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Heather Fraser

Prof. Volstad

UWRT 1104-023

19 September 2018

Entering a New World – The World of Warcraft

As I entered the world of Aegywnn, I had many different questions as I was not too sure

what to expect. I had never been a big video game person and most certainly had never played

World of Warcraft. I​ did not have the slightest idea of what the objective of this game even was.

However, I was excited for the journey I was about to endeavor. I knew I would learn the ropes

along the way but first, I needed to create my character as this is the most crucial step to playing

a video game.

When I first started to create my character, I was lost. What is Horde and Alliance? What

is the difference between them? I had no idea what I was doing. I decided to wing it, and as I

clicked through each different character in each faction, one finally caught my eye. The Blood

Elf. I liked this character because it looked like a Human but would be much more interesting to

play as it had many racial abilities. Some of these include, Magic Resistance, Arcane Affinity,

Arcane Torrent, and Arcane Acuity. The Blood Elf belongs to the alliance Horde and the class I

chose was Rogue. I chose Rogue because I liked how they were described as “lone wolves” and

they can sneak around enemies. It may sound strange, but I almost related to this trait of the

“lone wolf” because I like to stick to myself most of the time. These traits seemed interesting

also and I figured they would be useful in the game. Now that I figured out the basic

characteristics of my character, it was time to decide how it would look.

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When it came to how my character looked I knew I wanted it to represent myself in

some ways. Of course, I chose the gender female as I am one and I also chose Caucasian as that

is my ethnicity. I made my character's hair color platinum since that is what my hair looks like.

When I had to choose my name I just clicked the randomize button and chose the first one that

seemed easy to pronounce. My character's name is “Nestel.” Now that the creation of my

character was complete, it was time to dive into the actual game.

I found myself startled by my new surroundings. I was not sure where anything was, but I

already had a quest on my hands. To accomplish my quest as well as future ones, I decided to

walk around and explore my surroundings. Luckily, I had a map that was very useful in terms of

where to find the people I had to talk to as well as where my quests could be completed at. The

map would show a question mark for different locations I had to go to. For my first quest, I had

to kill six Mana Wyrms. I walked around for a while trying to find them, but I didn’t have any

luck. However, I did happen to see a few Lynx’s, so I knew there must be something nearby.

Finally, after walking around for a little bit, I spotted one! I knew I had to kill it, but I wasn't too

sure how. Luckily, with a few trials and errors I figured it out and was able to kill it. After

finding one Mana Wyrm, it was easy to find the rest. One after one, I killed them all and my

quest was complete. I used the “Sinister Strike” to kill them. I chose to use this weapon because I

did not see any other weapons to use just yet in the game. I figured I had to level up in order to

have access to more weapons. I had to return to the person I originally got the quest from and

from there, I got my next task. This first part was not too difficult, but I felt as the quests go on,

the opponents would be much harder to defeat as well as much harder to find.
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Now that I had the basics of the game down, it became much easier to play. My next

quest was to get eight Lynx collars. I had to do this by killing the Lynx’s and the cubs. This was

honestly sad because as I killed each one, the Lynx would cry almost. Though I knew this was

just a game, it still pulled at my heart-strings because I’m such an animal lover. I knew I had to

complete my quest though, so I carried on. This quest was also not too difficult, and I was able to

finish it quickly. After I finished it, I had to talk to Lanthon Perilon, he gave me my next quest

which was to kill seven Tenders and seven Feral Tenders. This was also easy as I just had to look

on the map to find them and use the same method to kill them. I felt the game was getting very

repetitive, but I knew as I leveled up it would continue to get harder. For completing that quest, I

got a Sunstrider sword. This is a new weapon that I could use to complete more quests as they

potentially get harder.

