Project Lore

Never, NEVER lie in a job interview. That's outright asking to be fired when the lie is found out (and it will).
As for this discrimination, I think there's a genuine concern, especialy among industries that utilize computers on the work site, that a potential employee might have their head in a game instead of in the business. After all, they pay you to work for them, not play Blizz to keep you entertained. WoW is just the big, recognizable name. It'd be like saying you won't hire someone who has a Playstation 3 or wears Nike, and so on. What they want is someone who doesn't get distracted with MMO's. s for making it a hiring criteria? Depend son the line of work, but the ACLU can probably take a look on your behalf if it's truly unfair discrimination. If you walk in looking like a bum and admit to spending ten hours grinding mobs for a rare drop, then perhaps you should consider employment elsewhere or a change of behavior.

while i agree with the above, I work at a software development company, and my current boss HATES Warcraft.

Partially because there are 2-3 other guys here and whenever he overhears us we're talking about it or playing it - only during lunchtime, but he still feels that unhealthy.

He also mentions the lack of sleep due to gaming - but ever since i was 12 and got my first PC iv been a horrid sleeper, gaming is what i do. Warcraft is just my current vice, and it was reinforced - to me at least - when i quit WoW for 3wks while i moved house... first night i had my xbox and PC setup, and i played my Xbox till 12am - same time i raid till!

The IT industry is overrun by people with unreliable sleeping patterns and 'unhealthy' addictions to gaming.
Its what we do. You want the best, chances are theyr a gamer.

I avoid Rock Band and Guitar Hero players, but would hire a WoW player...so that I wouldn't be the only one on my floor of the office. I also wouldn't hire a City of Heroes player since I had a boss who played that a few years back and he was a complete jerk.

Employers should never blacklist an entire demographic. That said, an employer's concerns regarding a MMORPG player are understandable. But if that entity has very serious concerns, it should always be decided on a case-by-case basis instead of just stereotyping the job-seeker.

as a 17 year old devoted to WoW and looking for a job, i wouldnt lie about playing games. however if the didnt hire me because of my choice in extra curricular activities, id question the legality of the situation. do they even have the right to not hire someone because of a game they play?

I LOVE video games. i'm 16 and i work just as hard as any other guy out there. Employers should try to get those who play MMORPG's because of the leadership skills that online games give people.

I admit, in the long hours in a boring night of stocking fruit or whatever else I tend to ponder on the one thing I I am able to do for fun quite a bit, but no to the point of distraction or enough to slo me down. I can think about opinions, spec desisions, my favorite web show based around my favorite MMO, etc. but when the blade hits the grindstone, I am easily able to push WoW out of my mind and do what needs to be done. I could undersand where this could become problem for same more than others, but to discremenate against a group of people because of there personal entertainment choice is like saying anyone who has ever watched Three's Company should deserve to be pelted with skittles while standing on hot coals naked in the middle of times square, right? It's just silly. If anything companies should focus more on hiring WoW players, because I've never heard of a company say they don't care about there employees, and if they actually cared, would help the problem cases irl w/ there addiction. Just my to cents after just waking up...lol!

Wow....sry for the double post....but I apologize for my horrific spelling above, like I said, I just woke up, lol......I should start to reread more before my post. :)

To be honest, my company looks at ALL your skills. Work related, but also what you do in your spare time. Everything counts, even WoW. We actually have our own forum on the intranet. And with 3300 people here, we have a large playerbase, I'll tell ya!

I think... if my boss would find out you are a DK, u might get fired... but that only happens to DK's, I spose! ;-)

I understand where the employer is coming from, but I also think he's a fucking idiot. Has this giant bag of douche ever heard of overgeneraliztion?

"Yes, you're completely qualified in every way, except that we don't take kindly to your type."

Using a goods/bads criteria selection as an emplyer, playing WoW would fall into "bads".

