew

kindsofherbs.Myskilledoccupationsareherbalismandalchemy,andexotic

plantscanbeingredientsfortheusefulpotionsIwaslearningtobrew.

On a far more subtle level, I hoped that my journey would deepen my

understanding of the history of the conflicts that grip our world. I was then

struggling to understand how a priest can fulfill the cardinal virtue of

compassion,whennearlyeveryoneseemsbentonmurder, theft,andbetrayal.

Some inspiration had come from visiting two Dwarven archaeological sites,

Ironband’ssmallexcavationsouthofLochModan,andWhelgar’slargerdigin

the hills overlooking the Wetlands. The technically oriented Dwarves were

seeking lost technology that might be useful in today’s conflicts, whereas I

sought wisdom that might explain and thus help reverse the horrible trend

towardviolencethatIseeintheworld.WalkingthelongroadfromStormwind

to Booty Bay lets one observe with one’s own eyes the decline of human

civilization, theencroachmentsbycriminalsandbeasts,andtheconfrontation

between the Alliance and the Horde. But the final leg of the trek, through

Stranglethorn Vale, would be exceedingly dangerous, and could not be

attempteduntilIhadmasteredabouthalfthelevelsofworldlyexperience.

AssoonasIreachedlevel35,whichoccurredwhileIwasbattlingmembers

oftheSyndicateinSofera’sNazeintheAlteracHills,IreturnedtoStormwind

toprepareformyjourney.Thisgreatcityis theoneremainingmetropolisfor

humankind,sincewewereexpelledfromthecapital,Lordaeron,fiveyearsago.

Its spotlessly clean streets, imposing walls, and pleasant shops divided by

canalsintoseveraldistrictsgiveshopethatcivilizationcanriseagain.Toorient

mymindtothepast,IvisitedtheKeepandtheRoyalLibrarythatlieswithin,

readingsuchbooksasTheKaldoreiandtheWellofEternity,TheNewHorde,

andAegwynnandtheDragonHunt.Afterrestingandmeditatinguponthedeep

histories of themany peoples of Azeroth, I was ready for the last logistical

preparations.

I needed to lighten the load Iwould carry andmake room for new herbs,

questitems,andothervaluablesIhopedtofindalongtheway.JohnBurnside

inthecountinghouseoftheTradeDistrictprovidedastorageboxforme,andI

unloadedmanyofmyherbsandpotions.Ihadtoomany,soIputtheoverflow

inanherbbagthatIhadboughtearlier,andleftitwithhimalso.Mynextstop

wasthealchemyshopintheMageQuarter,aparklikeareawithlawnsinstead

ofroads.There,Eldraeith,theElvishherbalismsupplier,greetedme:‘‘Madeby

the finest craftsmen in all of Teldrassil, carried by hand from Kalimdor to

AzerothasasignofthegrowingalliancebetweenthepeopleoftheGreatTree

andthehumansof this land.If thereisanythingyourequire,youhavebut to

ask.’’Ipurchasedanewherb-carryingbagandthankedher.AsIdeparted,she

exclaimedintheElvishmanner,‘‘Maythestarsguideyou!’’

Before embarking on my long journey, I entered the Cathedral of Light.

Havinggained levels sincemy last visit, Iwas allowed to trainwithBrother

Joshua for several more magic spells. I was especially excited to learn the

Levitate spell, which would allow me to float in the air a few feet off the

ground,fallmoregentlyfromanyheight,andcrosswaterwithoutswimming.

Thatcostmeonegoldcoinandeightsilver.ThenIupgradedthreeHolyspells

(Heal, Desperate Prayer, and Resurrection) and two Shadow Magic spells

(MindBlastandShadowWord:Pain)foracombinedcostoffourgoldcoins,

thirty-sevensilver,andfortycopper.Thosewereallveryvaluablespells,andI

hadreliedheavilyonweakerversionsforsometime.InStranglethorn,IknewI

would faceverygreatdangers,andwouldneedeverysupernatural resource I

coulduse.WhenIdeparted,Joshuawishedme,‘‘Safetravel!’’

ImmediatelyoutsidethegatesofStormwindlietherelativelypeacefulfarms

andwoodlands of ElwynnForest.When I reachedGoldshire, the prosperous

town that dominates the region, I took a short detour to Northshire Abbey,

whereIhadfirst trainedfor thepriesthood, tosee if the libraryheldanyrare

historical books. Indeed, I found a copy of Civil War in the Plaguelands,

describing the conflict that led to the independence of the ForsakenUndead

under the leadership of the banshee, Sylvanas Windrunner, and how Prince

ArthaswasonlybarelyabletosavehisliegetheLichKinginhiswaragainst

theNagaandtheBloodElves(seefigure2.1).

Figure2.1

Incognita, lying in a trance on the floor of the throne room in the ruins ofLordaeron,meditating

betweentheroyalemblemandthehugebloodstainthatmarkedtheassassinationofKingTerenasby

hissonArthas,whothenbecametheLichKing.

I then turned southwest and entered the agricultural territory of Westfall,

where many of the farms had just been abandoned to the growing chaos of

bandits and beasts that was encroaching upon civilization. Immediately as I

crossed theborder, Imet apathetic familyof refugeesnamedFurlbrow,who

begged help collecting the last of their belongings and feeding their elderly

horse. I continued down the western road until I reached the town of

Moonbrook,whichhadbeentakenoverbybanditsoftheDefiasBrotherhood.

PriortotheFirstWar,thevastundergroundminesherewerethegreatestsource

ofgold in theworld, so I suppose I shouldnothavebeensurprised that they

would attract vast numbers of thieves and cutthroats. TheDefiasweremuch

weakerthanI,onlylevels

13through15,soitwaseasytokillthemeventwoat

atime.Aftertakingoutmyangeronthebandits,Iturnedeastandcrossedthe

bridgeintoDuskwood.

I had no time for the long eastward hike to Darkshire, a fair-size Human

settlement, not to mention Lakeshire that lay beyond it in the Redridge

Mountains.TheresidentsofWestfall,Darkshire,andLakeshirewereconstantly

complainingthatStormwindfailedtosendforcestoprotectthem,andbegging

formyhelp.Butmygoallaytothesouth.

MyroutetookmerightpastRavenHillCemetery,alargeandgloomyspace

dominatedbytheLichKing’sScourge,soIentereditinsearchofarareherb

calledgravemoss.Adeep,bluemisthadrolledin,makingitveryhardtoavoid

the Undead creatures that menaced on every side: bone chewers, carrion

recluses,flesheaters,rottedones,skeletalfiends,andskeletalraiders.Ifound

sixsamplesofgravemoss,thenreturnedtothemaineastboundroad,onwhich

IsoonreachedtheforkthatwouldtakemequicklysouthtoStranglethorn.

Shortly after entering the jungle, I met Hemet Nesingwary Jr., who was

leading an expedition to collect samples of wildlife. He said, ‘‘Jolly nice to

makeyouracquaintance,Maxrohn.Haven’tseenapriestaroundthesepartsfor

sometime.’’Hisassistant,BarnilStonepot,thenaskedmetoretrievelostpages

of themanuscript of a historical novel,TheGreenHills of Stranglethorn, by

Nesingwary’s father (see figure 2.2). Two othermembers of theNesingwary

expedition, Ajeck Rouack and S. J. Erlgadin, put me to work collecting

specimens of animals, which I thought would be compatible with seeking

tropicalherbsformyalchemyexperiments.

Figure2.2

HemetNesingwarySr.(ErnestHemingway),big-gamehunterandauthor,withtrophyanimalheads,

athisbasecampinSholazarBasin,Northrend.

Myhopetoaccomplishsomethingofhistoricalsignificancereceivedaboost

whenBrotherNimetz, in a groupof pro-Stormwind rebels, askedme to find

four ancient Troll tablets that would reveal something important about their

ancient legends and thedepravedmagicbasedon them today.He toldme to

seekoneintheruinsofBal’lal,twointheruinsofZul’Kunda,andthefourthin

the Vile Reef, which I knew was near Booty Bay. Given its tortured past,

Stranglethorn contains the ruins of many once flourishing towns and stately

temples:Aboraz,Bal’lal,Balia’mah,Kal’ai,Jubuwal,Mizjah,Tkashi,Ziata’jai,

Zul’Kunda,Zul’Mamwe,andZuuldaia.Itwouldbeanarchaeologist’sparadise,

wereitnotforthearchaicTrollswhoseektokillanywhowouldintrudeupon

thiswreckageoftheirprevioushome.

Initially, theTrolls presented an impenetrable barrier to collecting the four

ancienttablets.AtBal’lal,forexample,Icouldstandonahillandseethetablet

insideastoneenclosure,butfullysixTrollswereguardingit.Atlevel35,Iwas

confidentIcouldvanquishanyoneofthem,butapaircouldkillmeeasily.The

problemwasthat theywerestandingclosetogether,soifIattackedone, then

twoorthreewouldrespond.Ineededeithertogainseverallevelsortogethelp.

Myguildwasbusyinotherregions,soIresolvedtosettleinStranglethornfora

while,untilIwasabletocompletethequestforthefourtablets.

The rebels enlisted me in their struggle against a renegade officer named

ColonelKurzen,whohadsethimselfupwithaprivatearmyasa lordof the

jungle (see figure 2.3).Nimetz felt thatKurzenmight be the victim of Troll

magic, and hoped the ancient tabletswould provide a clue, perhaps even the

detailsof thespells thathadbeenused.Butbefore Icould find theseancient

writings, his comrade Lieutenant Doren asked me to kill ten of Kurzen’s

commandos and six of his magic-wielding headshrinkers. Doren warned, ‘‘I

knowmanyofKurzen’s troopspersonally,andIknowtheyareskilled, loyal,

andcruel.’’ThenDorenassignedmetoenterKurzen’sheadquartersdeepinside

a cavern called the Stockpile, kill ten of his lieutenants, and bring him the

colonel’shead.Ifoundthatthisquestwasfartoodifficultforoneperson,soI

teamed up with an Elf named Tallann, who was a hunter and assisted by a

trainedtiger.Wefoughtvaliantlyandkilledtherequiredsixelitefollowersof

Kurzen,plushis four subchiefs,butwewereunable to reachKurzenhimself

andwereforcedtoretreat.

Figure2.3

ColonelKurzen(basedonKurtzfromJosephConrad’sHeartofDarkness)inhisStranglethornVale

cavernhideout.

