My two World of Warcraft characters are Herculesroot, left, a Level 2 Night Elf Rogue for the Alliance in the realm of Lothar, and Hr, right, a Level 3 Orc Hunter for the Hoard in the realm of Nathrezim. Right. I’ve lost my mind. I’m also having a terrific time learning my way around. I enjoy fighting for both sides. It’s a metaphor for my radical Center politics in the “real” realm.
I’ve been encouraged in my explorations by young friends who are way further into the cult that I am. Joel and Lindsey here in Denver are Horde-sters. Lindsey, aka ditchwitch, a troll shaman, e-mailed me, “Joel and I would suggest that you play a Horde race on the Nathrezim server, so we can play together. We can also help you out and create lower level alts to level with you.” This is like learning French. I think she was saying they can somehow dumb down their characters’ advanced powers in order to advance from level to level with my rookie creations. “To level” means “to advance a level.” I predict that one day this phrase will be in common usage among civilians, as ordinary as “to e-mail.”
More encouragement came from La Conner, Washington, where my friend Kes reports that his son Eli, who first introduced me to WoW, is delighted at my immersion into the game. Kes added, “He’s worried about you, though, trying to make your way through that world alone. He wants to know what realm and what server you’re on.” This delighted me no end. As with Joel and Lindsey’s e-mail, it felt like an interfusion of real and virtual worlds, with friendship and even compassion moving through the portals. But I am still wondering where I will find the time to level in either Lothar or Nathrezim, given that today I took on two new “real” quests, a joint poetry reading with my sister Oct. 10th in Cambridge, and a fund-raising project on behalf of Arts for Colorado.
No worries. At the Phoenix Concept this morning one of the regulars shared how he always asks God for help in his daily challenges for this simple reason: “God don’t lose no battles.”