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Warcraft Player Trying To Level Without Killing Anyone

wowinsider.com — A college student is attempting to level two "pacifist" characters up to the top of World of Warcraft's character progression, characters he's playing without attacking anything. It's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in the violent virtual world, and partly to see if he can do it

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  • josefresco, on 01/09/2008, -29/+4no hack and slash?!? what am I to do?
  • MikeonTV, on 01/09/2008, -28/+10Thats like doing a late night talk show without writers!
    • ivanisavich, on 01/09/2008, -1/+11No...more like hosting a night talk show without speaking.
  • dagnabbit, on 01/09/2008, -5/+296Sounds boring as hell.
    • psg188, on 01/09/2008, -1/+36Agreed. Though if he finds it fun then props to him. I personally don't find many MMOs any fun, WoW being one of them, but if he can entertain himself without killing anything then go for it.

      On another note though, why is this news?
      • Stradenko, on 01/09/2008, -0/+26It's news on wowinsider and digg....It's not like the source link is from CNN.
    • JJBagoose, on 01/09/2008, -3/+14Yea, because WoW is so Exciting otherwise!
      • BearinG, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Well, imagine removing all the killing out of Oblivion...
    • shaelen, on 01/09/2008, -4/+1Sounds more like a challenge, to me. Seems like it's only one step more difficult than trying to get to 60 or 70 soloing. I got to 60 on my own, without a guild or any dungeons, the first year it was released.. But it took me 7 months.
      • dyrshin, on 01/09/2008, -0/+9I play MMOs too, but I keep the game talk inside the game for a reason. That reason being it makes you sound like a flaming loser, not that you are.
      • tyywebb, on 01/10/2008, -1/+1I'm proud to say I've wasted a grand total of 4 hours on that hideous game.
      • BearinG, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1I've started playing on a private server with x40 exp etc.. Now THAT is the way to play it.. one week and im lvl 70 ;)

        That's how they should've done it on Official servers.. maybe not x40, but faster leveling on different realms .. but i guess then people wouldn't have to quit their lives to play.. which would be bad news for Blizzard. Without killing though sounds pretty boring..

        I was just amazed.. 7 months.. and that's only one char.. one class..
    • Terr01, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Probably. But it also depends on the game.

      For example, Splinter Cell. In the original, completing the game without killing anyone but Nikoladze? That's challenging and fun. Or in Chaos theory, you can complete the entire game and (barring places where the story logic makes it utterly required), you can get through with no bodycount and only knocking out three people. (Boiler room.)

      Or Deus Ex? There, it's really just Anne Navarre you have to kill.

      I guess I look for too much replayability in old games? Anyway, those are more-or-less first-person-shooters, and pacifism (or a variant thereof) can be pretty fun. Odds are it's easier in an MMORPG because you can focus on healing/support roles, it just means you need teamwork.
    • ericrous, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3Reminds me of "Postal 2." Supposedly, it's possible to get through the entire game without killing anyone (just using defensive weapons like the stunner). If you succeed, you get a special message at the end that says "Thanks for playing, Jesus."
  • implied, on 01/09/2008, -24/+221Who gives a *****?
    • mrelusive, on 01/09/2008, -16/+7You do obviously, since you cared enough to click the link and comment. ;)
      • dasdef, on 01/10/2008, -0/+5that doesnt necessarily mean that he gives a *****.. Maybe hes just bored. i know thats why im on digg.
    • stephengotlost, on 01/09/2008, -10/+2750 digg users do
    • surian, on 01/10/2008, -4/+1I give you a digg... but then I clicked the link anyway.
    • britoca, on 01/10/2008, -2/+3philosophy of conflict is interesting
    • brownspank, on 01/10/2008, -1/+2Sorry, I don't give away my ***** for free.
    • brufleth, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1I knew a guy who did this with a priest well over a year ago. He didn't even equip a weapon until he was level fifty-something and it was just because he had been using it to level his enchanting.
  • Four20, on 01/09/2008, -23/+11Playing WoW. . .without the tedious grinding. . .I like
    • psg188, on 01/09/2008, -0/+32Yeah, instead you have tedious healing, and tedious stun bomb throwing. That's actually less interesting then killing mobs.
    • antiorblkflag9, on 01/09/2008, -1/+31If you take away the tedious grinding from WoW you aren't left with much
      • ZenMojo, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2Not exactly true. I leveled to 70 without actively grinding even once (some quests are grind central, though, but grinding's not the goal). I even tried to convince other people in my guild not to grind because I told them it was a waste of time. The funny thing was, I leveled to 60 without ever reaching that area outside the black gate. Of course, I also soloed a ***** of elite quests before they renamed them "group," which would have saved me a lot of stress if they'd done it earlier.
        • Meatball01, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2I never did any grinding on my character either. Just quests, quests, quests.
  • soulmantim, on 01/09/2008, -15/+4So what? He's a healer. Big f'n whoop
    • AndrewDB, on 01/10/2008, -4/+5Noor, a gnome rogue on Maiev, and his Horde counterpart, Reinisch the undead priest, seem to have the gumption and persistence to make it to the top of the XP tree.