Afterthischasteningexperience,myenthusiasmforthewaragainstKurzen

begantowane.Iwasinvitedtojoingroupsthatweregoingafterhishead,butI

did not take advantageof these opportunities. I brooded constantly about the

meaningof itall.EventuallyIfoundall four tabletsforNimetz,killingmany

Trolls in the process. They contained no magic spells that could explain

Kurzen’soddbehavior.Oneappearedtobeacurse,butitfocusednarrowlyon

defendingthetomboftheTrollemperor.Twowerelegends,sofragmentaryit

was impossible tomake sense of them. The otherwas a poem beginning as

follows:

AMoonovertheValeshines

Castingitsglowuponthejungle

WhereproudWarriorsheedthecall

TodefendourNationandsacredgrounds.

Almost as if my mind could not cope with deep philosophical questions,

such as the connection between Kurzen and the Trolls, I found myself

concentratingonsimplematters.Myherbcollectinghadhitanimmediatesnag

when I enteredStranglethorn, becausemy skill ratingwas only 180, and the

placewas thickwithKhadgar’swhisker,which requires185.Aspecialeffort

dodgingtigersandpanthers,whiletakinganyherbIcouldfind,increasedmy

skillstep-by-stepuntilagoldthorn tookmeto185andgavemetheability to

add new species tomy collection.After aweek,my skill had zoomed up to

225. That qualified me for promotion to the next grade of herbalist. I had

startedasanapprentice,becomeajourneyman,andenteredStranglethornasan

expert.Above thatwereonly twomore levels,artisanandmaster. Ihadbeen

giventhenameofFloraSilverwind,anherbalismtrainerinBootyBay,andto

learnfromherIfinallytrekkedtothatsouthernmosttown.

Booty Bay is run by Blackwater Raiders, sometimes dubbed pirates, in

collaboration with the Steamwheedle Cartel, a group of Goblin capitalists. I

tookonvariousoddjobsforthem,wantingtoreachlevel40beforesettingsail

for Ratchet. One especially unpleasant Goblin, named Kebok, hired me to

obtaineighteenTrolltusks,whichheplannedtosellasthemorevaluabletiger

fangs.Atthispoint,IhadkilledsomanyTrollsthatanotherdozenorsodidnot

seemanethicalproblem,butIwasoffendedwhenKebokcomplainedIhadnot

doneagoodenough jobcleaning thegoreoff their tusks. Inamoodmoreof

exhaustionthantriumph,Ireachedmylevelinggoalandwalkedtotheendof

thedocktoawaitthenextship.WhathadIlearnedaboutthehistoryofAzeroth

and our chances for the future? Perhaps a long sea voyagewould giveme a

chancetomeditateonsuchquestions.

ThreeDifferentPasts

The heritage of World of Warcraft can be charted on at least three distinct

planes. First, there is the history within the story, what is widely called the

backstory, the action that has already taken place before the curtain on the

drama rises. Second, there is the literary and cultural heritage, such as the

gamesandworksofliteraturethatprobablyservedasinfluencesanddefinitely

were precursors.1 Some of

these are mentioned in chapter 1, and others are

mentionedthroughoutthisbook.Third,thereisthehistoryoftherealworldin

whichboththeotherheritageswerecreated,includingeverythingfromthefall

oftheRomanEmpiretotheriseofsocialscience.

Maxrohntellsusalittleofthehistoryofhisownpeople,theHumansliving

inAzeroth. Inchapter1,weheara littlemorefromIncognita.Adecadeago,

several Human kingdoms flourished, with major cities like Lordaeron and

Stormwind. Then, bioweapons released in the Third War depopulated

Lordaeronandtheterritorytotheeast,nowcalledthePlaguelands.Stormwind

appears to be a brilliant center of culture, but it is losing control over the

surroundingdistricts,andthelikelyfutureisareignofcompletechaos.

WewouldliketosympathizewiththeHumans,buttheconflictbetweenthe

so-calledrebelsandColonelKurzen’sarmyistheresultoffailedimperialism

in which Stormwind sought to seize the wealth of the Stranglethorn jungle.

Kurzen was a Human commander, who ceased responding to orders as

Stormwind’s control over the intervening districts weakened. Then a small

groupofmenbrokeawayfromhisarmyinloyaltytoStormwind.Atthispoint,

neither force serves any purpose in defending Human civilization but rather

seeks to dominate a small colonial empire. This history not only erodes

optimismbutalsocommitment,andMaxrohncouldbeforgivenforwondering

whetheranyofthecontendingforceshavejusticeontheirside,versusallbeing

banditsofonesortoranother.2

Many hints suggest the virtual world’s artistic heritage. ‘‘Hemet

Nesingwary’’ is an anagram of the name of themachoAmericanwriter and

hunting enthusiast ErnestHemingway.TheGreenHills of Stranglethorn is a

parodyofHemingway’sbookTheGreenHillsofAfrica.Thenamesoftwoof

hiscompanions,AjeckRouackandS. J.Erlgadin,areanagramsof twoother

authors, JackKerouacandJ.D.Salinger.Noonehasbeenable to figureout

what‘‘BarnilStonepot’’istheanagramof,andthereisalwaysthepossibilityit

isoneofBlizzard’stricksonplayers,notbeingtheanagramofanything.Many

monthslater,MaxrohnwouldmeetHemetNesingwary,Sr.,inNagrand,avery

highlevelzoneinOutland,wheretheseniorNesingwaryisstillhuntingbigger

and bigger game. More recently, he has appeared in Sholazar Basin on the

newly accessible continent of Northrend, leading a large group of animal

hunters.Hemingwaywas something of an enigma, blood-thirsty yet inmany

respects left-wing, and both Kerouac and Salinger could be described as

alienated.

ColonelKurzenisbasedonthecharacterColonelKurtz,playedbyMarlon

Brando, in Apocalypse Now. That movie critiqued American colonialism in

Vietnam and was based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness,

critiquingEuropean colonialism inAfrica, inwhich the characterwas called

simply Kurtz. Maxrohn remarked upon the Dwarves’ fascination with

archaeology,whichdigsbeneath the surface touncover truths aboutourown

origins. The metaphor suggests that digging beneath the surface of Azeroth

revealsimportanttruthsaboutAmerica.

Thenotionthatotherworldsmightcontaincivilizationsthathadfallenfrom

their heightwas proclaimed a century ago byAmerican astronomer Percival

Lowell,whoclaimedhesawstraightlinesonthesurfaceofMarsandbelieved

they were canals dug millennia ago by a now dying civilization.3 The first

significantAmerican science fictionwriter, EdgarRiceBurroughs, based his

Barsoom novels on Lowell’s notions, beginning with A Princess of Mars,

writtenin1911.4HisnovelsestablishedagenrethatincludesFlashGordonand

StarWars, and set high standards for invented cultures. Burroughs imagined

that the planetMarswas home to several humanoid races of different colors

andspecies,strugglingtoholdtheirterritoriesincompetitionwithoneanother

in the aftermath of the decline of a great civilization. This is exactly the

premiseofWorldofWarcraft,inwhichAzerothisoftendescribedasaplanet.

Onedifference,however,isthatthefictionalMartianenvironmentisdyingof

naturalcauses,chieflythegraduallossofatmosphereintoouterspace,offsetat

great effort by technology including atmosphere-generating factories. In

contrast, the damage to many zones in WoW is caused by technology and

economic exploitation.Remarkably, one of theBarsoombooks,Chessmenof

Mars, actually includes the rules of a playable game representing a battle

betweentwooftheMartianraces,foreshadowingWoW’scompetitionbetween

theHordeandtheAlliance.

A very large number ofWoWquests concern environmental pollution and

resourcedegradation,expressingthevaluesoftheenvironmentalistmovement.

InFelwood,bearshavebecomesocorruptedthattheirhidesloughsoffingreat

patches.AgentsoftheEmeraldCircleoftheNightElvesenlistmembersofthe

Alliance to document the environmental catastrophe, seek its origins, and

undertake remedial action. For example,Arathandris Silversky toldMaxrohn

that four different plants important in the ecosystem appeared to have been

corrupted:songflowers,windblossoms,whipperroots,andnightdragons.Asan

herbalist,Maxrohnpossessedtheskillsettohelphersubstantiallyinherwork.

ItturnedoutthatagroupofJadefiresatyrs,themselvescorruptedElves,plusa

cult of Jadefire Orcs were intentionally spreading the corruption from a

moonwell filledwithgreenslime.Maxrohnagreed tokill thirtyof thesatyrs,

including their leader,Xavathras,plusnumerouscultistsaround theShrineof

the Deceiver, a front organization of the Shadow Council that had been

responsible for theFirstWar.Someof thewatersofFelwoodare infestedby

‘‘toxichorrors,’’whicharecorruptedwaterelementals.

Severalofmycharactersweredisgustedbytheenvironmentaldegradationin

the Windshear Crag area of Stonetalon. There, a team from the Venture

Companywasclear-cuttingall the trees, leavingavalleyofmudandstumps.

Someofthemevenhadthejobtitle‘‘deforester,’’underscoringtheworldwide

problemofdeforestation.WoW’ssolutionfordeforestationistochopdownthe

deforesters. Along Blackwolf River, Lunette attacked loggers, supervisors, a

robotdeforesternamedXT:9,andanimmenserobotlikevehiclewithacircular

saw in one hand and the strength to rip an entire tree up with the other. In

Zangarmarsh,a littoralregionofOutlandwherelushplantgrowthabounds,a

NightElfexpeditionexaminesthemysteriousdeclineofmanywetlandspecies

anddiscovers that something isdrainingaway thewater.LaurannaThar’well

sends adventurers in search of unidentified plant parts so she can assess the

damage, and Ysiel Windsinger sends them to seek the cause of the water

depletion,which threatens the ecosystem.The termwatercrisis refers to the

depletionofwaterresourcesinaridlands,suchasthestateofCaliforniawhere

BlizzardEntertainmentcreatedWorldofWarcraft.BothMaxrohnandCatullus

sabotaged some of the pumps by which selfish Naga were draining the

wetlands of Zangarmarsh. Whether in its depiction of environmental

destruction or societal disintegration,World ofWarcraft warns that our own

worldisindangerofcatastrophiccollapse.

