The Game Dame

Consider yourself warned: This post has nothing to do with WoW, but with something else that has been a huge part of my life.

Frankie Manning, the Tony-award winning Father of Lindy Hop, died yesterday at the age of 94. May he rest in peace. The LA Times wrote a wonderful obituary for him, as did the New York Times.

I got the opportunity to take dance classes from him and listen to him tell stories at Swing Camp Catalina, a yearly event (now defunct) hosted by Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association. The sisters who run PBDA taught me how to dance. They were also the ones who brought Frankie out of retirement in 1986 to help teach Lindy Hop around the world, giving all of us dancers a chance to meet him, learn to dance from him, and hear his tales. Frankie connected me to history all the way back to the invention of Lindy Hop and, as such, I felt I could be a part of that history myself, simply by carrying on the dance.

Frankie is also bound up with my earliest memories of falling in love with my husband. On the boat to Catalina for our first Swing Camp together, my then-boyfriend gave me a card that indicated his intention to one day propose to me. I’ll never forget the thrill of feeling lightheaded while bouncing over the waves, snuggled next to him, on the way to dancing together at the historic Catalina Casino Ballroom.

Even if you don’t know who Frankie Manning was, you’ve been thrilled by his work. Remember that Gap Khaki ad from 1998? Those lifts and throws (called “aerials”) were invented by Frankie Manning. Well into his 80s, Frankie could still do a lot of these moves.

Here’s a clip of Frankie dancing with the joy I always saw in him and that he transferred to everyone he met. (Frankie is the first man you see dancing, the one with the mechanic’s hat.)

Goodbye, Frankie, and thank you so much for everything.

Date of goodbye post: March 30, 2009.

Date of “official” last post: April 8, 2009.

Now, look at BRK’s Achievements listed in the armory. The date of his most recent achievement is April 18, 2009. Also note that Argent Aspiration and Dual Talent Specialization could only be accomplished after the release of 3.1 which came out on April 14, 2009.

I say all this not to be critical; BRK’s life is his own and he owes us nothing by way of explanation. (One obvious explanation is that he gave his account to someone else, like one of his kids or a friend.) However, if it really is BRK himself, I bring it up to ask this question:

How addictive really is WoW?

It’s one thing to become bored with the game or to discover a new hobby to replace it (another game, a different activity, etc.). In those cases, I think addiction to the specific game of WoW is not very difficult to overcome. There are plenty of cases of people transferring their addictions (e.g., smokers or drinkers become overeaters).

However, it’s a completely different ballgame to quit something addictive when you have nothing to replace it. Now, I’m not saying that BRK or anyone else who quits WoW to spend time with their families doesn’t really love their families. Of course they do. And 99.99999% of the time, they love their families WAY more than they love WoW or even their WoW friends. But desire is not enough to overcome addiction, is it? It’s like saying in a marriage “all you need is love” when we know that’s a huge oversimplification and marriage really takes a lot of work and effort on top of the love. Plenty of people desire to quit smoking, narcotics, and alcohol, but cannot do it by willpower alone. Sometimes they can never do it at all, even with help. 

So my big questions are:

1. 1. Is WoW an addiction like the ones used in examples above? 
2. 2. Is gaming itself an addiction? 
3. 3. If no, then why is it so hard to quit, no matter what’s at stake (e.g., your marriage, your job)? 
4. 4. If yes, then how do we address this as gamers (whether we are at risk or our friends are) and as a community of concerned humans?

I’ve been keeping my eye out for Underbelly Elixirs down in the Dalaran sewers. So far I’ve been turned into a Tuskarr and a wasp. Both were very fun to play with, but only lasted 10 minutes.

The Tuskarr waddles around in a fun way and has a nice instant-cast animation (e.g., for casting Water Shield). Unfortunately, he doesn’t dance or sit or sleep or anything else.

The wasp was great fun. It flies like any other mount — except that you ARE the mount. Unfortunately, a lesson to learn is that you cannot be a wasp outside of the sewers or you will be “dismounted”.