Unexpectedly, I got an article written in the airport and found an Internet connection in the motel. And the delayed post feature seems to be working, so… here you go!

You may be familiar with the Buddhist principle that desire is the root of suffering. This is not to say that wanting or needing something is bad; rather, it is the desire for something which one cannot obtain, or for which the cost is too high, that leads to suffering.

This is relevant, I promise.

I play World of Warcraft (WoW). Not as much as I used to—in fact, it’s been a couple of weeks since I logged in. I play mostly because I want to see all the cool skills and spells, all the cool areas, all the cool monsters, learn all the cool tricks. But once you’re logged in, what keeps you going? It’s the steady gain of experience (or reputation, or DKP, or whatever, once you max your level) mixed with the hope of the next boss you kill being the one that drops the sweet item you were hoping for.

WoW holds so many goals in front of you. Attain level 50, then 52, then 54. Collect all 8 pieces of set A of items. Each one of these goals takes time, and effort, and by the time you’re halfway to one goal, you realize that it’s not really what you want—you really want the one after it. At level 51 you realize that the new spells you get at 52 aren’t really all that great, and you really want to be 54. Once you have 5 pieces of set A you realize that set B is what you really want. Oh, sure, you eventually reach your goal, but by the time you get there it’s not satisfying, not for long enough, because the next goal has already been set up.

(In case you were curious, the time investments scale up and the high-end game is structured such that anyone who takes time off for school or work—which does encompass most WoW players—is in no danger of ever running out of next goals.)

You see where I’m going with this. It’s not that WoW “goes against” Buddhism, which is a statement that doesn’t make all that much sense anyway. It’s just that Buddhism teaches that playing WoW is a bad idea, because it will never bring you happiness or satisfaction.

Meditate upon this.

Some final notes and thoughts:

• WoW is the example familiar to me from this genre, but the phenomenon is familiar to all MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games, EverQuest being the best-known example.) EQ and Final Fantasy XI are notorious for being even worse, while DrObviousSo will probably attest that City of Heroes mitigates some of the problems.
• This is not to say that WoW causes only suffering. It’s an exquisitely designed and balanced game, and gorgeous to look at besides. It feels immersive. You can make friends and go on adventures with them, adventures that really feel dangerous and exciting… the first 5 or 15 times, anyway. There’s exploration, economics, investigation, and research. But the siren call of progress is too powerful to ignore, and following it doesn’t lead to happiness.