World of Warcraft Players Are Ideal Employees

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According to this guy, World of Warcraft players are the ideal employee. Well, if you can get them away from playing WoW long enough to go to work that is. ;)

"I would rather hire a high-level World of Warcraft player than an MBA from Harvard," says Brown, who specializes in researching organizational structures. "Why is a game, a massive multiplayer game that has maybe 12 million people or more playing it like World of Warcraft so important at both the individual level and maybe at the corporate level? To understand these massive multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, do not think about it as just gameplay, but look at the social life on the edge of the game."
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Well this guy obviously hasn't seen guys like the dude I used to work with who literally lost his job for playing WoW on his personal laptop, at work, while he was supposed to be working. This guy never got past the call center level and that's probably the reason why. He wasn't even good at such a simple task. His wife quit her job and all the two did was sit around and play that stupid game.
 
Dan_D said:
Well this guy obviously hasn't seen guys like the dude I used to work with who literally lost his job for playing WoW on his personal laptop, at work, while he was supposed to be working. This guy never got past the call center level and that's probably the reason why. He wasn't even good at such a simple task. His wife quit her job and all the two did was sit around and play that stupid game.
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The author of this article is talking about bleeding-edge progress players. There is a distinct difference between "the elite" and guys who just play the game for tons of hours at a time.

In fact, very frequently, elite progression players put far fewer hours into WoW than obsessed guys like your ex-coworker did. It's not uncommon that the obsessive players do so because they quite frankly aren't as good as the best, and spend so much time trying to reach that level of play.

Some of the top-most guilds in the world were raiding less than 20 hours a week during Cataclysm.
 
I kinda see his point, ive met some extremely sharp people on world of warcraft. Notice he said "high-level" i dont think he means lvl 80, im thinking more like arena rating of 2500+
 
buttons said:
I kinda see his point, ive met some extremely sharp people on world of warcraft. Notice he said "high-level" i dont think he means lvl 80, im thinking more like arena rating of 2500+
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to get that high up in the ladder you need to be highly organized and sharp.
 
Big difference between work and play... I don't care what anyone says, it doesn't matter how much you like what you do, work and play are still completely different.

wow he came up with something revolutionary /s... if you really are into something, you put a lot of time and work into it...

Who would have thunk? Maybe hot-rod'ers in the 50s, [H] readers in the 90s, or virtually ANY community there are people that love what they do on their free time and perform awesome work.

It just doesn't translate equally to work or a profession. Completely different goals ultimately.

Now articulate, driven, detail oriented people are generally always that way in most stuff they do, so yes hiring based on traits can be more effective then on experience... It is just hard to judge/measure traits.
 
Awesome. This means I should be a CEO of a rather profitable corporation. I better go tell my boss.
 
A wow player from 3-5 years ago? Sure.

Today's wow player? Nah.

Being able to balance being in a top raiding guild + pass my classes in college was quite the feat. These days the positive learning aspects of the game are lessened, such as communication and politics. (which died as server communities died, due to server transfers and global matchmaking in pvp then later pve content).
 
Our core raid team had a billionaire hedge-fund manager, the guy who did orbital calculations for the ISS with NASA, and a few huge IT company employees. We ran a tight ship, but were close friends. Everyone had jobs and responsibilities, and worked together like crazy to become the best at every aspect of the game. From arenas, battlegrounds, raids, and the economy, we simply wanted the control everything.

WoW for us wasn't a game, it was an online community we took pride in being the best. Most people counted their achievement points, we only counted world ranks and how many times we made the front page of World of Raids and MMO-Champion.

I regret nothing about playing WoW for 6 years. Made plenty of connections, built some huge gaming websites that lead me to my job and business today, and made some friends all over the US I'll never forget.

Funny thing is, the only reason I don't play anymore is that I don't have time because of the job I got.
 
dandirk said:
Big difference between work and play... I don't care what anyone says, it doesn't matter how much you like what you do, work and play are still completely different.

wow he came up with something revolutionary /s... if you really are into something, you put a lot of time and work into it...

