Research Paper On World Of Warcraft

World of Warcraft was chosen as the game to have the case study done with.

World of Warcraft was released in 2004 and has since grown to one of the most popular computer games of all time with over 11 million subscribers playing the game (Blizzard). World of Warcraft sets up with a basic beginning, the early objectives of the game consist of passing small quests and slowly working up toward larger quests. This game is an MMORPG. Role-playing games are arguably the most collaborative games online due to the several instances where the player will need to partner with 1, 2, or even 23 other players to do something significant and challenging. This allows for interaction between the different players at all times. In contrast to the popular belief

Purpose

It is stereotyped by many that videogames are only played by kids and teens.

But it is quite obvious that many people who play World of Warcraft are over the age 18, considered adults. The average male that plays World of Warcraft is 28 years old, while the average female who plays World of Warcraft is 32.5 years old age.

Each of these genders play an average of 22.7 hours per week (Yee). In a survey done by the author about sleep and different age groups playing World of Warcraft, two respondents of the 37 were over the age of 40, one of who had a family of kids and wife. People of the generation between 40 and 60 years of age grew up with out the high tech computers, televisions, cell phones and video games that we use today.

According to Time magazine, the first useable computer was invented in 1946. It weighed 30 tons, was the size of two semi trucks (60 meters) and required hundreds of people to run it (Golden). Today, many kids grow up using

In 1962, the first computer game was invented. It was invented by Steve

Russel and colleagues at MIT and was called SpaceWar! computer game (Bellis). In

1975, the first personal computers were made (Knight). Now a day, more than 80 percent of American homes have a computer in them (The Nielson Company).

Children in today’s generation, the Millenial generation, have grown up with computers in their hands while their parents simply did not. According to survey performed by Belinda Clayton in 2003 on children’s use of technology, boys between the ages of 6-8 were spending 69 minutes per week day and 192 minutes per weekend day using technology. Girls in the same age category were spending 69 minutes on weekdays and 132 minutes of weekend days using technology. In the survey, technology was considered computer, television, or Playstation. Boys were spending 47.85% of that time on either a computer or Playstation and girls were spending 39.8% on a computer or Playstation (Clayton 40). While in the generation of parents, those aged 40-60 years old, many did not have a computer or videogames until much later in their lives. While boys and girls today spend an average of 43.83% of their time on a computer or Playstation (Clayton 40),