      No, he's a rogue.
      • brufleth, on 01/10/2008, -3/+1If he's a rogue then his "experiment" will just be other people killing stuff with him in group. There are some quests which consist of talking to different people or collecting items that don't require killing but they aren't enough to level you.
  • justice7, on 01/09/2008, -4/+117Healing people who ARE attacking is like making guns for the soldiers who fire them .. or even field medics.
    They are part of the fight -- hardly a pacifist.
    • lamech, on 01/09/2008, -2/+24the only exception is if they heal both sides
      • mithrasinvictus, on 01/09/2008, -2/+10Nice observation, but you would still profit from conflict.
      • DivisibleByZero, on 01/09/2008, -1/+10What if he started a whole commune of pacifists who go into situations where they get themselves attacked, then heal each other. They could even act like they were protesting something.
      • Elranzer, on 01/10/2008, -5/+3Sounds like the USA in WW2, before Pearl Harbor...
    • solid12345, on 01/09/2008, -4/+11I love shooting medics on battlefield 2, serves them right for not being aggressive.
    • thcobbs, on 01/09/2008, -2/+19Damn Canadians
  • novaj666, on 01/09/2008, -10/+111and they say people who play WoW have no life this guy is just sitting there. wow it will be a long time before someone touches his penis
  • invisiblehat, on 01/09/2008, -17/+24What a pussy!
    • fluidfoundation, on 01/09/2008, -3/+11a level 37 pussy, with +3 to anxiety and +12 critical chance of ***** himself when seeing a murloc.
      • ungamedplayer, on 01/10/2008, -0/+4I'm level 70, and i -still- hate murlocs.
  • thirty6chambers, on 01/09/2008, -8/+58let's all gank him.
  • induren, on 01/09/2008, -17/+6That's a fresh approach, pretty cool!
    • skarbreeze, on 01/09/2008, -6/+5Fixed: That's a French approach, pretty cool!
    • skankyBacon, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1There was a guy who did this in Everquest ages ago. Kind of interesting, but I'd be bored out of my mind within a half hour.
  • plizard, on 01/09/2008, -23/+68apparently they're not any girls at this kid's college.
    • joshcxa, on 01/09/2008, -1/+28Apparently you didn't read the article. He's 50
      • DangerMouse9, on 01/09/2008, -4/+4What does his being 50 have to do with the female enrollment? Oh... you were saying he's not a kid he's 50. Well, he's still someone's kid.
      • plizard, on 01/09/2008, -4/+1no i did but if you're in college - you're a kid.
    • halobender, on 01/09/2008, -2/+2What a waste of college years!
    • DreKor, on 01/09/2008, -2/+2well, he's 50, so you're probably right.
    • PanicAK, on 01/09/2008, -3/+0Down towards the bottom he says that he is 50 years old. So yeah, I don't imagine him being all that itnterested in parties and girls anyway...
      • BearinG, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1So when you hit 50, you won't be interested in women anymore?
    • TreDubZedd, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3RTFA. This "kid" is probably old enough to be your grandpa.
    • passedoutghost, on 01/09/2008, -6/+1What sort of college does a 50yr old go to?
      • orb_nsc, on 01/09/2008, -1/+12All of 'em. There's no age limit for obtaining a degree, you know.
    • xXGeechXx, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1I really don't think that's the problem here.
    • Kelmon, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Your school failed to teach you to spell so it's a bit "pot calling the kettle black"
  • Crath, on 01/09/2008, -9/+55These are the people that end up killing people in real life anyway, so whatever.
    • thesonofdarwin, on 01/09/2008, -3/+1If you are really trying to earn that position with Hillary you need to not limit your prejudice to one group, but gamers in general. Work on that in the future.

      Translation: That was the most moronic statement I've heard all night. I thought the lady who called work four times within 5 minutes to ask how late we were open was the winner of the Moron of the Night, but I will have to call her back and take it away. Look what you've gone and done, she'll be devastated.
  • ubergeek09, on 01/09/2008, -14/+40Wow, this dude has no life.
    • DangerMouse9, on 01/09/2008, -4/+7All you had to see was that he played WoW to know he didn't have a life.
      • LogitechG15, on 01/10/2008, -1/+5Or is the poster on digg.com bashing someone the person without a life?
    • l0k0, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3Says "ubergeek09". Nuff said.
    • Nick519, on 01/10/2008, -1/+1RTFA. he's 50, a programmer with a long history, and he is connected to the firesign theater. he's already had a better life than you probably will.
  • solid12345, on 01/09/2008, -5/+18I'm sure this is a model for the middle east peace process.
  • danevahey, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3215 minutes of fame? More like 15 months of frustrating progress.
  • disconnec, on 01/09/2008, -2/+51YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT DONNY.
    • burningmanstan, on 01/09/2008, -0/+7And, you know, he's got emotional problems, man.