DeclineandFall

To seek the truth about a society, onemay search inmany sources including

political rhetoric and social science.Onemaywell doubt thewords ofmost

politicians, but

the most thoughtful of them draw upon their extensive

experience in thepublic sphere tounderstand their society andnotmerely to

flatter their constituents. Among the most remarkable passages of American

political literature, both inspiring and challenging, is this paragraph that

AbrahamLincolnspoketotheWisconsinStateAgriculturalSocietyin1859:

ItissaidanEasternmonarchoncechargedhiswisementoinventhimasentencetobeever

inview,andwhichshouldbetrueandappropriateinalltimesandsituations.Theypresented

himthewords,‘‘Andthis,too,shallpassaway.’’Howmuchitexpresses!Howchasteningin

the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction! ‘‘And this, too, shall pass

away.’’ And yet, let us hope, it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best

cultivationofthephysicalworldbeneathandaroundus,andtheintellectualandmoralworld

withinus,weshallsecureanindividual,social,andpoliticalprosperityandhappiness,whose

course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass

away.5

Formorethanfifteenhundredyears,literatemembersofWesterncivilization

havebeenawarethatthefalloftheRomanEmpirecastsashadowacrossthe

futureoftheirownsociety.6Itisoftensaidthattheremarkablethingaboutthe

fall of Rome was how long it took to happen, five centuries from the

assassinationofJuliusCaesar.Yet,asWorldofWarcraftexplicitlyremindsus,

modernweaponsofmassdestruction threatenamuchmore rapid collapseof

civilization,ifevertheywerereleased.

WorldWarI,comingatatimewhensocialsciencewasinaperiodofrapid

development, naturally stimulated new ideas about the decline and fall of a

civilization. Among themost influential ideas is in Oswald Spengler’s book

TheDeclineoftheWest.Itpostulatesthateverygreatcivilizationisbasedona

core idea, and dies when the potential of that idea has been exhausted.7

Interestingly, thekey ideawhichSpengler feltdefinedWesterncivilization is

boundlessspace,andtodayonecouldspeculatethattheApollovoyagestothe

Moonwere thehighpoint, afterwhich thedecline fully set in.8Conservative

thinkershaverepeatedlyreturnedtoSpengler’sthesis,notablyJamesBurnham

inhis1964book,SuicideoftheWest,andPatrickBuchananinhis2002book,

The Death of the West.9 They might well quote the sign at the entrance to

Deadman’s Crossing in World of Warcraft, which in turn quotes Dante’s

Inferno:‘‘Abandonhope,allyewhoenterhere.’’

Tomymind,themostinterestingtheoryofthefallofcivilizationsisamore

sophisticateddevelopmentofSpengler’s ideas,propoundedby the founderof

thesociologydepartmentatHarvardUniversity,PitirimA.Sorokin.ARussian

who served in the provisional government after his country’s ignominious

withdrawal from World War I, Sorokin was condemned to death by the

Bolshevists, but luckily was exiled instead. The three thousand pages of his

SocialandCulturalDynamicsarguethatacivilizationmaybetoocomplexto

be based on a single idea, but does arise out of violent chaos with a set of

fanaticallyheldbeliefsthatjustifieswhateverleadershipstructureitpossesses,

andorganizesvigorousactivitytobuildagreatworldpower.10

For the first few generations, Sorokin argued, a civilization is largely

‘‘ideational,’’consideringrealitytobeessentiallyspiritualratherthanmaterial,

and basing loyalty on faith.As the years pass and the successful civilization

consolidatesitsgains,itbeginstodeemphasizefanaticisminfavorofcomfort.

Faith fades and the culture becomes ‘‘sensate,’’ believing that reality is

whatever the human sense organs perceive. It may become hedonistic,

commercial, and secular. Sorokin said that Rome collapsed when it became

highlysensate.Thenew,Christiancivilizationthataroseonitswreckagebegan

with an ideational culture, then evolved into its present condition, which is

sensate.SorokindidnotsaythatWesterncivilizationisabouttofall,althougha

collapseasdevastatingasthatsufferedbyancientRomeisalwaysapossibility

for an advanced sensate society suchasours.Rather, he asserted thatweare

enteringamajortransitionperiodthat isboundtobegrim,cruel,bloody,and

painful.Inacenturyortwo,Westerncivilizationmaypasssuccessfullythrough

thatgauntletandregainitsconfidenceandpower.

Applied to the first decade of the twenty-first century, Sorokin’s model

wouldnotethattheWestandIslamaretwocompetingcivilizationsthatarein

different points in the ideational-sensate cycle. While Western Europe

languished in theDarkAges, Islam rose toheightsof civilization,mellowed,

andbegantodeclinewhenEuropewasstillrisingfromitsrenaissance.Now,he

would say, theWest is declining, just when Islammay be poised for a new

upsurge.IfSorokinwerearoundtoday,hewouldbeacontroversialfigure.He

wouldbetellingusthatIslamicfundamentalismwasnotsomesmall, terrorist

aberration,buttheverybirthofanewcivilization,firedupwithfaithandready

forconquest.Modernscholars,suchasMansoorMoaddel,woulddisagreewith

Sorokin, noting that Islam possesses a modernist movement as well as

fundamentalism.11Whether history proves Sorokin right or wrong, his ideas

illuminateissuesnotonlyintherealworldbutalsoinWorldofWarcraft.

TheAllianceandtheHordearetwocompetingcivilizations,temporarilyina

trucewitheachother,yetcontendingfordominance.Theyarelockedinwhat

political scientist Samuel P. Huntington called a ‘‘clash of civilizations’’—a

competition for power, land, and other resources—drawing their sense of

identity from different cultural and religious traditions.12 AsChristieGolden

reportsinhernovelRiseoftheHorde,onlytwogenerationsagotheOrcswere

a tribal society that had never been part of a civilization.13 Malignant

supernaturalintervention,orleaderswhoriskedconspiringwithmagicalforces,

forgedthetribestogetherandimpelledthemtoinvadetheworldofElvesand

Humans. Reading Golden’s book from the standpoint of a cultural

anthropologist, onenotes that theoriginal tribeswere endogamous—theydid

not intermarry across tribes—so the process of unification was bound to be

difficult. But this is one reading of anthropology in general: the history of

humanity is the difficult struggle to create ever larger social groups, starting

withthewanderinghunter-gathererbandofhalfahundredsoulsandbuilding

through kingdoms modeled on the family to modern societies of a hundred

millionormore.14

Violentwar, and the necessity of finding allies, has built theHorde into a

coalitionoffiveraces,havinglittleincommonexcepttheirinterestinopposing

theAllianceandahostoflesserenemies.Tosucceedinthelongrun,according

toSpenglerorSorokin,theHordeneededanideationalcommitmenttooneor

morekeyideas.WhattheircoremightbewassuggestedbyDurotan,fatherof

Thrall:‘‘Youwantustobestrongasapeople,ratherthanasindividualclans,

andwecannotdothatwithoutacodeofhonorthatisinviolable.’’15

TheAlliance,incontrast,representsanassociationofoldersocietiesthatare

farpast their ideationalyouth.Aswesee inchapter3, theNightElves retain

some faith in their ancient culture, but the Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, and

Draeneiaresensatesocieties.ThecoreoftheAllianceisactuallytheHumans,

who organized

the opposition against the Horde invasion. Just as ancient

Athens felt itdeservedhegemonyoverGreecebecause ithad led thedefense

againsttheinvadingPersians,theHumansclaimhegemonyovertheAlliance.

However, as explained in Aaron Rosenberg’s novel Tides of Darkness, the

Humankingdomshad great difficulty uniting themselves and seemed to lack

overarchingmoralprinciples.Inchapter3ofthisbook,weseethatthereligion

of the Holy Light has some potential to provide an ideational basis for the

Alliance.AsHuman paladin Turalyon brooded: ‘‘How could theHoly Light

unite all creatures, all souls, when something asmonstrous, as cruel, and as

purelyevilastheorcHordewalkedthisworld?’’16

TheWarcraftTrilogy

The three generations ofWarcraft strategygamesneed to be consideredhere

because they set up the prehistory and the range of cultures of theWarcraft

universe,uponwhichWorldofWarcraftbuilds. In the three fictionaldecades

coveredbythetrilogy,eachgamerepresentsoneofthethreegreatwarsthatled

to the social chaos and cultural fragmentation of the world.17 A chronology

publishedintheencyclopedicbookaboutthetabletopcard-playingversionof

WorldofWarcraftcountsyears,startingwithzero,fromthefirstinfiltrationby

Orcs that led to theoutbreakof theFirstWar inyear1,and itsconclusion in

year4.TheSecondWartookplaceinyear6,andtheThirdWarwasfoughtin

year25.Thepresenttimeisyear30.18

WarcraftIIIistheculminationofthetrilogy,andthepredecessorofWorldof

Warcraft, but it was not rendered obsolete when the massively multiplayer

virtualworldwas launched in2004.Rather, it is ahighlydevelopedandstill

viablestrategygamethathappenstocoveraperiodinthehistoryofitsworld

immediatelybeforetheactionofWorldofWarcraftbegins.

GiventhatitissetjustfiveyearsbeforeWorldofWarcraft,WarcraftIIIsets

up some of the key conditions for itsworld, notably the system of interrace

connectionsthatbecametheAllianceandtheHorde.Ratherthantwofactions,

WarcraftIIIhasfour:theHumanAlliance,theNightElfSentinels,theOrcish

Horde,andtheUndeadScourge.BoththeHumansandtheOrcshavealready

invited other races into their faction. TheAlliance already includesDwarves

and a fewElves, although theElves areHighElves rather thanNightElves.

The Horde already includes Trolls and the Tauren. Thus, combining the

WarcraftIIIAlliancewithSentinels,andtheHordewithsomeoftheScourge,

nearlycompletesthetwofactionsoffourraceswithwhichWorldofWarcraft

begins.

Inthesingle-playerversionofthegame,eachofthefourfactionsmustcarry

out a major military campaign including several quests, some of which are

requiredforprogress,andsomeofwhichareoptional.Thesecampaignsreveal

muchaboutWoW’shistoricalbackground.

The Human campaign starts out normally enough, as the forces of the

Human kingdom of Lordaeron skirmish against Orcs, murlocs, and gnolls.