Even if players cant play WoW at work, they still loose time looking up items on sites like wowhead, checking out gems, looking at PL videos. It is a distraction from work, and not a good one.

And I seriously doubt any gains in skills a manager could have from playing WoW, as those studies say.
It is just lame to even start comparing WoW guild management with real life project management at work.

Btw, seems most people around here speak about "my boss" but I dont see anyone saying "me, being the boss...". No bosses = no talking about benefits that a boss could have. There is none.

i work for a sheriffs office and what we do on the job and off the reflects us. so im sure we'd get fired if my supervisors found out i was skipping up on work and doing a poor proformance while duty but being that i do a good job they dont have a prob with our hobbies and what we di as long as it doesnt get us into trouble

Everyone acts on there own behalf. I can choose whether or not I want to play a game for ten hours or one hour, it's my choice just like it's anybodies choice. The idea that MMOG are being targeted, makes no sense other than a stereotype placed upon a game that forces the player to continue playing for various content.

Given the right motivation, the right job, I can see someone living a normal working life and playing WoW at night from 8 PM - 11 PM and being satisfied that they played enough. How so? Because I have done it. WoW is not that addictive, it's just a strain on time which we all know exists but wish the hours were more and the sleep required was less.

Computer Industries better get use to the gaming aspect because without it the technology today would have a severe lack of purpose, considering Gaming is one of the strongest forms of technology updates/grades/changes. Without the gamer, we'd probably still have a single core processor that runs junk games that you have to wait for load times and enjoy that sweet coffee, burning away the night oil on freezes and reboots.

So my opinion on all this... It's just life, face the facts, stick to what you know at an interview and do the work your required, but NEVER disclose information unless it's absolutely necessary and if a fib is in order, don't let it get out of control. Lies are over exaggerated schemes, fibs are forgetful bits of information that should not be told. Remember that, and you're good.

That would mean, the CEOs of companies would have to 'lol' Ignore 11 Million People who play WoW. lol

Soon it'll probably be more, after this post so they would have to ignore 12 million people and next after that 13 Million. lo

I can see their point but it should not be set to MMORPG's. if the employer ask does one play wow, then they should ask how much TV time to u watch, do u play sports, how many movies do you watch. WoW is no different than did u see that "Reality Show" last night or Can u believe that happened on show "X", did one go out partying or have a late dinner out. All of this could/would effect your performance. There are many influences that can effect a person's performance on the job not just a MMORPG. If the company does not want one to spend time looking up information on any non related work item then they should block it in the IT department. All in all if a company does not hire a person for MMORPG play then I would say that that is discrimination, but one would not show up in less than business attire and knowledge of the job he/she has applied for either(sorry boy no sock less penny loafer and khaki shorts).

I don't think employers should turn away anyone based on their hobbies when they're not at work, regardless of what that hobby might be. If you can do the job, you should get the job.

On the other hand, I do think that employers should look at WoW players less like "lazy obsessed video game players" and more as "goal oriented, determined and committed team players".

Have any of them ever seen what it takes to be a guild leader? The level of commitment and sacrifice? Dealing with problems and morale in the most efficient and fair way possible? I'd hire someone like that in a heartbeat.

You can't say ALL the WoW players are terrible workers. You can't say ALL RB/GH players are terrible workers. It all depends on how you were raised.

I just started playing WOW 6 months ago and realize how addictive it can be sometimes, even if you are at work.

I don't feel that it is right that a company should base its decision on what specific video game you play. I don't even think they should have the right to ask (that is opening them up for a legal nightmare). If it comes up in general conversation then that one thing, but if they ask specificlly I would ask them what importance it holds on the job. If it holds no importance (such as working for a Blizzard competitor) then it is none of their business.

I have been a manager at both a major retail store and a national call center and have hired a lot of people and not once did I know if they played WOW or not. If we find out that WOW is affecting their performance at work then we deal with it at that time weather it is restricting internet sites or telling them to keep the conversations more business oriented while around customers.

