Project Lore

Via JoyOfTech.com

By now, common readers should realize that I am a bit of a numbers freak. In my past life I was a min-maxer, but I have overcome that addiction and now focus most of my number crunching abilities on the open market and the Auction House. In doing so, I have managed to have thousands of gold in reserve - after learning my Cold Weather Flying – for my level 80 abilities and whatever else I (sorry begging guildies) may need. Now if only I could turn my digital success in WoW to meatspace success...

This thought process and this hilarious comic lead me down another road though. How much real world value has World of Warcraft cost me? The answer, $588.64, just over half of my mortgage. Don't forget, I did quit the game for a bit. The worst case scenario for a single-boxer as of now, would have the gamer buying each Collector's Edition, and paying the highest monthly fee of $14.99. That would run just shy of $1,000, at $959.47, although I highly doubt anyone has allowed that to happen. As the comic points out, investing that may have been a smarter idea, but the service that WoW offers is far more cost effective than an iPhone in my opinion.

Friends go nuts about their iPhones, acting like it is the best thing since the Internet, but really how often do you use its bonus features – the ones that make the unit and monthly fee so costly?  An hour a day on average, maybe two?  The iPhone service (and cell phone subscriptions in general) are way over priced for what they offer. Don't even get me started on the text messaging plans...For its part, WoW (and really any MMO) packs quite a bang for its buck.

Apples to Oranges you say? Fine, let's do some entertainment to entertainment comparisons. Over the course of my 4+ years of playing, I have saved hundreds of dollars thanks to WoW. How you ask? It is actually quite simple. If you are spending an hour or so a night in Azeroth, you can't be doing other, more costly, things. For instance, I started making meals at home and ordering in rather than going out to dinner. I would Netflix DVDs or watch TV rather than hitting the movies (two movies cost ~$20 in Philadelphia). I largely stopped playing other games. Yet, I managed to balance WoW and my social life well enough to continue being invited, and more importantly attending, friend and family functions.

Ponder on that for a bit. How much have you spent on your little hobby, but more importantly, how much has it saved you?

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