Who would have thunk? Maybe hot-rod'ers in the 50s, [H] readers in the 90s, or virtually ANY community there are people that love what they do on their free time and perform awesome work.

It just doesn't translate equally to work or a profession. Completely different goals ultimately.

Now articulate, driven, detail oriented people are generally always that way in most stuff they do, so yes hiring based on traits can be more effective then on experience... It is just hard to judge/measure traits.
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Also the person who enters an MBA program might have a certain level of passion about that discipline, enough so to be accepted into a masters program. Of course there are always people that enter a masters program for pratical reasons instead of passion, just not anyone that was in my MFA class :). The incentive for online game play might be something different.
 
I find the title to be completely misleading. It should be more like "Goal driven, dedicated people are ideal employees." Otherwise you could say that "People who drive red cars are ideal employees." and it is technically correct in the same way the current title is.

Not all WoW players are goal driven and dedicated. Some just mess around and act like idiots.
 
ballistic90 said:
Not all WoW players are goal driven and dedicated. Some just mess around and act like idiots.
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*Most

The amount of Methods and Blood Legions has drastically declined since Wrath of the Lich King. There's more guilds clearing all the content, but the caliber is far lower.
 
Why would someone want kids and socially inept people that society has cast into the shadows of their mothers basement working for their company?
 
I wonder if this would also apply to MTG players that develop their own decks and get deep into rules and synergies or combos, and then adapt to the draw and opponent.

Is it just me or would PVP prowess be more valuable? Trying to outperform opponents who are doing the same (with potent healing), without the threat mechanic.
 
We have a guy at work now that was feigning back problems last week. This week he says he has the flu, and this guy is supposed to be tradesman. Meanwhile we have laborers who say everytime they log in to wow this guy has been online. We've had other people lose their jobs over it. We've also had decent employees who play the game as well.

Just because a person plays wow is a terrible reason to separate someone from others. Period.
 
Lol world of warcraft only smart people can excel in it ? hahaha that game is designed for 10 year olds it's so simple and pathetic. Want a game that takes real skill to master for example play EVERQUEST 1 or 2 it would make 95% of world of warcraft players loose their little minds trying to understand how to do everything.
 
He has to hire WoW people because

"I would rather hire a high-level World of Warcraft player than an MBA from Harvard," says Brown, who specializes in researching organizational structures
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It sounds like the job is as much of a tedious grind as leveling in WoW.
 
yelsewshane said:
Lol world of warcraft only smart people can excel in it ? hahaha that game is designed for 10 year olds it's so simple and pathetic. Want a game that takes real skill to master for example play EVERQUEST 1 or 2 it would make 95% of world of warcraft players loose their little minds trying to understand how to do everything.
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Yeah, I didn't understand that either. I'd hire people based off their work experience and what they're capable of; not off the merit of some crappy MMO they dedicate 24hrs a day to. Don't put that crap on your resume, seriously.

I remember once I had to look over resumes for one of my co-workers and I saw on some application that this guy, while supposedly a kick-boxer, "Leads a reputable Guild in a popular online game known as World of Warcraft" and it made me think, "really?". Playing MMO's is fine for recreational activity but, Jesus Christ, it doesn't prove CRAP for anyone's capacity to work or do a job well.

This article made me laugh, though.
 
A good friend of mine had her life turned upside down by a boyfriend who was addicted to WoW. The type of player who had multiple maxed out characters and was constantly on the search for gear, etc etc. I guess you could consider him to be one of the more elite players. Well in short, it ruined their relationship. They have now broken up and are selling the house.
 
RailGunRiz said:
Yeah, I didn't understand that either. I'd hire people based off their work experience and what they're capable of; not off the merit of some crappy MMO they dedicate 24hrs a day to. Don't put that crap on your resume, seriously.