Thenitrapidlydevolvesintoagrindingconflict,asaplaguespreadingthrough

the food supply transforms living citizens into Undead members of the

Scourge. The plague began in Andorhal, Lordaeron’s agricultural shipping

center,andinWorldofWarcraftthattownhasbecomearuininfestedbyliving

corpsesandskeletons.ThesecondmajormilitaryobjectiveisHearthglen,north

of Andorhal, which is retaken from the Scourge. By the time ofWoW, the

broadercollapseofLordaeronhasleftthisstrongpointinthehandsofaradical

Humancult,theScarletCrusade.

TheleaderoftheHumanarmyisArthas,whoatfirstrespondsrationallyto

threatsbutwhobecomesprogressivelymoredesperate,and,somejudge,even

insane.A key turning point is the conflict with his colleagueUther, and the

namesbutnotthedeedsarereminiscentoftwocharactersinthestoryofKing

Arthur, Arthur himself and his father, Uther Pendragon. The final point of

disputebetweenthemisArthas’splantokillthevillagersinStratholmebefore

they can be subverted by the Scourge, the preemptive murder of a hundred

innocentpeople.TheultimateresultcanbeseeninWoW,whereStratholmeis

thecapitalofScourgeforcesinEasternPlaguelands,andArthashasdefectedto

theScourge,becomingonewiththeLichKing.Oneofthegamemanualseven

employsthelanguageofStarWars tosaythat‘‘Arthashasturnedtothedark

side.’’19

ThenetresultoftheseHumancampaignsisthecompleteruinofLordaeron,

withtheretreatofHumanstoStormwindandthezonesadjacenttoit,andtoa

small area across the Great Sea around Theramore. The territory including

Andorhal andHearthglenbecomes theWesternPlaguelands, and the territory

includingStratholmebecomestheEasternPlaguelands.

The Undead campaign begins with the former Human capital city having

been ravaged by the plague, and Arthas taking command of the Scourge’s

legions and turning in the direction of the High Elf nation of Quel’Thalas,

driving toward the capital, Silvermoon City. Silvanas Windrunner, ranger-

generaloftheHighElves,putupstiffresistance,butthecityisravagedandshe

is captured and transformed into a banshee servant of the Scourge. The

campaigncomestoaclimaxwiththesiegeofthesorcerercity,Dalaran,andthe

summoning of the Scourge leader, Archimonde. In the original version of

WoW,Dalaranhadbecomeinaccessiblebeneathamagicdome—wecouldonly

wonderwhattookplaceinside—andwiththeBurningCrusadeexpansion,half

of Silvermoon had been rebuilt by the Blood Elves. In the Lich King

expansion,Dalaranwasmovedtoorrebuiltintheair,floatingoverNorthrend.

The Orc campaign describes their first months as refugees in Kalimdor,

including theirmutually beneficial pactwith theTauren against the centaurs,

dislodgingHumansfromanumberofcamps,andtheinvasionofAshenvale,a

NightElfzone.Thislastconflictbeginswithamereattempttoobtainlumber

from thesacredElven forestsbutescalates to theassassinationof their forest

demigod,Cenarius.TheOrcseradicateHumansettlementsaroundStonetalon

Peak, but the political situation shifts dramatically, and the Humans become

Thrall’s allies against theWarsong clan of Orcs. The action ends before the

Orcs have fully established themselves in the new territory, but they have a

solid alliance with the Tauren to the west and an uneasy truce with the

relativelysmallremainingHumansettlementtothesouth.

The Night Elf campaign begins with contingents of the Orc and Human

forces inside the Elf territory of Ashenvale. As if expelling them were not

enough of a challenge, Archimonde establishes a foothold for the Burning

Legion,andnearlykillstheElvenleader,TyrandeWhisperwind.Sheescapesto

thewell-protected,sacredMoonglade,andinformsherElvesthatthesleeping

druid,MalfurionStormrage,mustbeawakenedfromhisthousandsofyearsof

magical slumber, to sacrifice himself to defeat theUndead. She is especially

concerned that Archimonde intends to attack the World Tree, which is the

sourceofElvenvitality.ArchimondeattacksanddefeatsHumanandOrcbases,

thereby impelling those races into a de facto alliance with their earlier

opponents,theNightElves.

TheWarcraftIIIexpansion,IIIX,includesacampaigncalled‘‘Legacyofthe

Damned,’’which reintroducesSylvanas,now leaderof thebanshees,whoare

UndeadElvenwomen,andtheschismthatledhergroupofForsakentoleave

the Scourge and join theHorde. The campaign ‘‘Curse of the Blood Elves’’

concerns the fifth race that joined the Horde in theWorld ofWarcraft: The

BurningCrusade.Thiscampaignalso features theDraenei, the fifth race that

joined the Alliance in thatWoW expansion. Missing as active units are the

Gnomes,but theyprovidedmilitary technology to theHumans inWarcraft II

andmustbeassumedtohavedonethesameagain.

Warcraft IIIX ends with a bonus campaign, describing how the Orcs

completed their takeoverofDurotarunder the leadershipof their charismatic

andwisechief,Thrall.Importantly,itisprogrammedintherole-playingstyle,

rather than strategy-gamestyle, thus formingabridge to thevirtualworld.A

notableepisodeinvolvesattackingafleetofHumanwarships,andaplayerin

WorldofWarcraftcanswimthroughthewreckageofthoseships,provingthat

theOrcsweresuccessful.

QuestsforKnowledgeofthePast

Someday,itwillbepossibleforcharacterscreatedinonevirtualworldtotravel

toanother,forexample,experiencingtheeventsofWarcraftIIIbeforethoseof

World ofWarcraft. Today aWoW character can gain knowledge of the past

chiefly by reading books that can be found all over the older regions of

Azeroth,andbyundertakingqueststhatdealwithhistoryorprehistory.Atthe

Ruins of Eldarath, one quest had Maxrohn taking rubbings of runish

inscriptions,usinganarchaeologist’sdrawingkit.Anothertime,hewassentto

a remote corner of Silithus to collect fragments of clay tablets, so geologist

LarksbanecouldbetterunderstandthepresenceofTwilight’sHammercultists

inthezone.Translation,however,requiredanotherquesttoobtaintheTwilight

Lexicon.

NPCs occasionally impart snatches of historical lore, as when Corithras

MoonragespoketoLunetteaboutherrace’sgreatcatastrophe:‘‘AftertheBattle

ofMountHyjal,wewerewithoutdirection.Nordrassilsmokedfromthefireit

unleashed,andourimmortality—theveryessenceofourbeings!—waslost.It

wasinthistryingtimethattheBetrayerwasfreedfromhisprison,andShan’do

Stormrage disappeared.’’ He explained that Arch Druid Staghelm filled the

leadership gap and inspired other powerful druids to grow a newworld tree,

Teldrassil.Laterheadmitted, ‘‘Without theblessingsofAlexstrasza theLife-

BinderandNozdormu theTimeless,Teldrassil’sgrowthhasnotbeenwithout

flaw.’’Severaldays later,Staghelmhimself toldLunette, ‘‘I fearmyworkon

Teldrassilshallneverbecompleted,andourimmortalityneverrestored.’’

An ironic historical quest,DataRescue, sent Etacarinae intoGnomeregan,

thehigh-techcitythattheGnomeshadbeenforcedtoabandon,insearchoflost

data of great significance. The Gnomes were technologically the most

advanced race,but theirmetropoliswas invadedby the troggs,whowere the

mostprimitivehumanoids.Asexplainedinthe1970sci-fimovieTrog, troggs

are troglodytes or cave dwellers, representing an earlier phase in Human

evolution. Since Gnomeregan was underground, apparently the troggs had

someadvantageinthebattle,soindesperationtheGnomesreleasedradioactive

wastes,which unfortunately failed to kill the brutish troggs but rendered the

city uninhabitable. The quest required Etacarinae to use a series of colored

computer punch cards in reader punchers—white, yellow, blue, and red—

ultimatelytogetaprismaticcardandbringittoMasterMechanicCastpipein

thecityofIronforge.

Thefirstironyhere,ofcourse,isthatcomputercardshavebeenobsoletefor

decades.DevelopedbyHermanHollerithattheverybeginningofthetwentieth

century, they were still in use when I did my quantitative study of science

fiction literature in 1978.20 More properly called Hollerith cards—or IBM

cards,afterthecompanyhefounded—theywerewidepiecesofcardboardwith

eighty columns in which rectangular holes could be punched, in patterns

representing numbers or letters.My science fiction studywas based on data

fromaquestionnaireaskingrespondentstorate125sciencefictionauthors.To

avoid results being distorted by the placement of items, I produced five

versionsofthequestionnairewiththeauthorsinfivedifferentrandomorders.I

entered the data by operating a punch-card machine, which incidentally

deadenedmyhearinguntil Irealizedwhatwashappeningandstartedtowear

earplugs,producingfivedifferentcarddecks,oneforeachorderingofauthors’

names.ThenIwrotemylongestcomputerprogramtothatpointinmycareer,

reorderingfourofthesetstomatchthefifth,andautomaticallyrepunchingthe

dataonnewcards.Finally,Imerelyhadtophysicallycombinethefivesetsof

cardstogetthefulldatasetIanalyzedformybook.Threeyearslater,whenI

bought anApple II personal computer, punch cards had become a historical

curiosity.

The second irony is that the information on the Gnomeregan cards, once

deciphered,turnsouttobequiteunimportant.AsEtacarinaeenteredcardsinto

onereaderafteranother,binarydataappearedonherscreenlikethis:

01001001011001100010000001111001

01101111011101010010000001100011

011000010110111000100000…andsoforth….

Theseareeight-bitbinarynumbers,eachrepresentingonebyteofdata.One

wouldimmediatelyguessthattheyrepresentletters,intheASCIIcodestandard

thatdevelopedintheearly1960s.Itrequiresonlysevenbitsperletter,butthe

leading (leftmost)bit ineachof thesegroups isalwaysazero, soonlyseven

bits are meaningful. Notice also that the sequence 00100000 appears three

times. In binary, this represents the number 32, which stands for a space in

ASCII,and thusdivideswords. Indeed, translatedviaASCII, theabovesays,

‘‘Ifyoucan. . .’’ThefullmessageEtacarinaesawwas‘‘Ifyoucanreadthis,

you’re standing too close.’’Otherdecodablebinarymessages included: ‘‘Tell

yourfriendstoplayWoW.’’‘‘Kissme,I’mgnomish!’’‘‘Help!I’mtrappedina

binarypunchcardfactory!’’WhenEtacarinaetooktheultimate,prismaticcard

to Castpipe, he thanked her profusely and exclaimed, ‘‘Vitally, critically,

immeasurablyimportantdatathatwecouldnotliveanothermomentwithout!’’

