Fulfilled by the Guild

Before "World of Warcraft" was conceived it was simply "War Craft". It had an online element but for the most part it was a level based game, complete with cinema scenes, the ability to control armies, and of course ambitions of conquest. I grew up playing War Craft, a game that was somewhat popular but still had a relatively small following (at least compared to World of Warcraft). The difference between the two games can be summed up in a single word, community.

This discerning difference, and the lynch pin on which the success of World of Warcraft rests is community. It isn't about the quests, or the battles, (sure it may have started that way). But the sense of belonging and community that people experience within their guilds is every bit as real as the relationships we cultivate in more traditional settings. It stands to reason, the elements that form a lasting and meanigful human relationship aren't our physical features or necessarily contingent on physical interactions, to being able to interact and communicate through a computer and forge friendships that may span the globe is exciting and impactful to say the least. These emerging trends in social interaction may be scoffed by some social scientists but the fact remains that these are the result of technological advancements, and represent the future of human interaction.