How to play WoW like a Star

It’s funny how differently people enjoy this game. Some people see it as a way to make friends. Some are in it for the lore. Some want their character decked out with the best gear/mounts/pets in the game. And some want to KILL ALL THE THINGS! Most of us want a combination of the above.

But how does Star play WoW?

First and foremost, Star plays WoW to have fun. If something’s not fun, the chances of my actually doing it are slim. Dailies? Meh. LFR grinding? Meeeeh! PVP? No thank you! I’ll do these things reluctantly… sometimes… (and PVP only when dragged in by guildies, and I’ll probably cry most of the time), but what I enjoy doing most of all is hanging out with my guildies.

I’m a people person, okay? I love people. Chances are, if you’re not a giant douche, that I already adore you. And my people are more important to me than the pretty shinies in the game. Why VP cap when I can roll a baby alliance to hang out with a friend on the other side? Why keep a mount when I know someone else wants it so much more? Why not give a pet to someone who loves pet battling as a simple “Welcome to our raid group” gift?

This is who I am. I’m not a great player, actually. If you want a *good* monk healer, look at Hulegan. It’s a good thing we have Erdless in our raid to make up for my scrub heals, because I think Yakk would string me up by my paws every week I didn’t LFR/VP cap otherwise. It’s not unheard of for the following to happen…

Sonne: Star, why don’t you use (suchandsuch) spell?
Me: The whosit?
Me: *checks talent book*
Me: Oh hey, I didn’t realize I had that.
Yakk: *facepalm*

Yeaaaah. So okay, I’m not fantastic. But I’m okay with that. And I do try my hardest when we’re raiding. I have a habit of telling the tanks they’re not allowed to die. If I didn’t have a push-to-talk option on Vent, my poor raid group would be treated to squeaking, whining, frantic cursing, shrieking at people to hold on, and screaming at MYSELF to move when I’m standing in bad.

And this is what happens when Star has a healer as her main. But I digress.

Thankfully for me, there’s a part that shines brighter than my terrible WoW performance. And that’s my personality. Yakk has already admitted that he keeps me around because I make him laugh. I adore my raid team and my guild as a whole. Behind the pixels are real people, people that are paying money to play this game. These people picked our guild as a place to call home, and I for one think that’s fantastic. These are people that are choosing to spend their paid-for time with us. I think that deserves recognition.

So how does Star play WoW? She sees the people behind the pixels. She asks about other’s families. She talks in private chat with people about their medical problems, relationships, children, jobs, excitements and worries. When something drops, she inspects the other healers to see how big of a upgrade it’d be for them before taking it for herself. She listens when people show excitement for something that might drop, and is very likely to pass the item over to that person if she wins it instead.

In short, Star plays WoW with one real goal in mind: have fun and be a good person while doing so. Remember to keep others in mind. Try not to focus so much on yourself, and instead broaden your gaze. Is there something you could be doing to brighten someone else’s day a little bit? It could be something as small as saying hi when someone logs in, or something as big as passing on a piece of loot you could use, because someone else needs it more.

Our guild will never force people to do these things. Our rules are very simple, and they’re not hard to follow. But I encourage every member of MT to keep one thing in mind: kindness is priceless, and you might be surprised at how that kindness makes its way back around to you. A little selflessness, a little love, and a lot of laughter can mean the difference between a faceless guildy and a friend.

And to me, that’s worth so much more than a shiny purple.