The point is regardless of if you play WOW or not your mind will wander to whatever you like to do most outside of work, unless you are fortunate enough to be doing that as your job anyway.

It sounds to me like they should be avoiding the people who make these decisions rather than avoiding WoW players.

Chances are your geekiest and nerdiest people are WoW players, and if you need those people for a nerdy job then you're likely going to get a WoW player.

Aside from that, every "serious" player (that is, hardcore player) actually knows all about time management. Just because you see someone on from 8PM to 2AM doesn't mean they have no life, perhaps their work hours or their school hours are short that day.

You can kind of guess about the kinds of lives people have when you form raid guilds, and surprisingly enough a lot of people have very good time management.

The most preferred raid times have always been early in the week, Sunday-Thursday. Evenings as well. The reason being is that many people are out of school, off of work, and need some time to enjoy to themselves.

The raid times tend to start around 7PM or 8PM for most people, reflective of the fact that many have already gotten dinner out of the way between 5 and 7PM.

They like to keep Friday and Saturday nights open for their friends or going out.

This carries from anyone around 18 to people up into their 40's and 50's.

i might be a bit to young to understand the job world(14 years). but i think its bullshit to avoid wow players speccificly, sience many... lets say raid leader i have played with i think have atleast some cuallity as some sort of high ups possition. Excuse my poor english im swedish.

Personally, I feel that what I do on my own time is none of my employers or potential employers business unless I chose to share it with them. I have certainly mentioned that I am a full time student, a big brother, and an avid reader on top of my full time job when I am talking with employers because these things are viewed positively but, what video games I play is none of thier business.

If I was asked in an interview what video games I play I would ask the interviewer about the relevance of that question. If they made a valid case I woudl tell them that I spend five hours per week playing video games of various types. I woudl also mention that the average American spends five hours PER DAY watching television and as such my entertainment concerns would not conflict with my job duties.

There are a TON of things out there that affect performance and prevent 100% focus at work, well above and beyond a video game. It's arguable that anything in excess is not good though.

I have a great job that allows me to work out of my home office. There are many times that I've flexed hours so that I could play WoW during off-peak times. (Hmm, ironic though how work kicked into warp speed the day before the xpac was released but that's another story.)

Having been a boss and aside from the obvious "not violating company policy etc", as long as it's not affecting professionalism in the office/with clients and it's not affecting productivity, then who cares what video game someone plays or if they play at all?

Not to mention, has that recruiter NOT seen the recent survey on just how many adults (over 50%) play video games of some sort? Here's one of many links you could find to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-12-07-video-games_N.htm While one survey isn't the end all-be all by any means, it's certainly interesting.

It's just like tattoos becoming mainstream, causing adjustments of expectations or acceptability standards by many companies. Any company ruling out gamers (MMORPGs or otherwise) as employees could find themselves scratching the bottom of the barrel very fast!

I openly admit that WoW effects my sleep schedule.

However, for years there has been something that has effected my sleep schedule. I'm a night owl. It doesn't matter if I get 2 hours of sleep, then work all day, then go home exhausted... I stay up at night. It's not WoW specifically. I've stayed up surfing the net, watching TV, playing other video games, reading, or just staring at the ceiling. I'm used to it and I don't let it effect my work.

It's silly to think that the only thing keeping people awake at night is World of Warcraft.

Good posts among those here. One thing to remember for an interview is to avoid being confrontational. Also, use the question as a springboard for other things, for example:
"While I spend (insert hours) enjoying the relaxation and involvement of video games, as many other people enjoy them or other past times, I also make time for (activity A), (Activity B) and (activity C). Additionally, a friend of mine is (insert important position) who I some times spend my free time with engaging in some of these activities."
Though the Additionally part only works if you do know someone. Again, never lie.

Considering I'm spending my work hours looking at Project Lore and not being productive, I'd say this is probably a good tip.

If I didn't have a vested interest, I'd fire me.