I remember once I had to look over resumes for one of my co-workers and I saw on some application that this guy, while supposedly a kick-boxer, "Leads a reputable Guild in a popular online game known as World of Warcraft" and it made me think, "really?". Playing MMO's is fine for recreational activity but, Jesus Christ, it doesn't prove CRAP for anyone's capacity to work or do a job well.

This article made me laugh, though.
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He might as well have said "Is a pillar of the community on the popular image board known as 4chan." When I graduate university I will make sure to include my MMO stats to impress employers and show that I have dedication.
 
I am sure there are a few who make decent employees (just as in anyone with a hobby). I used to go to a school with a guy 5 or so years ago. He was great at writing software and he supposedly had a maxed out character. Was pretty smart on top of that.
 
yelsewshane said:
Lol world of warcraft only smart people can excel in it ? hahaha that game is designed for 10 year olds it's so simple and pathetic. Want a game that takes real skill to master for example play EVERQUEST 1 or 2 it would make 95% of world of warcraft players loose their little minds trying to understand how to do everything.
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You seem bitter, trying to belittle WoW players just to make you feel better about yourself. Maybe because Everquest and it's failed sequel died off years ago while WoW is still going strong 8+ years later? I guess I'd be pretty angsty too if I invested time into a failed MMO like Everquest.
 
GotNoRice said:
You seem bitter, trying to belittle WoW players just to make you feel better about yourself. Maybe because Everquest and it's failed sequel died off years ago while WoW is still going strong 8+ years later? I guess I'd be pretty angsty too if I invested time into a failed MMO like Everquest.
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WoW copied everything from EQ in the begining. The games was great, then TBC came out and the game was pure shit.
 
InorganicMatter said:
The author of this article is talking about bleeding-edge progress players. There is a distinct difference between "the elite" and guys who just play the game for tons of hours at a time.

In fact, very frequently, elite progression players put far fewer hours into WoW than obsessed guys like your ex-coworker did. It's not uncommon that the obsessive players do so because they quite frankly aren't as good as the best, and spend so much time trying to reach that level of play.

Some of the top-most guilds in the world were raiding less than 20 hours a week during Cataclysm.
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I've heard that same line of reasoning a lot over the years, and it's always been horse shit.

The problem with top guilds is that they start their raiding clock the second they enter a raid instance and log onto vent, then immediately end it when loot is passed out at the last encounter. They take this hilariously inaccurate number and tout it every chance they get.

They seem to conveniently forget the dozens of hours of prep work or incidental play per week, which includes but is not limited to: research, farming, non-25 man raiding, arenas, crafting, lurking on the AH, dailies. Even the time the top raiders spend just sitting in vent waiting for a raid to form is significant.

Think of it this way: I work a normal 40 hour/week job. Does that mean I have exactly 128 hours of free time/sleep per week? Fuck no. Commute time, overtime (I'm a salary guy so no overtime pay), calls when I'm not at work, lunch breaks, preparing every morning for work, answering e-mails at home: it all adds up.
 
Except when they are holed up in their apartment playing WOW for 36 hours straight and decide not to go to work at all, that is.
 
InorganicMatter said:
The author of this article is talking about bleeding-edge progress players. There is a distinct difference between "the elite" and guys who just play the game for tons of hours at a time.

In fact, very frequently, elite progression players put far fewer hours into WoW than obsessed guys like your ex-coworker did. It's not uncommon that the obsessive players do so because they quite frankly aren't as good as the best, and spend so much time trying to reach that level of play.

Some of the top-most guilds in the world were raiding less than 20 hours a week during Cataclysm.
Click to expand...

Yikes. Count me as one of those who considers themselves lucky to not be in one of "the top-most guilds in the world" playing WOW.

Just, yikes.
 
This video was originally at least a year old.

PS, "bleeding edge" is a stupid term used by vacuous people.
 
I personally do not believe people will automatically show similar dedication, intellectual abilities or whatever is it they are referring to, in both video games and real life job. The motivation factors are just very different. Most of us plays video games because we want to, while we hold a job because we need to.
 
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