On Holidays

It's the end of September and do you know what that means? It's time for Brewfest in World of Warcraft. Brewfest is basically the video game equivalent of Octoberfest. Aka. A chance to get intoxicated online. (Without any of the detremental side effects to drinking. :D )

So why do I mention this on my blog? Perhaps because like real holidays, in game holidays inspire social interaction. World of Warcraft has several in game holidays. Some mirror real life holidays. Some are just for fun.

Brewfest offers several specific events for players to participate in. Most of them are solo quests. Players can do beer runs, join clubs and collect tokens to be redeemed for novelty items. However, there are a few events that require multiple players to complete. One such event is Defend the Fest in which players must defend the Brefest tables from the Dark Iron Dwarves. In order to defeat the oncoming dwarves, group of players must drink rapidly and throw the empty cups to defeat them. The dwarves are controlled by the computer and mount an attack every half hour or so. A player cannot defend the encampment alone and must therefore call to nearby players for aid. If the group is successful, each participant is rewarded with tokens.

Receiving the tokens is really the only incentive to complete these quests, but for gamers the promise or rare or unique items is more than enough. A good way to get social prestige is to have something that someone else doesn't. People like collecting things, especially if those things have value to other people as well.

Now. I realize that this is only a trend because the holiday is currently in effect. However, it does allow me to examine the concept of social holiday within a digital setting. WoW celebrates many of the other commercial holidays. (Valentine's Day, Xmas, Halloween, etc) ((Oh. They also did celebrate Pirate Day! Yarg!)) Each holiday offers its own set of games and activities. Some are more group oriented than others, but all of them inspire gaiety and fun with friends. So grab a pint and go get smashed! (Virtually of course. This blog does not support excessive drinking. :P )