My next quest was much more difficult than the last few. I walked around for a while

trying to figure out exactly where to go. After a few minutes of wondering, I found where I was

supposed to be, the Faltiheren Academy. I noticed my opponent was a little bit more difficult to

kill and as I was trying to kill the Arcane Waith, I accidentally jumped off a ledge but luckily it

was in the water, so I did not die. However, it did set me back as I had to climb all the way back

up to the top of the academy. I finally finished that quest and I noticed it took me a little bit

longer than the last few ones. Which was a good sign since I was getting a little bored with the

game. However, I noticed after I finished a quest I had to do a lot of running back and forth to

talk to the people to receive a new quest. This got frustrating but I knew there was nothing I

could do about it as it was part of the game.

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After finishing that last quest, I realized I had been playing for 1.5 hours. Playing the

game went by a lot faster than I thought and I was starting to enjoy it more. I believe the more I

play this game the better I get at it. I am catching on to the different tasks and what they exactly

mean. It was time to leave the “​World of Warcraft” ​and return to the real world.
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Reflection

Playing ​World of Warcraft ​was a totally new experience for me. I’ve never been into

video games that much so when this project was announced I did feel a little worried. I wasn’t

too sure what this game even consisted of or what the objective of it was. I didn’t fully

understand how I was supposed to write a paper on a video game or even what the benefits of it

would be. I think when we read that article in class though it helped my understanding of the

importance of this process and how it can benefit your writing. I’ve grown as a writer throughout

this process and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I’m used to writing strictly research based

papers, but this project allowed me to become more creative with my writing.

Once I started playing ​World of Warcraft, ​the process became much easier and I was able

to catch on more and understand what was happening. I think my experience with the game was

negative at first because I wasn’t really looking forward to playing a video game and having to

write a narrative about it. I never enjoyed video games much (unless it was on my Gameboy or

DS). However, as I started playing it became more positive even though I struggled at times. I

think it benefitted me to step into an unfamiliar discourse because it provided me with the ability

to see how different people interact through a video game and how it can be a big part of

someone's life. The point of participating in discourse communities is to find a group of people

who you share things with and that you can connect with on a personal level. I think video games

and ​World of Warcraft​ itself are huge discourse communities as there are so many people who

play. Though people in these discourse communities may be very diverse, they all share things

through playing video games. A discourse community is a great way to get to know and meet

new people. My intended major is biology and I think participating in this sort of discourse can
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prepare me for my future because I will have to learn how to communicate in many ways with

different people. Communication is a key factor in discourse communities and it is also a huge

factor in the field of Biology. I specifically want to get into Pharmaceutical Sales, so

communication is an even bigger factor in this field.

I think a major factor in my personal literacy skills that affected me during this

assignment was not having much experience with writing narratives. I don’t think I have ever

really written a narrative in high school, so this was something completely new to me. I did feel

lost at times during this process, but I think I will be able to work past the errors I may have

made. Nothing unexpected really happened during this project. I was able to download the game

fine but sometimes I did have some Wi-Fi issues but those I was able to solve quickly.

Some things you must know to participate in this discourse community is some

knowledge of the game. Knowing certain Lexis is very important such as what Alliance and

Horde means. Google was my best friend during this process because I really had no clue of

what anything meant in the beginning of the game. This process didn’t really remind me of any

experiences I’ve had. Luckily, I didn’t have any problems when installing the game. I have a

MacBook and I know some people who have Macs were having trouble, but I did not face any

problems.

I don’t think I have engaged in a character creation process like the one in ​World of Warcraft.

There was a lot that went into it and you really got to make your character your own which I

thought was interesting. I chose the elements of my character by trying to think of how my race

and class could be useful in the game. I also didn’t want to get bored during the game, so I tried

to pick a character that had interesting features. I think certain skills you may need while playing
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the game is the ability to catch on quickly and how to use your resources. For me, the biggest

resource in the game was the map. I don’t think I would have been able to complete any quests

without the map and if I did it would have taken me a lot longer. Playing this game has been a

big learning experience for me and I am excited to continue to see how we use this game

throughout our project.

