World of Warcraft by Daniel Lisi, a Boss Fight Books Review
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World of Warcraft has had a huge impact on gaming culture. In this book Daniel Lisi talks about his journey through Azeroth, from bonding with his step father while playing the game to the game’s addictive toll it took on him.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when starting this book. I’ve never played World of Warcraft, and honestly I’m not at all interested in it. The game loop of fight, gather loot, spend loot, repeat just doesn’t interest me. I’ve read other boss fight Books about games I haven’t played, and those books do tend to be among my least liked, which begs the question: Is not having played the subject game a disservice to the book? Am I being unfair by judging a book given my lack of context?
Maybe. But Lisi does something great with this book to address readers like me. He spends just 15 pages applying broad strokes to the origins and impacts of the game. A true biography of Blizzard and WoW would be 3x the size of this book, but this book isn’t interested in being the definitive history. Readers familiar with WoW only have to endure 15 pages of scene-setting. Those unfamiliar with the game are given just enough context to make the rest of the book really work.
And the rest of the book is really good. Lisi has a strong history with this game. He was introduced to it by his stepfather, and the two bonded by playing together. Lisi then became quite obsessed with the game, addicted even. He weaves this personal history into the larger social impacts of WoW, including its impacts on marriage rates, divorce rates, and friendships. At times this book feels like a sort of micro-memoir, documenting Lisi’s teenage years but just enough to ensure a narrative thread to keep readers turning pages. Earthbound, Galaga, and to a different but no lesser extent Metal Gear Solid all accomplish this difficult task similarly.
A standout chapter is “Love in the time of BlizzCon” (all the chapters are derivatives of famous book names, which is fun. This one being “Love in the Time of Cholera”). This chapter tells the story of Lisi’s first love interest, a girl named Margot whom he met while playing WoW, and would later meet in person, and eventually would part ways without any pomp or circumstance the way fleeting love often does. It’s a sad but very human story which serves well as the anchor to the overall message of cultural impact that Lisi’s book is primarily interested in conveying.
Of personal interest to me is when Lisi explores how game companies have invested in learning more about player behavior in order to curb some of the negative impacts of online gaming, specifically harassment. Riot, the company behind the incredibly popular League of Legends, created a Player Behavior Team that went on to implement a variety of measures to make online gaming less harmful. Anyone interested in a deep dive into video game player psychology should definitely read Jamie Madigan’s Getting Gamers.
World of Warcraft by Daniel Lisi is highly recommended for anyone interested in a personal story of the impacts of game addiction but also anyone interested in the social impacts of World of Warcraft specifically.
Mentioned
Music Credits
8bit Dungeon Level Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/