Project Lore

Back when World of Warcraft launched in November 2004 I was a lowly Pre-Junior at Drexel University.  Let me answer your first question.  A Pre-Junior is a year later than a Sophomore but a year before being a Junior.  It was a five year program.  Really, I swear, five years.  At the time I was an aspiring Computer Science and Mathematics major, which meant that I spent a bit of time on my computer(s).  But I still had to pay the bills between my studies so I picked up an IT job for Drexel's computer department.  That is where it all began, playing WoW while on the clock. Jobs obviously, and rightfully so, frown upon the idea of playing video games while you are on the clock.  Some bosses even frown upon playing the game during lunch which is unfair in my opinion.  Why is it that I can read the newspaper, watch TV or bother other people at lunch but I can't play a video game?  Don't give me the company resources crap, it doesn't hurt the computer and at max takes about 30 kb/s of bandwidth.  My boss at Drexel was one of those bosses who hated gameplaying, in all forms, while at work.  So I had to get crafty. There are actually numerous things you can do to play WoW at work.  The most difficult is probably to get the game installed and patched.  Depending on how locked down your computer is, this can be quite a task.  You may get lucky and have free reign over your machine.  Sometimes imaging the CDs/DVDs and then mounting them with Daemon Tools, will do the trick.  Worst case, you will simply have to figure out (or reset) the administrator password, which could get you in serious trouble. As for actually playing the game, here are a few tips:

• Most important, play in Windowed mode.  WoW is highly optimized for Windowed mode, allowing you to hide it behind other applications quickly and easily.
• Having your back to the door is a major problem and should be remedied immediately.  Make up some excuse like you “need a change of scenery” or can “get more workspace” to get permission to move your office around.
• On the same track, your entire office/cubicle/desk should be set up in a fashion to provide cover for your addiction.  Use a tall printer to block line-of-sight to the screen if possible.  Put your in/out boxes in the way.  Anything you can possibly think of to slow people down, or lower their visual range.  (If you have one of those short cubicle walls, good luck.)
• Stack recent delivered items, files, books, etc by the entrance to slow people down.  If asked why you do this say “So I don't forget about them before I leave.”
• Dual monitors can help immensely.  Keep work on the screen that is most readily visible to intruders and WoW on the other screen.
• Set the task bar to auto hide so no one can see what is open down there.
• Alt + tab and windows key + D key combinations are your friends.  If WoW, WoWHead, and ProjectLore are covering your monitor real estate at the moment then hit the windows key + D and everything will be minimized (hit them again to restore).  Placing a work window behind WoW will allow you to alt + tab (switches the focused application) to it to hide just WoW.
• Set your desktop to an active desktop and place a work-related website as the background.  This will allow you to use  windows key + D and look somewhat active to a casual observer.
• I have been told that a messy desk makes you look more productive, so mess it up to hide your unproductive distraction.
• Play with no sound and no headphones.
• If you know the intruder is going to need your time or have to look at something on your machine then kill the process instead of minimizing.  To do this hit control + shift + esc to get the task manager up fast.  Select WoW.exe and hit end task.
• Setup some sort of code, distraction system or warning sign with other like minded people.  A bird call, a whistle, a ball of rubber bands being thrown 40 feet into your face.  Anything to save each other's asses is worth it.

Remember, if you get fired for playing you can only blame yourself.  I'm just trying to give you some helpful pointers so you DON'T get fired.  Do your job, then play WoW while you wait for your next assignment.  You manager's job is to manage, not yours. I know you guys have more tricks and tips for getting away with WoW at work.  Let's hear them.

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A few weeks ago WoW Insider did an article on a pair of users hooking up their treadmills to World of Warcraft.  Yesterday they added to that piece with numerous stories from their readers about how they work out during their WoW playtime.  Apparently a lot of players do the treadmill/walking thing while strolling around Azeroth with some losing 10, 20 even 100 pounds! The stories got me thinking.  What the hell do I do when I play WoW?  Growing up in the age of multi-tasking causes me to get bored with one thing quickly.  Some would call that ADHD but I just consider it being efficient! Most of these things I do while just messing around in World of Warcraft or during downtime.  However, there are many that I have done while raiding, for better or worse.  Some of my more common WoW sidebars are:

• Browsing the web/checking e-mail/WoWHead etc (dual screen ftw).
• Writing/researching articles for my various websites.
• Drinking/eating.
• Working at my day job.
• Playing other games – I played Paper Mario (N64) start to finish during Molten Core downtime.
• Playing with my ferrets.
• Watch TV, movies and sports (especially the NFL).
• mIRCing.

I have never done any exercise to speak of while actually playing WoW.  Unlike the people mentioned in the WoW Insider stories, I usually do mine while waiting for something in WoW.  Case in point, I bought a few dozen stacks of neatherweave cloth to transmute into bandages.  I spent the time it take to make 400 bandages jumping rope and doing push-ups.  I think I managed one push-up... The most fun I ever had with one of these distractions was playing WoW at a party.  And I don't really mean a LAN party, I mean a party with tons of drinking, stupidity and breaking of things.  At this party a few friends and I (okay so we did have some computers hooked up, it was a Guild party after all) managed to raid Molten Core and Onyxia.  What made it fun is that we all switched classes, playing different accounts - after they logged us in of course.  Coincidently, we ended up playing classes we had never raided with before.  We had also been drinking and were distracted by everyone else around.  Hilarity and newfound respect for each other ensued. What do you guys do outside of WoW to kill the downtime?

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