Infact,thelastmessagesaid,‘‘Yourlaundry’sreadyforpickup.’’

Several areas and quests go beyond history to natural history and

paleontology. InUn’GoroCrater there are sailed reptiles calledDiemetradon,

similar toDimetrodonexcepthaving twosails rather thanoneon theirbacks,

and boasting six legs. There is also a Tyrant Devilsaur, reminiscent of

tyrannosaurs.Whelgar’sexcavationsiteintheWetlandsisinfestedbyraptors,

and thus reminiscent of two science fantasies of the late twentieth century,

JurassicParkandIndianaJones.21BeforeJurassicPark,theMichaelCrichton

novel and blockbuster movie, the word raptor was not commonly used. In

Latin,thewordmeans‘‘plunderer,’’andinEnglishitmeant‘‘birdofprey.’’But

JurassicPark popularized the velociraptor, the ‘‘swift thief’’ dinosaurwhose

name combines velocity with plundering. Indeed, it looks something like a

runningbirdofprey,anddinosaursarebelievedtoberelativesoftoday’sbirds.

Raptors are widely dispersed inWorld ofWarcraft, for example, living also

acrosstheseaintheBarrensanddownsouthinStranglethornVale.

AversionofIndianaJonescanbefoundincatacombsunderaTrolltemple

complex,theDrakil’jinRuinsinGrizzlyHills,Northrend,lockedinacageand

scheduled for ritual sacrifice. His name, Harrison

Jones, is of course a

combination of the fictional character’s name and that of Harrison Ford, the

actor who played him in the movies. The player’s character enters the

catacombswhileonaquestcalledItTakesGuts,whichrequirescollectingfive

Canopic jars, the containers formummifiedHuman entrails found in ancient

Egyptiantombs.ThisremindsusthatIndianaJonesbehavesmorelikeatomb

robberthanascientificarchaeologist,and‘‘guts’’referstointestinesratherthan

to courage. Each time a Canopic jar is looted, the spirit of a Troll attacks,

complaining in a Caribbean accent, ‘‘Why ya wanna mess wit me innards,

mon?’’AquestcalledDun-da-Dun-tah!—arenditionofthemusicalthemefrom

the Indiana Jones movies—helps Jones escape from the cage, rescue a fair

maiden, and battle a huge serpent. When he sees this gigantic reptile, he

exclaims,‘‘Aww,notasnake!’’Inthemovies,Joneshadaseveresnakephobia.

HarrisonJonesevenlookslike‘‘Indy,’’competewithhistrademarkfedora(see

figure2.4).

Figure2.4

HarrisonJones(whosenameisacombinationofthoseoftheactorHarrisonFordandacharacterhe

played,IndianaJones),facinghismostdreadedenemy,ahugesnake.

Widespreadbutunconfirmedspeculationsaysthatoneofthereal-lifemodels

forIndianaJoneswasthepaleontologistRoyChapmanAndrews,whoobtained

greatpublicityforhuntingdinosaursintheGobidesertofChinainthe1920s.22

The character in themovies took on various assignments to track down lost

artifactswithmagicalpowers,acommonkindofquest inWoW.Someof the

quests involve seeking information from the past thatmight explainwhy the

worldisexperiencingsuchchaos.Whelgarhimselfseeksfourfragmentsofan

ancienttablet,butistooafraidoftheraptorstokeeplooking.Asheexplains,

‘‘Thetextspeaksofa‘divineplan’anda‘doomedprophecy.’’’

TheMysteryofTime

Allquests inWoWinvolvegoal-directedactionover time,butmanyconcern

thedistantpast,andafewevenseektochangehistory.Historyisabouttime.

Of all the mysteries of life, time is the most mysterious. For example, the

mysteryofindividualidentityseemstobedependentinsomewayupontime.

The ancientGreekphilosopherHeracleitus raised this issuewhenhe saidwe

cannotstepintothesamerivertwice.AlfredKorzybski,thetwentieth-century

philosopherwhofounded theGeneralSemanticsmovement,expressed this in

thenon-AristotelianaxiomthatAdoesnotequalA.23Thiswasarhetoricalway

of saying that the identity of a thing is purely conceptual, because the real

worldisconstantlychanging,evenovershortspansof time.Nothingremains

the same, sonothing is really itself.Wecannot step into the same river even

once.

Oneof the greatest science fiction novels,TheWorldofA¯, byA.E.Van

Vogt, imagines a future society based on principles of General Semantics.24

Thefundamentalaxiomofthisschoolofthoughtisthatourlanguagedeceives

usaboutrealityasmuchasitmakesitpossibleforustothinkaboutreality.A

shortdistanceintothebook,theheroiskilled.Thenwhat?Theheroreappears,

ascharactersdoafterdeathinWorldofWarcraft,andtheadventurecontinues.

There may be several copies of the hero, taking turns in living his life.

Interestingly, the hero’s name is Gosseyn—‘‘go sane,’’ the opposite of ‘‘go

crazy’’—implying that somehow the hero’s apparently bizarre experience of

lifeisactuallynatural.

People die, empires fall, and whole solar systems are engulfed by black

holes. And yet, the physicists tell us that matter and energy can neither be

destroyed nor created, but only reconfigured from one form to another.

Consideraboltof lightning. It flashes inan instant,yeteverysingleelectron

inside ithasexistedsince theverybeginningof theuniverse.Thekey to this

paradox is the fact that every electron is indistinguishable from every other.

They differ only in their relations to one another, notablywhere they are in

spaceandhowtheirpositionischangingovertime.Whatdiesattheendofa

flashoflightningorahumanlifeisastructureofelectronsandprotons,notthe

electronsandprotonsthemselves.Foracentury,biologistsandmedicaldoctors

havephilosophizedthatdeathisthepricewepayforcomplexity,becauseevery

single-celledcreaturealive today,everyparameciumandbacterium,has lived

forabillionyears.25Thesimplest thingsareeternal,whereascomplexthings,

likeourselves,areephemeral.

PhenomenologistAlfredSchützarguedthathumansconceptualizethefuture

asakindofpast,imaginingfutureeventsasiftheyhadalreadyhappened.26He

also suggested that humans may experience multiple realities, largely

distinguished from one another in terms of how we experience the flow of

time.27Thus,itispossibletosaythatthemysteryoftimeismerelyasubsetof

themysteryofconsciousness.Recently,philosophers,cognitivescientists,and

leaders in the field of artificial intelligence—such as Daniel Dennett, Paul

Bloom,andMarvinMinsky—havesuggested that thevery idea thatahuman

has a unified consciousness may be false.28 Our brains are complex

assemblagesofsomewhatautonomousparts,andwearenotawareofhowthey

functionbecausetherewasnoevolutionaryadvantagetobegainedbyhaving

such an awareness. To the extent thatwe are conscious at all, it is a chaotic

swirl of impulses and reactions, not very far advanced over the ‘‘blooming,

buzzingconfusion’’ thatphilosopherandpsychologistWilliamJames thought

describedaninfant’sconsciousness.

Attheextreme,timecouldbenothingbutthehumanwayofarrangingour

memories.However,ifyouthinkbackonepisodesfromyourpastlife,Ibelieve

youwillfindthatyourememberpeople,objects,andlocationsfarclearerthan

the exact time when they occurred. Once, when I was a small boy, I was

digging in thedirtbehindourhouse,andIdiscovereda toyplasticcar. Ihad

never seen itbefore, so itmusthavebeen lostbyprevious inhabitantsofour

home. As an adult, I know that the house was built in 1743—yes, a real

antique!IknowIwasbornin1940,andthiswasmyfirsthome,sothetoywas

lostbyanotherchildnolaterthanthe1930s.Itwasmadeofplastic,somyadult

mindtellsmeitmusthavedatedfromthetwentiethcentury.WhenIdugthecar

up,Iwassurprisedbythekindofplastic,becauseitwasbrownishwithswirls

offaintcolor,whichIcametobelievewasanold-fashionedkindofplastic.In

mymemoryoftheepisode,Iamwearingshortpantsandashirt,andthesunis

warm,soitmusthavebeensummertime.Ineitherrecallnorcandeducewhich

year itwas, although it could not have been later than the summer of 1949,

becausewemovedawayafewmonthsafterthat.However,Iknowthelocation

in space to an accuracy of perhaps one or two yards, because I recall Iwas

facing the kitchen extension of the house,with the living room tomy right.

Unlikedocumentssavedonacomputer,mymemory lacksa timestamp,and

onlyourmostrecentshort-termmemoriesmayreallyhaveadirectconnection

toourperceptionoftime.

Episodicmemoriesarelittlestoriesthattellwho,what,where,andonlyby

implication when. They are narratives that can be communicated from one

person to another.29 Indeed, the human mind functions largely in terms of

narratives,inwhichaprotagonist(suchasyourself)seekstoachieveagoalthat

requiresovercomingchallenges,oftenwith theaidofotherpeople.Thus,

the

quests in World of Warcraft are models of human action. Among the great

frustrationsoflifeareincompletelinesofaction,likequeststhatremaininthe

WoW quest log week in and week out, without being completed. My

grandfather lived his early teenage years during the early 1880s in a cottage

highonaRhodeIslandhill,overlooking thesea.His familymovedaway,he

completed medical school, the years passed, and finally in 1911, he was

engagedtobemarriedandbroughthisbridebacktothecottageonavoyageof

nostalgia.Askinghertowaitforamoment,heranintothebarnandretrieveda

toyhehadlefttheredecadesbefore.Allthosemanyyears,thedesiretoretrieve

that toy had festered in his own personal quest log, and nowhewas able to

completeit.

CitizenKane, amovie fictionalizing the life of newspaper tycoonWilliam

Randolph Hearst, tells the story of Kane’s life from the perspective of a

journalist trying tounderstandhis lastword, spokenat themomentofdeath:

‘‘Rosebud.’’Thejournalistneverlearnswhattheaudienceseesinthefilm’slast

frames,thatRosebudwasthemostmeaningfulobjectintheprotagonist’searly

life,asledthatrepresentedhislostyouth.Theseoldstoriesarereminiscentofa

WoWquestseriesinwhichCatullusretrievedthepaintingofTirionFordring’s

belovedfamily,whichledtoTirion’sreunionwithhisson,butonlyamoment

afterhissonhadbeenkilled.Tirion’staleofdamnationandredemptionistold

hereinchapter8.