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Group Gameplay Reflection

I enjoyed the group gameplay much more than playing by myself. When I played by

myself I had to figure out a lot of things alone through trial and error. Such as the controls and

how to get around the game which got kind of tedious. I think while working with my group we

were able to help each other out greatly. If one person in the group was having difficulty or was

not sure how to do something usually one of us would know. However, even though I enjoyed

playing with my group it did become difficult at times. One person in my group was having

difficulty loading ​World of Warcraft ​on her laptop. After about 30 minutes of having to restart

her laptop and trying to load it again it finally worked. Luckily the other girl in my group and I

were able to have it load more easily so she could still see what were doing in the game while

hers was loading. Though the process of waiting for her laptop to load the game was difficult, we

made the most of our time while playing ​World of Warcraft.

I think the most frustrating part of the group gameplay was that we found no way to

create or join a party. We tried multiple times and even looked up solutions on Google but found

no help. The closest thing we found to a solution was a forum that explained if you’re using the

trial version, you cannot join parties or start them. Though these technological difficulties were

frustrating, I still enjoyed the group gameplay much more and found it less stressful than just

playing by myself. The game gets less tedious when you have people to talk with while you’re

playing it so that makes it more entertaining. Despite our difficulties with the game my group

and I still tried our best to go through the game together and ended up meeting in Sunstrider Isle.

We mostly just explored the area and walked around together. We also interacted with other

players in the game by chatting with them.

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I think the group gameplay helped me get to know my classmates a little better. I don’t think I

would have talked to them much before this project because I usually stick to myself. However,

this activity really helped us get to know each other and it was a fun way to do it instead of doing

icebreakers. I liked the characters they picked in the game and we also talked a lot about why we

chose our characters. We each went over why we picked the characters we did and also why we

chose the class we did. We told each other about each of our characters special powers and

things they were able to do. It was fun getting to see why they picked their character and also

learning about the different powers their characters have. Their avatars did remind me of them a

little bit such as their skin tone or hair that they picked. Overall, this group gameplay brought me

closer to my classmates and also helped me understand the game a bit more.
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What Makes a Discourse Community?

Discourse communities are an important part of our society, though at times most people

do not even realize they are in one. Most people might even be asking themselves, what is a

discourse community? Discourse communities, according to author Swales are “groups that have

goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals” (Swales). Through the process

of this project, I have become more aware of the different discourse communities that are in

everyday life. Many things can be learned about discourse communities and the importance of

them in society. The most important aspects of a discourse community are that they each contain

their own lexis, they all share common goals, and communication is a key tool used within the

discourse community.

Lexi’s are one of the key factors in discourse communities. All discourse communities

use certain words or phrases that only people in that community will understand. For example,

members of the UNC Charlotte discourse community all understand a few certain phrases such

as, “The SAC”, “Student Union”, “Sovi”, and more. If a person who does not attend UNC

Charlotte heard these phrases they most likely would not know what they were talking about.

Lexis can be thought of almost as an inside joke among friends, if a random person hears that

inside joke they would not understand it, but the group of friends would. In this case the inside

joke would be the Lexi and the group of friends would be the discourse community. Lexis are a

way to bring the community together, they make the community unique because most discourses

do not share the same lexis. While playing ​World of Warcaft,​ there were a few key Lexis that are

essential in understanding this gaming discourse community. Some examples are Horde and

Alliance, the different areas among the map (Sunstrider Isle, Falthrien Academy, etc). Lexis are
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an essential part of this discourse community and were a key part in helping understand the game

itself more. Lexis also may make it easier for people in discourse communities to communicate

among each other. This communication factor makes it far easier to complete their shared goals

in the discourse community.

In discourse communities there are always common goals shared by members of the

group. These goals are important because they give the members something to work for and they

bring the members together. These goals can be very broad or very specific. Continuing with the

example of the discourse community of UNC Charlotte, a very broad goal is to have students

receive a quality education. A more specific goal is for students to graduate and receive a degree.