      You mean... beyond pacifism?
      • MikeFallopian, on 01/09/2008, -0/+5The pacifist is not the issue, dude.
      • Jones82, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3I myself dabbled in pacifism once... not in nam of course
    • ericrous, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Noor, this is not Everquest, this is WoW. There are rules!
  • fxu1989, on 01/09/2008, -19/+10HOW THE ***** DID THIS MAKE FRONT PAGE ?

    Oh right .. spamming sunuvubeaches.
  • legendxx, on 01/09/2008, -8/+15"It's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in the violent virtual world..."

    ... really? You're trying to prove the point that you can 'beat' a game without playing it the way its developers intended.. and in an incredibly sissy manner? Wow.. that's a huge time waster.. just say you're doing it for ***** and giggles
  • bigfinger, on 01/09/2008, -4/+17Thats like trying to have sex without a partner, it could be fun, but it's still not sex.
    • jimmick, on 01/10/2008, -0/+5You have opened my mind to a brave new concept
  • dext, on 01/09/2008, -4/+11And the award for the lamest player of an already lame game goes to.....
  • T8erT0T, on 01/09/2008, -8/+14"A college student is attempting to level two "pacifist" characters up to the top of World of Warcraft's ..."
    A college student is not getting laid.
    • Kythas, on 01/09/2008, -0/+6College student? I don't know where OP got this. The guy is 50 years old and is a software developer. I think he's way past college.

      Buried because even the OP obviously didn't RTA.
  • hellb0y, on 01/09/2008, -8/+3FFS im glad he aint in my guild.. LFG galore
  • deeboe, on 01/09/2008, -8/+35Dear college student,
    Get laid.
    Signed, Life
  • Makaveli604, on 01/09/2008, -10/+13people need to stop making fun of this, based on recent digg topics wow players are 9x more likely to get laid then digg users
    • halobender, on 01/09/2008, -3/+2What?
      Pictures or it didn't happen.
    • DangerMouse9, on 01/09/2008, -4/+0Just because someone says something on-line doesn't mean it's true. And avatar on avatar sex is not sex. The "hot" night elf you're getting it on with is really a 40-something dude that lives in his mom's basement.
      • shaelen, on 01/09/2008, -3/+2"Just because someone says something on-line doesn't mean it's true." Exactly, that goes both ways. I play Wow, and I've slept with more women than most guys who've never even played a computer game. Why do most people believe gamers never have sex?
        • skankyBacon, on 01/10/2008, -2/+1Of course you have, random_internet_person3124161201.
          • shaelen, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3And just how does THIS help anything, *****? All the other Random users claiming gamers are losers is correct?

            Heh. Welcome to hating what you hate the most about yourself.
          • skankyBacon, on 01/11/2008, -1/+1Not necessarily, but there's something inherently sad about someone boasting about his sexual exploits on the interwebs. Hell, it'd be just as sad in real life. Especially when it's as overblown as "I've slept with more women than most guys who've never even played a computer game."
      • gilgamesh23, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1I am NOT 40 years old! That was ten years ago.
        :(
    • StaticThunder, on 01/10/2008, -1/+3WoW players are also infinite times more likely to turn down sex so they can go on the raid.
      • hatdrop, on 01/10/2008, -2/+0or you can be awesome and have sex WHILE you raid
        • s0nicfreak, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1While that would be awesome, it's not really practical. It's pretty much impossible to do both efficiently at the same time; one of the activities is going to suffer.
          • BearinG, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Unless you just provide the "tool" for one of the activities and someone else does the work..
  • AntiScurvyLg, on 01/09/2008, -1/+7"It's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in the violent virtual world..."
    This has been done. There are plenty of pacifist players in EVE Online.
    • mike17032, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2That game has no levels, so its not exactly a challange there.
    • skankyBacon, on 01/10/2008, -0/+2Been done in EQ too, a long time ago.
  • itsgotyou, on 01/09/2008, -5/+10I'm gonna log on to WoW when i get home, hunt this pacifist pussy down and kill him until he fights back.
    • Mikhail101, on 01/09/2008, -2/+10No, Thats being a pussy, if wanna be a badass you should hunt him down in real life.
      • itsgotyou, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3no thanks, i only kill people in the virtual world. the repercussions of killing in the real one really messes up my schedule.
  • Mikhail101, on 01/09/2008, -0/+6Buried... for lamness.
  • seanhive, on 01/09/2008, -2/+6People do this in Lineage 2 all the time, which is a way harder grind and has no SAFE servers or hunting zones.