While a good case can be made for the claims that time is a function of

consciousness, and that consciousness is fragmentary, there exist competing

conceptions of time based in classical physics and contemporary information

science.WhenH.G.Wellswrotehis tremendously influential science fiction

novel The Time Machine, in 1895, time was conceptualized as the fourth

dimension.30Today,cosmologicalstringtheoristssuggesttheremightbeeleven

dimensions, notmerely four, themajority of them far stranger than the three

that defineourperceptionof space.But if time is the fourthdimension,why

can’tyousimplytravelalongit?Thisraisesacontradiction:Whenyoutravel

alonga spatialdimension,youconsume time todo it.Whatdoyouconsume

whenyoutravelthroughtime?

Inspired by seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes, classical

physics was in the habit of graphing any measurable quality in terms of a

dimension, whether or not it really involved a direction in space. Graph the

height of a hundred people against their weight, and you have a two-

dimensionalgraph,inwhichone(height)isoneofthethreespatialdimensions,

and the other (weight) represents the nonspatial dimension ofmass. I like to

joke that we social scientists are richer than the physicists because we have

hundredsofdimensions.

As I mentioned earlier, the main section of my 1978 science fiction

questionnaire consisted of 125 items, each ofwhich asked the respondent to

rate how much he or she liked a particular author on a seven-point scale.

Mathematically,eachofthesescalescanbetreatedasaseparatedimension.For

example,Icouldgraphthe595respondentsintermsofhowmuchtheylikedH.

G.WellsversushowmuchtheylikedJulesVerne.Indeed,thereturnsouttobe

astrongcorrelationbetweenthesetworatings;peoplewholikeWellstendalso

tolikeVerne.So,theauthorpreferencedatagavemefully125dimensions,one

foreachauthor,althoughsomeofthemwere‘‘leaning’’towardeachotherand

thus might be combined. Factor analysis is a method for finding a smaller

numberofdimensionsinwhichthedatacanbegraphedwhileminimizingthe

error.

Mybestfactoranalysisgaveexactlyfourdimensions.Thefirstwasthekind

ofsciencefictionoftencalledhardscience,storiesbasedsolidlyonrealphysics

or other hard sciences, with an emphasis on logic and plausibility, usually

rather optimistic about the ability of technology tomake a better future.The

seconddimensionwaswhatwascalledtheNewWaveatthetime,fictioncloser

tothehumanitiesandsocialsciences,concernedwithpsychologicalconflictsor

literary style, and ratherpessimistic about the futureof technology.The third

dimension was the fantasy cluster, a set of related genres—like

action/adventure, swordand sorcery, andhorror andweird—thatbelieved the

worldwasawashinmagicalforcesandthatsawhopeintheheroicactionsof

individuals rather than in scientific and technological progress. This is the

genreofWorldofWarcraft,butnoteitisadimensionofsciencefictionrather

thanbeingcompletelyunrelatedtoscienceandtechnology.Weseemoreofthis

connectioninchapter3.Thefourthdimensionofsciencefiction,appropriately

enough, turnedout tobe time. Itwas anchoredbyclassicalwriters like Jules

VerneandH.G.Wells.

TwofeaturesofWells’sclassicTheTimeMachinedeserve tobementioned

here.First,thetimetravelerisprimarilyanobserver.Thereisnoevidencethat

his actions taken a few hundred thousand years in the future influence the

worldhe findsa fewmillionyears later,and,except for returning tohisown

time, he does not enter the past. Second, the human society he finds in the

future is fractured into two classes or species.TheEloi,who seem to be the

descendants of the upper classes from our society, are beautiful but stupid,

indolent and passive, whereas the cannibalistic Morlocks maintain the

machines that sustain the society and are presumably descendants of the

working class. The novel, therefore, has elements of sociopolitical allegory,

employing themetaphorof time travel to criticize the social arrangementsof

1895. The novel ends with the death of the last living thing on Earth, thus

drivinghomethequestionofwhetherwetodayhavethepowertosteerhistory

inadifferentdirection.

This is where the other conceptualization of time, based on information

science,enterstheequation.Acomputergoesthroughaseriesofcalculations,

startingwithinputandproducingoutput.Supposeitaddssevennumbers:1+2

+3+4+5+6+7.Theresultwillbe28.Canwerunthisprocessinreverse?

Supposewetoldyouthat28wastheresultofasetofmathematicalinstructions

—an algorithm. Given 28, could you tell us what the input was? No, you

cannot. Perhaps the inputwas 4 × 7.Wrong.Nowwe give you a clue: The

inputconsistedofsevendigits.Perhaps,nowyousay,theinputwas4+4+4+

4+4+4+4.Wrongagain.Nowwegiveyouadifferentclue,sayingtheseven

digits were all different from one another. Perhaps, with some measure of

frustration,yousaytheinputwas7+6+5+4+3+2+1.Yes,wesay,but

youhavethedigitsinthewrongorder.Howcanyoupossiblyguesswhatorder

theywerein?

This is a simple exampleof the informaticswayofdistinguishing thepast

fromthefuture.Thepastimpliesauniquefuture,butthefuturedoesnotimply

auniquepast.Sometimesthisisstatedintermsofthetheoryofentropy,which

bridgesbetweeninformationscienceandphysics.31Entropyisameasureofthe

lossofinformationthattakesplaceovertimeintheuniverseasawhole,which

is equivalent to the idea that differences like those in temperature across

differentregionsofthecosmoseventuallyevenout.

While an individualWoWcharactermay progress upward from level 1 to

level80over time,progress for thevirtualworldasawhole isverydifficult.

Whenrunningonecharacter,Ioftenneededtorepeataquestalreadycompleted

byanother.TanyaKrzywinskadescribesthistimelessqualityofWoW:

Complicatingbothlinearchronologyandthesenseofbeingintheworldintemporalterms,

some aspects of the game have a rather complex recursive time structure; you may, for

example,havekilledthedragonOnyxia,butyouwillstillfindheraliveinhumanformas

LadyKatrinaPrestorinStormwindKeepatthesideofthehumanboy-King,andencounter

her repeatedly inmultiple visits. In this sense, thegamedoesnot have a consistent linear

chronology;aswithretellingsofmyths,battlesarefoughtoverandoveragain,andinthis

thereisacyclicalorganizationoftime—akindof‘‘eternalrecurrence,’’touseaphrasefrom

Nietzsche.32

However, the world of WoW does change, notably every Tuesday morning

when server maintenance is carried out, in the frequent upgrades when

parametersaretweakedandanewinstancemaybeadded,oratthetwomajor

expansions: The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. A visit to

StormwindKeeponDecember21,2008,revealedthatyoungAndruinWrynn

wasno longerking,butaprince,andhestoodbesidehis father,KingVarian

Wrynn,notLadyKatrinaPrestor.Theonlyothernamedcharacterinthethrone

roomwasEmissaryTaluunfromtheExodar,whojoinedtheallianceatthetime

oftheBurningCrusadeexpansioninearly2007.KingVarianWrynnhadbeen

missingforyears,untilhewashedupontheDurotarshoreinlate2008,justin

time to play a key role in the defense of Stormwind when the Lich King

attacked. He had been a victim of amnesia, a catastrophic loss of memory

comparabletoerasureofacomputer’sharddisk,buthewaseventuallyableto

recollectthislostinformation.33

On the evening of Monday, November 10, 2008, after weeks of probing

raids, the LichKing’s forces attacked both Stormwind andOrgrimmar—and

naturally,Ihadcharactersinplacetoobservebothbattles!KingVarianledthe

spiriteddefenseofStormwindfromtheexpansiveharbor,whichhadnotbeen

accessible before that time, whereas the Horde leader, Thrall, suffered a

measure of disgrace and played only a secondary role inwhat followed.On

November 13, invasion ships began leaving Stormwind to attack the Lich

King’sbasesonthepreviouslyinaccessibleNorthrendcontinent,andzeppelins

beganfloodingfromOrgrimmartodothesame.Oneofmylevel-70characters

joinednearlyahundredothermembersofhisguildinassaultingNorthrendasa

spearhead battalion. Thus, historical shifts can happen inWorld ofWarcraft,

despitethetechnicaldifficultiestheycanposeforagame-worldthatconstantly

welcomesnewplayers,andthatcannotpossiblychangeinresponsetoalltheir

individualactions.

Atthebeginningof2006,WoWaddedthefirstofaseriesofworldevents,

episodesthatrequiregreateffortfromplayersbutleadtoasubstantialchange

intheworld.ThiswastheopeningoftheGatesofAhn’Qirajinthehigh-level

Silithus zone, which was accomplished separately on each realm (server)

through extensive quests and attacks against the insect Silithids.34 Another

exampleistheadditionoftheQuel’DanasSunwellIslebetweenthetwomajor

expansions,onwhich theShatteredSunOffensive slowlymade realprogress

againstthelegionsofKael’thas.Morerecently,severallocal-itiesinNorthrend

aredesigned to change as the result of just one individual player’s actions—

although other players will not see the changes until they themselves have

made themhappen.For example,when firstvisited, theShadowVault in the

top-level Icecrown zone is held by the Scourge, but completing a series of

questscapturesitfortheinvasionforce.

Informationtechnologyhasawayofsurprisingus,justwhenwethoughtwe

hadeverythingfiguredout.Theprincipleofentropymayapplytotheuniverse

as a whole, but it need not apply to small parts. Indeed, inside a computer,

travel backward in time may really be possible. If you back up your data

periodically,youcan‘‘backup’’ in timebymeansofreboot,reset,orrestore.

You cannot save the current state of the universe because you would need

memory storage larger than the universe to contain the information. But in

principleyoucouldpreserve,rewind,andreliveWorldofWarcraft.