These goals are known by all students, they know the reason they are attending college is to

receive an education and to graduate. If students at UNC Charlotte do not meet these goals, they

may face punishments such as academic probation or even expulsion. These goals can help a

discourse community grow and succeed once they are accomplished. Having shared goals and

values is what truly brings a community together. In fact, a discourse community is supposed to

be a group of people with shared goals. This aspect of discourse communities is what truly made

me understand it completely. Without common values and goals; you do not have a community

or even a group of similar people so therefore, there is no discourse. This made me realize all the

discourse communities that are on campus and even throughout the world. For example, there are

clubs, political parties, certain majors, residents of different states, the list goes on and on. For

every person, there is almost a guarantee they belong to at least one discourse community but

most likely even more than that. In the game of ​World of Warcraft,​ all players (members of the

discourse community) have common goals such as completing quests and leveling up. This is a
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common goal because it brings each player closer to beating the game itself. Discourse

communities can become more specific and they do not have to be as broad as a North Carolina

resident. They could be as specific as a sports team that you play on. The list for discourse

communities' goals on and on but communication is a key aspect for them.

Without communication, a discourse community would fail. This is the main aspect of

them and it is needed to complete the other parts of a discourse community such as the lexis and

public goals. Communication is the key way to execute public goals and to accomplish them.

Communication can be carried out in several ways. For UNC Charlotte the main source of

communication is through emails and canvas. These are the ways students and faculty get

information about class cancellations, tests, homework and more. Without these forms of

communication, it would be very difficult for the discourse community of UNC Charlotte to

function effectively. Communication can also be used to suggest ways to improve the discourse

community or point out problems within the discourse. Without communication, members of the

community would have no way to become involved within the discourse. For UNC Charlottes

campus, there is a student government which can make improvements to the school based on

what students suggest. This is a great example of communication within a discourse because

students, who are towards the bottom of the hierarchy, talk to the elected officials in student

government about things they disagree with and those officials then talk to even higher up people

about those certain issues. In ​World of Warcraft p​ layers communicate in many ways. There are

tons of forums that a player that join depending on the certain topic. Players can also

communicate within the game itself through a chatroom. These ways of communication are

important to the game because if a player has a question or is having difficulty with something
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they can turn to the forum and more than likely find an answer or solution. This makes the

gaming world much easier as so much can go wrong in it and there are many issues that arises

within the game. Communication is often linked to speech communities mistakenly, but there is

a key difference between the aspect of communication in discourse communities and actual

speech communities.

The line between speech communities and discourse communities can often become

blurry. However, it’s very important to know the difference between them. Swales defines

speech communities as, “being composed of those who share functional rules that determine the

appropriacy of utterances” (Swales). In simpler terms, it is a group of people who share the same

language. People are born into speech communities because language is absorbed. A person can

pick their discourse communities, but not their speech communities. This is the easiest way I

found to remember the difference between these two communities.

Through the process of this project, discourse communities have become something

simple to comprehend. It’s has become easy to see and point out different discourse communities

much easily than when it was first introduced. Before this project, it never occurred to me that

groups of people who share common goals, use specific words or phrases and communicate with

each other were discourse communities. After reading Swales article and seeing the different

examples in my own life as well as my peers lives it has become a much easier topic to

understand. To form a discourse community there are certain characteristics the group must

share. Swales refers to these as the “six defining characteristics that will be necessary and

sufficient for identifying a group of individuals as a discourse community” (Swales). These

characteristics include the ones already covered such as they must share common public goals,
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have mechanisms of communication, and acquire specific lexis. The others include, “the use of

participatory mechanisms to provide feedback, possesses one or more genres in the

communicative furtherance of its aims, and lastly has a threshold level of numbers with a

suitable degree of relevant content and discourse experience” (Swales).

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Citations

Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” ​Genre Anaylsis: English in

Academic and Research Settings. ​Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.