Consumerism

I came across a blog entry in my daily perusing of internet blogs that stuck with me. Unfortunately, the name of the blog or the author did not stick, but the post was a few paragraphs on the uselessness of playing WoW. Something in the vein of 'you acquire stuff which you sell to acquire gold in order to acquire more stuff'. The 'stuff' was viewed as items with no real value that fulfil no real need and I now recall the word consumerism being used once or twice.

A simple definition of consumerism would be individuals "consuming materials in excess of their basic needs". Having more than you need is generally viewed as a bad thing. Leaving economic theory in the real world for a different blogger, I can't help but wonder why consumerism is necessarily a bad thing in a virtual world. After all, there is no limited resources, no social obligations and nobody is starving whilst the rich get richer and the poor poorer. In fact, it's the lavish allowances that contribute to the fun of the game.

I understand that goal oriented play is not fun for everybody. I also get that for some relaxation has to be some steps removed from reality in order to make it fun. For me however, it's the similarities with reality that makes me want to play more. I can achieve goals in warcraft easily that I would find difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in real life. As a character, I can travel as much as I desire. I can be as rich as it pleases me to be. I can make things, break things and sell things. I can buy something simply because I want to. In fact, I can even indulge in a little bit of impulse shopping and splurging on luxury items I don't actually need. And that's just the self-indulgent individualistic things I am able to do.

I enjoy the goal oriented play. I enjoy the sense of achievement it provides. I enjoy learning more about economics and a closed market; about achieving an end-result as an individual and a team player and I think that for me, I relax best when my mind is stretch, when what I do teaches me new skills and new ways of thinking and broadens my horizons.

As for the continuous upgrade in 'stuff', well, the better equipped your character, the better your character survives. In gaming terms, how is survival not fulfilling a basic need?