    It's called wasting your life. Playing a game without playing it.
  • blah247, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2It's amazing what people will waste their time on... Why take so much longer to level when in the end you'll still end up with a level 70 character. I'll never understand roleplayers.
    • s0nicfreak, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Because the fun is in getting there.
  • 1gunners4, on 01/09/2008, -2/+3The point of this game, you have missed it.
  • toxicityj, on 01/09/2008, -0/+9it'd be easy for a while...since half of the quests are "run here and back 50 times"
  • PanicAK, on 01/09/2008, -0/+14My god, it's bad enough trying to level up when you actually do kill *****.
  • TuxedoMax, on 01/09/2008, -1/+9World of Walkcraft
  • mike17032, on 01/09/2008, -1/+5You want to do this ***** when you quest solo, fine. But stay the ***** out of a battleground if you dont want to fight. Not killing players just ***** it up for the rest of your team.
    • floatingpoints, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Not if you're a healer, in which case you should be healing, not doing DPS on anyone.
    • lilrabbit129, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Having a healer that WANTS to just heal in a battleground is a god-send.
      • mike17032, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1That works for the priest, but what the hell is the Rogue going to do? Chain sap everything until DR kicks in?
  • oygad, on 01/09/2008, -1/+0someone did this almost two years ago
  • Evildudetx, on 01/09/2008, -2/+3What a dumbass....guess he missed the entire point of the game.
  • Jenadae, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1I did this almost 2 years ago with my holy priest its quite easy if you find healing enjoyable like some of us do and isn't that big of a feat. If it wasn't for me wanting my Arena gear i still wouldn't have killed anyone on that character.
  • GeneralGore, on 01/09/2008, -0/+6Sounds boring. I never understood characters like that though, since grinding is tedious enough to begin with.
  • papavb, on 01/09/2008, -3/+2Boom! Headshot!
  • alpharuin, on 01/09/2008, -1/+5You know it's a sad day when we have news stories about people in virtual worlds.
  • xxtoon, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Dugg for funniest comments i have read of a post. Also like people trying to go against norm to see if they can do it!
  • Chakat, on 01/09/2008, -0/+3Sounds like the pacifist challenge from nethack and similar games. I guess this may be one of the signs of a "mature" game system, where people start creating challenges for themselves, just to see if they can be done.
    • StaticThunder, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3When you have to stretch this far to find a new challenge for yourself to justify continuing to send in your $15, the game is done and you've bought yourself an expensive sandbox.
  • Foundation12, on 01/09/2008, -4/+3It seems that perhaps I'm the only person on digg who thinks this is pretty badass. I mean come on, a pacifist in a hack'n'slash game? Where's everyone's sense of counterculture?
  • DivisibleByZero, on 01/09/2008, -3/+2some people had sex with sorority girls in college.



    /I wasn't one of them though.
  • Grambo, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2Yeah, it says that he is a college student. However, reality and the article suggest that he is a 50 year old computer programmer.
    • nehigh, on 01/13/2008, -0/+1No, it said he roleplayed in college and that he in fact is a 50 year old computer programmer.

      Learn to read.
  • rishqo, on 01/09/2008, -2/+3How is this "a playable web game"? Please post to appropriate categories...
  • GreatSunJester, on 01/09/2008, -3/+1So -- this is a parasitic pacifist? Going to battlegrounds for the quest XP but not helping the side it is taking up a player slot on reduces the strenght of the other side. Honestly that character should be mass "report AFK"'d each time and booted from the battleground.
    Wait... you say it is out there healing... healing the people who are ....KILLING! Some pacifist. "I want all the benefits provided by your violence without committing any violence"
    Sheesh.. it is all well and fine to make a personal gaming choice, but when your choice negatively affects other players, you might reconsider. True pacifism is harder than this person makes it out to be.
    • StaticThunder, on 01/10/2008, -0/+3I don't think he's doing it for the ethics; he's doing it to prove that you can get to 70 without technically engaging in the primary game mechanic. Big deal.
  • NeoCortex, on 01/09/2008, -2/+5No killing in WoW? It's like the end of the world...of Warcraft.
  • greenamp, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2It's so funny to hear you guys rant on about how playing WoW is nerdy and a waste of time blah blah, when most of you sit on ***** digg all day long then go home and zone out in front of the TV. Yet you all make it out like you are off rock climbing and sleeping with exotic women in your private jets. Please.
    • BarleyWind, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1There are wastes of time and then there are retarded as ***** wastes of time.
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