TimeTravelQuests

Time travel appears at several points in World of Warcraft. Notably, the

Plaguelandswereaffectedbydislocationsintime.WhenMaxrohnenteredthe

innattheruinsofAndorhal,hefounditinaconditionasdecayedastherestof

the town, except forone roomupstairs thatwasuntouchedby the ravagesof

time.There,hemetChromie,who looked likeacute little femalegnomebut

wasactuallyadragonindisguise,amemberofthebronzedragonflightledby

Nozdormu,theAspectofTime.ShegavehimquestssuchasAMatterofTime

that required luring fifteen temporal parasites through a temporal rift, and

destroyingthem.Sometimes,toomanyofthesehuge,pinkslugswouldattack

him,andwhenhetried torunawaytheyslowedhis timeframetoreducehis

chancesofescape.Anotherofherquests,CountingOutTime,requiredfinding

fivewatches in theruins,all frozenat3o’clock, reminiscentof theclocksof

Hiroshima,thatceasedcountingtimeattheinstantahundredthousandpeople

died. Eventually, Chromie explains, the watches Maxrohn gave her will

naturallyreturnthroughtimedislocationstothepointintimeandspacewhere

hefoundthem.

Toveryadvancedcharacters, around levels72and80,Chromieoffers two

connected Northrend quests, Mystery of the Infinite and Mystery of the

Infinite,Redux.Theybringtogethertwoversionsoftheplayer’scharacterfrom

differentpointsintimetohelpeachotherpenetrateatimestormandlearnthe

identity of the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, who maliciously seeks to

alter time. The Hourglass of Eternity seems to indicate that it is Nozdormu

himself, but Chromie dismisses this heretical idea immediately, failing to

realize thatonlyhecouldbothknow thenatureofhisown futuredoom,and

strivetochangethepasttoavertit.

Partlyoutofnostalgiaformanylostopportunitiesinthepast,andpartlyto

connect his personal transformation to the broader flow of time, Maxrohn

arranged to reach level 60 in Chromie’s room. Prior to the January 2007

expansion, level 60 was the maximum possible, so it was an important

benchmark.IntheruinsofAndorhal,neartheinn,hedestroyedseveralUndead

minions of theScourge, until hewas very close to leveling.Thenhe lured a

soulless ghoul into Chromie’s room and destroyed it before her very eyes,

beginningwithablastofholyfire.

Chromie implied that those who sought to travel through time to change

historyweremistaken:‘‘Whilethepastissetinitsways,thefutureisalways

changing. The decisions you make in the here and now help guide that

change.’’ However, in another of her quests, the possibility arises that it is

possibletochangethepastbyinfluencingthefuture’sinterpretationofearlier

events.PerhapsthesaddestencounterofMaxrohn’sadventuringwaswhenhe

foundPamelaRedpath,theghostofalittlegirl,lurkingintheblastedruinsof

herhome.Atherrequest,Maxrohnfoundthescatteredremnantsofherdolland

returned it toher.ThenshesenthiminsearchofherauntMarleneanduncle

Carlin,eachofwhominitiatedaquestseries;theseriesintertwinedinthehope

ofsavingPamela’sfather,Joseph

Redpath,notfromdeath,becauseitistoolate

forthat,butfromcorruptionanddishonorintheBattleofDarrowshire.

AtMarlene’scommand,MaxrohntooktheweddingringofJosephRedpath

to Chromie, who tells him to retrieve the Annals of Darrowshire, which

contains the storyof thebattle.Chromieuses hermagic to addpages to this

book, thereby rewriting history.When Carlin reads these pages, he requires

proof,soMaxrohnmustundertakeotherqueststofindphysicalevidenceinthe

formofrelics.Eventually,hetakesthemtoChromie,whosaysthatifheplaces

therelicsinthetownsquareofruinedDarrowshire,thebattlewillberefought,

leadingtoJosephRedpath’shonorabledeath.Maxrohnfinishedallthesequests

alone, except the last one, which requires five players. After several failed

attemptstoorganizeagroupfortheBattleofDarrowshire,hegaveup,keeping

thequestunattendedinhisquestlogforseveralmonths.

MaxrohnreturnedtothePlaguelandsat level70foronelast try.Heplaced

the relics, stoodback, andprepared to call uponall hishundredsofhoursof

experience to complete this groupquest alone.Gradually, thewarriors of the

battle appeared, including Joseph Redpath, but theywere translucent ghosts,

ratherthanthesolidbodiesonemightexpectfromphysicaltimetravel.Several

timesMaxrohn faltered,buthepreservedRedpathpast thepoint atwhichhe

would have been corrupted, and began to lose onlywhen hewas facing the

finalenemy.Atthelastinstantbeforedefeat,alevel-56femaleDraeneimage

namedSkyanceappearedonthescenequitebyaccidentandassistedMaxrohn,

apparentlyoutofthegoodnessofherheart.Afewmomentslater,hewasable

totellPamelathatherfatherhadbeensaved.Historyhadbeenchanged,ifnot

time. Pamela’s fatherwas still dead, as Pamela herselfwas, but now he had

diedhonorably.

ForCatullus, themost impressive time-travel experience inWoWwas the

rescueofThrall in theCavernsofTimeinstance. Intruders,whoappear tobe

dragons of unknown origin, are trying to change the course of history by

reachingbacksevenyearstothemomentwhenThrallescapedfromDurnholde

Keep, with the help of Taretha. They have kidnapped Taretha, thereby

preventing her from playing her assigned role in history. If Thrall cannot

escape,mostOrcswillremaininHumancaptivity,themodernHordecannotbe

created,andallmajorhistoricaleventswillturnoutdifferently.Becausehewas

amember of theHorde, Catullus naturally has no doubt that Thrallmust be

liberated, so he and four companions enter the Caverns of Time, travel

backwardsevenyears,andenterDurnholdeKeep indisguise.Withdifficulty,

they liberate Thrall and escort him out of the fortress, killingmany enemies

along theway.Rather than rush off to free his fellowOrcs, however, Thrall

ridestoTarrenMillinsearchofTaretha,seekingherinthechurchbutfinding

her captive in the inn. Terrible struggles with her captors eventually free

Taretha,who greetsThrallwith respect and fondness.Once history has been

restored, tragicallyTarethaandThrall loseallmemoryof theevents,andshe

mustreturntoDurnholdeKeeptosufferbeheading.

The mutability of computer time was illustrated by the fact that Catullus

neededtodothisinstancetwice.Thefirsttimewasfullysuccessfulforhimand

three of his companions, but onemember of the group had failed to get the

escort quest from Thrall, and thus did not get credit for the success.

Disappointed,thispersonaskedCatullustohelphertryagain,sotheyrecruited

threeotherpeopleandrepeatedtheeffort,thistimequitefamiliarwithwhatto

dobut thoroughlyexhausted.Thecomputer term instance isused todescribe

thecaverns,becauseseveralcopiesmayexistsimultaneouslyinasinglerealm,

with different teams at different points during this roughly two-hour activity.

Instances,therefore,representseparatetimelines,inwhichsomewhatdifferent

eventsunfold.

I personally found theCaverns ofTime remarkably impressive.The scene

represents about half of one of the most familiar WoW zones, Hillsbrad

Foothills, surroundedby impenetrablemists.Because the time is sevenyears

ago,buildings that I hadcome toknowas ruinswere inmint condition.The

HordetownofTarrenMillisdilapidatedtoday,butwaspristinethen.Disguised

as a Human, Catullus was able to visit the Alliance town of Southshore,

attendingameetingattheinnwherehemetTirionFordringbeforehisdisgrace

andexile,andoverheardthelocalelitediscussweaponsthatmightbeusedin

thecomingwars.Now,ofcourse,thosewarsareover,andtheirimmensecost

inlivescannolongerbeprevented.Thesubjectiveexperienceoftravelingback

in time and seeing earlier days in a well-known place was thoroughly

exhilarating.

The most time-consuming example of time travel is not a quest series or

instancebuttheTheWaroftheAncientstrilogyofWoWnovelsbyRichardA.

Knaak.35Tenthousandyearsago,theunifiedElvencivilizationruledasingle

continent in a vast sea. Queen Azshara and her Highborne elite were not

contenttodrawspiritualenergyfromtheWellofEternitybutfoolishlysought

morepowerbymagically assisting a fallenTitannamedSargeras in entering

the world, accompanied by his Burning Legion. Opposing them were three

heroes of WoW legend: Malfurion Stormrage, his brother Illidan, and the

women they both loved, Tyrande Whisperwind. Because Elves do not age

perceptibly,shestilllivestodayintheTempleoftheMoonintheNightElfcity

Darnassus.

The novel sends three minor characters from the present back in time—

Krasus, Rhonin, and Broxigar—to assistMalfurion in defeating the Burning

Legion,butatthecostofacataclysmthatsplitthecontinentapart.Itissaidthat

North America is drifting away from Europe at roughly the speed that a

person’s fingernails grow, due to the continental drift on Earth discovered a

centuryagobyAlfredWegener,36but theseparationof the landon theWoW

planet caused vast sundering of land and peoples in a matter of hours. The

visibleremnanttodayoftheareaaroundtheruinedWellofEternityisthehuge

BayofStormsinthezonenamedafterAzshara,butaswirlingmaelstrominthe

centeroftheoceanbetweenthecontinentalfragmentsprovesthattheforcesof

thewellhavenotdissipatedevenaftertenmillennia.

Historicaleventsdescribedinthetrilogyofnovelsarenotidenticaltothose

given in otherWoW sources, notably the actions of the three time travelers.

There are three plausible explanations. First, the books are historical novels,

andaconventionof that literarygenre is to tell thestoryofhistorical figures

from the perspective of secondary characters who cannot be found in the

historical record. That allows the author to give these characters adventures

beyondthoseexperiencedbytherealhistoricalfigures.

Second, the novels may supersede earlier sources in the process that the

creatorsofserialfictioncallretcon—retroactivecontinuity—thereplacementof

earlierassumptionsbylaterones,inordertoproducethemostappealingrecent

episodes. A famous example of retcon was when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

broughtSherlockHolmesback from thedead,becausehis readersdemanded

morestories.RobertJ.Sawer’sremarkableshortstory‘‘YouSeeButYouDo

NotObserve’’ suggests thatDoyle’smanipulation of fictional events actually

the Red Messenger, showing where they had infiltrated our

territorywithagents.Arrenorderedme to leaveDeathknelland take themap

swiftly to Executor Zygand, in Brill, our main Tirisfal settlement. Here I

learned more about the huge conflict in which we Undead found ourselves,

huntedastraitorsbytheforcesoftheLichKing,andinvadedbyHumans,who

resentedthatwehadseizedTirisfalfromthemjustafewyearsbefore.

Repeatedly, I encountered the religious fanatics of the Scarlet Crusade.

