Tip of the Spear

People do some silly things when in an anonymous environment. The World of Warcraft is an online game people go to to escape reality. The depth and the progression of the game are the true forces in the addictive nature of this alternate reality, but a great deal of its attraction also comes from social interaction.

While it attracts the asocial and social personalities alike, the asocial personalities are the ones that dominant the chat channels. People will say and do whatever ridiculous thing comes to mind when there is perceivably no consequences or accountability. A large portion of the policing is done by average users who form guilds, and make personal notes on inappropriate game play. Blizzard, the creators of WoW, promote this environment of zero accountability. While players try and make their own order, Blizzard allows players to move to new realms or simply change their player names for a small fee.