The Tales of Azeroth

Berglund Authority Level 4

by IProfess, Elvin Druid of Zulíjin, Azeroth<ipr0fess@yahoo.com>

EDITOR'S FORWARD: As the folk of the fifteenth century recreated with telling tales, and with reading of other individuals and famous but distant places, so does an increasingly large segment of contemporary global society turn to on-line massively multiplayer role playing games (MMPRPG). We recently received the following materials from an anonymous contributor, claiming to be IProfess, a Night Elf of the server Zulíjin of the on-line game, World of Warcraft. (WoW). While we do not usually publish anonymous materials, it is easy to see why the author desires to protect his (or her?) identity. IProfess promises, or perhaps threatens, to deliver future such materials.

The Tales of Azeroth
(The World of Warcraft)
With Apologies to the Human poet Geoffrey Chaucer
By IProfess, Elvin Druid of Zulíjin (1)

Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Azeroth.

Whan that Aprille, with hise shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
Then do folk long to participate in
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games,
and gamers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
And specially from every shire's end
Of Cyberspace to Azeroth,
the World of Warcraft, they wend.


It is my intention to be your guide to my part of this world, Azeroth, as manifested on the server Zulíjin. (2)

I was born a Night Elf, the oldest and the most advanced of the eight races of Azeroth. We are in "The Alliance" with the stout Dwarves, the exceedingly strange Gnomes, and with the simple---but brave---Humans. Against us are broadly ranged the devolved species of The Horde, to wit: the bestial Orcs, the sometimes trustworthy Tauren, the brutal Trolls, and the Undead, of whom little is best said.

Each individual among us, as well as his or her race, is also shaped by a class chosen at birth. My own, I proudly but modestly proclaim, is Druid. It falls to us to protect the natural environment of Azeroth against the unnatural processes which threaten it.

Others may be Warriors, Mages, Priests, Rogues, Paladin, Shamans, or Hunters. Each class has, of course, its own highly developed images and personae.We further evolve through a complex process of acquiring skills, such as my own herbalism an alchemy, and advance through levels beginning at birth through level sixty. Each level of advancement further individualizes us, until each is soon absolutely unique in appearance, capabilities, skills, and wealth.

Because we can mutually communicate within a very rich graphical environment permitting us a wide range of macro-driven physical activities, audible vocalizations, and a very flexible series of chat channels, one quickly is aware that one is speaking with a distinct individual among the thousands of those who populate our wide range of servers. (3)


Those who yet live largely in what we disparagingly refer to in Azeroth as TRW ("The Real World" { [LoL] Laugh out Loud!} ) are soon appropriate to face oneís interlocutors, to sit down for long chats, and to avoid close proximity with those with whom one is as of yet unfamiliar.

The great detail of our environment permits our various identities to be immediately obvious, and results in a highly gendered appearance. Human women, in my limited experience, for example, seem to be fond of extremely "Ècollet"robes and armor, and within locations where they feel secure, sometimes dress very revealingly.

Though they lack the beautiful long ears and the height of our Elvin kind, in a certain kind of light human females can be seen as physically attractive. And like all males, there is a certain amount of flexing and posing among our races, save, of course, for the unfortunately bovine Tauren, who must shock even their mothers. And as for the Gnomes, who knows?

Our world is not without its problems, of course. In fact, the back-story is rather depressing, a continual fall from grace into our present existence of strife and increasingly organized warfare. Each of must master weapons appropriate to our race and class, ranging from edged ones to the arcane spells cast by higher-level Druids, Priests, and Mages.

Each race and class has its own violent skills. Some of our servers are ferociously Darwinian ones in which the only constant is PvP (Player vs. Player) violence which makes Renaissance Florence of TRW look safe and orderly and the Borgias a rather friendly and open family. In most of our servers, however, violence is more or less voluntary, though challenges to duel, which may be turned down, seem more or less frequent.

We live in a very elaborate economy with several levels of wealth. There are banks, a wide range of trading devices, auction houses (which overlap in TRW with e-bay!) and various means of accumulating wealth ranging from crafting desirable items to raiding and looting. There are even sites, so characteristic of the grasping materialism of TRW, where one can purchase items to be delivered in Azeroth with RWcredit cards and Pay-pal accounts. (4)

Just as in TRW, wealth may purchase education (the acquiring of new skills); animal companions, some functional, some purely decorative; clothing and armor, some useful, some startlingly beautiful and indicative of class and rank; weapons, transportation, food and drink, in short, the full panoply of a frequently meaningless consumer society coupled with a pressing need to constantly update oneís abilities and skills, both offensive and defensive.

A merchant class has arisen, including the controversial merchant queen, Frazzle. Frazzle is accused of unethical-- though not illegal--- trade practices, and there has been much discussion as to how best to deal with her, if at all. (5)

Asian players from TRW have been accused of "farming" herbs, that is mapping them and establishing circuits wherein they continually collect valuable ones, driving down their value for less professional herbalists.

As the population of Azeroth continues to grow, there are fascinating fluctuations in supply and demand. However, the economy in general seems to function quite as does that in the real world, and the market rules.

Well, this is quite enough of an introduction to Azeroth. I invite you to see it for yourself. Make certain, however, that you allow yourself plenty of time. Many who visit find that they prefer our rich life to the cares of TRW. In future missives we will discuss other elements of my world, including, if the editor of this journal has his way, the earotic world of the Night Elves.

Notes

(1) This piece is dedicated to my Kalimdorean friends and companions: to the witty and fierce Magikleaf, who oft protects me from the beasts and monsters and is always ready for any quest, however ill-advised; to Dio, ever generous with his time and resources; to the Gnome craftsperson Mochalatte, the thoughtful Illini and many other inhabitants of Zulíjin, particularly to all the Carebears out there.

(2) Alas, to visit Azeroth so as to better understand this pilgrimage, the gentle reader requires software (the World of Warcraft), a monthly subscription, a good computer and a high-bandwidth connection. The journey often begins at: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml or at a local large software dealer.

(3) There are currently said to be more than 1.5 million inhabitants of WoW, drawn from every corner of the TRW. At present a sort of English is the Lingua Franca, but one also encounters French, German, Japanese, and Chinese among the more widely distributed languages. The software is sold in a number of languages and the environment has been localized to a variety of cultures, opening most recently in Europe and is in beta in China.

(4) http://www.mysupersales.com/MG/?gid=37

(5) One finds, in the very rich forums of WoW, a discussion of the economic crimes or non-crimes of Frazzle, who is close to cornering the market in many desirable commodities:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=
wow-realm-zuljin&t=8663&p=1&tmp=1#post8663
See also:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=
wow-general&t=2339959&s=new&tmp=1#new