Sometimes,aswefought, theywouldshoutatme,butIcouldnotunderstand

theirwords.Onfouroccasions,Ihadthepresenceofmindtowritedownwhat

theysaid:‘‘BurwirshraswirshvarasfaergasSturumekomajisraslandowar

skilde.’’‘‘RasVassildLithtoseynesmajisrasvaleshashgardenothdananovas

eynes.’’‘‘RasgardehamerungnudnudvaleshnothHirburdanabor.’’‘‘Ergin

lo ti danieb nud bur Ras Lithtos eynes vassild nud nud wirsh ras firalaine

wirsh.’’At first, I thought theymightbespeakingSwedish,orsomenorthern

Indo-Europeantongue.Butnow,Iamnotsosure.ItperplexesmethatIcannot

speakwiththeHumans,eventhoughImyselfseemtobethereincarnationof

oneof them.At the time,ageneral truceexistedbetweenourpeopleand the

Humans, but rogue groups like theScarletCrusade refused to recognize it. I

wondered what drove them to annihilate us, and wished I could speak with

themaboutthegrowingtragedyweshared.

InsomeofmyTirisfalassignments,IassistedApothecaryJohann,whowas

tryingtodevelopnewbiologicalweaponstouseagainstourenemies.Ilearned

that the original Plague of Undeath had been used by the Lich King in his

invasionofHuman territory,and Iguessedmyownmetamorphosishadbeen

causedbyit.HavingdeclaredindependencefromtheLichKing’sScourge,we

Forsakenneededourownbioweapontechnology,bothtocounterattackagainst

theScourgeandperhapstodefendourselves if theHumansattackedinforce.

Johannhadmecollect thebloodofdarkhounds,vilemurlocscales,andnight

web spider venom. Once he had brewed his new plague, we tested it on a

capturedDwarf.

ThescopeofmylaborsexpandedagainwhenMagistrateSevrensentmeto

BethorIceshard,ahigh-rankingmageinUndercity,thecapitaloftheForsaken

Undead, hidden beneath the ruins of Lordaeron. I understand thatLordaeron

meanssomethinglike‘‘thelandofthepeacefulpeople,’’or‘‘theplaceofpeace

for people,’’ combining three words from three different languages. But the

ScourgekilledthepeopleintheThirdWar,andwebuiltourmetropolisinthe

sewers beneath it. The access elevators, ironically enough, operate from the

cryptofKingTerenasMenethilII,whohadledtheAllianceagainsttheHorde

intheSecondWar.AsIsteppedhesitantlyintotheelevator,onmyfirstjourney

to theUndercity, Iwas filledwith trepidation, butwas curious to learnmore

about my place as a priest of the Forsaken, a member of the Horde, and a

citizenofavastanddisintegratingworld.

TheGame

Incognita is a character in World of Warcraft (WoW), the most popular

massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), created by

BlizzardEntertainment.ByDecember2008,WoWhadelevenmillionplayers

inNorthAmerica,Europe,andAsia.Itisafantasygame,becauseitconcerns

an imaginary world where magic exists and historical events have taken a

unique course. In this, for example, it is different from realistic online battle

games set in WorldWar II or some comparable historical context. WoW is

similarinmanyrespectstoEverQuest,Sony’sfantasyMMORPG.Indeed,itis

solidlyrootedinarichtraditionoffantasystoriesandgames,distinctivechiefly

for its quality and massive size. Thus, WoW cannot be said to be terribly

innovative,butfromthesocial-scientificpointofview,thisisagoodthing.

WorldofWarcraftnotonlyrepresentsbutalsoincludeswithinitselfagreat

culture,onthesurfaceasmodernastheInternetitself,butreachingdowntothe

very origins ofEuropean civilization. It is so complex, and offers players so

muchscopeforaction,thatittranscendsthegamecategorytobecomeavirtual

world.AstheeditorsofaspecialWoWissueofthejournalGamesandCulture

write, ‘‘TheWorld ofWarcraft is a complex world indeed, an extraordinary

mixtureofartanddesign,technologies,economics,thesocialandthecultural.

It is a game, a virtual world, and an online community.’’1 As such, it is a

laboratorywherethesocialandbehavioralsciencescanthriveandcontributeto

information science and technology by supporting innovations in human-

centeredcomputing.

Note the themes in Incognita’s brief narrative. She is lost and seeking to

discoverwho she is andwhat shemust dowithin amysterious environment.

Somewouldsaythisisthefundamentalhumancondition,merelyexaggerated

inhercase.Shelacksunderstandingandskills,soshemustlearn.Shewilldo

so in a world gripped by conflict, where the group she belongs to seeks to

defineheridentityintermsofcompetitionagainstothergroups.Heridentityis

alsodefinedbyreligion,asamemberofonesectinconflictwithanother.She

struggles to think social-scientifically about her environment, and this brief

narrative highlights linguistics, because language is both a marker of group

boundaries and a barrier to communication. She also reasons historically,

laboringtounderstandthepresentasaconsequenceofpastevents.Technology

iscrucially important, in thiscase,biotechnologydevotedto thedevelopment

ofweaponsofmassdestruction.Thevignetteendsassheisabout toenteran

undergroundcitycreatedbyherfactionintheruinsofadefeatedcivilization,

symbolizing both the possibility of rebirth and the ever-present danger of

annihilation.This isanallegoryof the realworld inwhichwe findourselves

today.

WorldofWarcraft isusuallycalledagame,but thiswordhasmultipleand

ambiguousmeanings.An example is the classic 1924 short story ‘‘TheMost

DangerousGame,’’ byRichardConnell,whichhas been adaptedmany times

formovies,radiodrama,andtelevision.2Abig-gamehunter,SangerRainsford,

washes ashore on a remote island ruled byGeneral Zaroff, who also has an

addictiontohunting.Zaroffconfessesthathehadbecomeboredwithhunting

theordinary andnotvery intelligent animals such as capebuffalo and tigers,

and wanted a prey he could match wits with. So he set up the island as a

huntingpreserveforhumans,wherehechasedandkilledlostsailorsluredthere

byfalsenavigationbeacons.RainsfordbecomesZaroff’slatestprey:thehunter

becomesthehunted.OnlybyoutwittingZaroffcanRainsfordavoidbecoming

anotherstuffedheadon the trophywall.Thus, thewordgame in the titlehas

twomeanings:thepreyinahunt,andtheplayinastrategycontest.

In terms of sales over the years, The Sims is the most popular computer

game, and yet by many definitions it is not a game at all. I feel a special

connectiontotheSims,notonlybecausemymiddlenameliterallyisSims,or

becausepeoplemistakenly think ‘‘Sims’’ is a computermoniker I adopted to

expressmy interest in virtualworlds.Rather, I am interested because I have

programmedartificial intelligence computer simulationsofhuman interaction

foraquartercentury,andmydaughtersusedtobeavidplayersofTheSims.It

simulatestheeverydayactivitiesofvirtualpeople,called‘‘Sims,’’ incomplex

but

upset the entire real universe, preventing humans from discovering

extraterrestrials.37

Third, the presence of the time travelers may have changed history, for

example, making possible the victory of the Burning Legion, which they

themselvesmust thenprevent.Oneof the timetravelers, theElfmagenamed

Krasus—whoalsowasatransmuteddragon—becamedisoriented:‘‘Themage

no longer knew what was a part of the original history and what had been

alteredbyhisinterference.’’38Thismaybehowalltimetravelparadoxesend,

orindeed,allmeditationsaboutthemeaningoftime,withtheconfoundingof

fantasyandreality.

WhenCatullus first entered theCaverns of Time, theCustodian told him,

‘‘Thereareonlytwotruthstobefoundhere:First,thattimeischaotic,always

in flux, and completely malleable[,] and second, perception does not dictate

reality.’’ItisterrifyingtothinkthattheCustodianmaybecorrect.Perhapsthe

universe really is a manifold of possibilities, a Twisting Nether, in which a

chainofrandomeventsgavebirthentirelybychancetointelligentbeingswho

wrongly imagine there is somethingprofoundlymeaningful about their lives.

Wearethechildrenofchaos.Thefactthateverythingisinfluxdoesnotgiveus

thepower to create the futuremerelyby imagining it. Indeed, even themost

vigorous,concertedactionmaybeincapableofmasteringthechaos.

Epilogue:DeclineoftheTrolls

When Papadoc, the Troll priest, first visited the Echo Isles off the southeast

coastofDurotar,hewasdeeplysaddenedbywhathesaw.Theterrainitselfwas

beautiful,dottedwithpalmtrees,aroundwhichtropicalbirdscircled,andeven

thelocaltigersaddedtheirbrownandorangecolorstothescene.Hissadness

camefrombeholding theancient ruins that spreadacross the islands,and the

primitive huts of the barbaric Trolls who inhabit this site of their ancestors’

formerglory.Theravagesoftimehavescatteredthestones,whichwereincised

with hieroglyphs that noone can read today, but here and there an archor a

wallstillstands.Acolossalheadstaresouttosea,oneredeyesuggestingthat

the sculptures may have been brightly painted originally. Stylized malachite

statues of tigers imply that nature may not have changed much, despite the

decline of theTroll civilization.Themodern huts aremadeof tree branches,

raisedabove theground towardoffbugsandrats. Insteadof rebuilding their

ancient town and temple, the lazy inhabitants toy with Voodoo and allow

themselvestobehexedbytheirwitchdoctorchief.Perhapsitwouldbeeasier

totravelbackintimeandpreventthefallofTrollcivilizationthantoconvince

itsprimitivedescendantstobecomecivilized.

3Religion

IamLunetteoftheNightElves,priestesstotheMoongoddess,Elune.Having

reachedthetwentiethlevel,graduatedfromthestartingzonesofmyrace,and

undertakenagreatadventure,Itakethisopportunitytoreflectuponthemany

spiritualblessingsIhavereceivedthroughmyservicetoElune.

While Iamtolerantof theotherpeoplesof theworld, Ipity themfor their

ignorance of Elune. She is, in fact, the only deity, as the other faiths openly

admitthroughthefactthattheycannotnamealivinggod,nordotheyworship

one. To be sure, the primitive Tauren revere their Earth Mother, but she is

merelythesuperstitiouspersonificationoftheEarth’secology,andnotafully

The Warcraft civilization social science in a virtual world ( PDFDrive ) - Teoria da Comunicação (2025)