Everyone deals with death in different ways. For one man, the best way to navigate a son’s death was to try to dive into his son’s interests.
Yesterday, a post on Reddit popped up that described a father’s recent dive into World of Warcraft — a game that his son loved, but that he was having trouble understanding:
total noob. no clue what i’m doing.
So im older (late 50’s) and my son used to play lots of WOW while he was recovering after getting hit by a mortar in iraq. Recently he passed away and I decided that I wanted to connect with areas of my sons life I never understood. WOW is one of those areas. I am totally overwhelmed right now. I watched a youtube video and decided instances looked like a lot of fun. I “ran” 2 dungeons this weekend. Whatever druid kept resurrecting me – thanks. I had a lot of fun. I know what clicked with son and it clicked with me. I want to keep playing but right now I feel like a drain on any groups unfortunate enough to get stuck with me. Are there any guides on how not to suck? I’m playing a destruction warlock. I’ve poked around on google but ABP goes nuts whenever I click on a link so I am a bit gun shy. Where the hell do I even start?
Jumping into an MMO for the first time is undoubtedly overwhelming. But, amazingly, a lot of the Reddit WoW community jumped into the thread. Now, there’s always a chance this post, while very touching, is actually a hoax. But, what stands out the most about this story discovered by The Daily Dot is how the awesome community responded to the man in the first place: not only did they offer condolences, they also tried their best to offer the man tips, guides, and support. At least one of the people responding was a Blizzard employee, too.
The response was amazing, and somewhat overwhelming for the father.
I got back from work last night and logged into reddit to see if any more responses had come in. I am in shock. The outpouring of support and condolences boggles my mind. I would like to thank all you individually for your support and kindness. That total strangers would extend their sympathies to me and that a game was the catalyst is something amazing. Since my son passed I have struggled tremendously coming to terms with the new reality I am part of. I am humbled at the collective love and kindness shown to me – a total stranger – by the members of this community. It’s been challenging to respond because I am overwhelmed.
It also seems as if he’s starting to understand why his son liked World of Warcraft so much.”One of the biggest regrets I have was not doing more to meet my son in his world,” he wrote on Reddit. “I can clearly see what was so engrossing about the game,” he wrote. “Thank you so very much. This means so much to me I can’t accurately describe it.”
Comments
3 responses to “Dad Says He’s Mourning His Son; WoW Community Rushes To Help”
As said in the article, a good reminder to try and share and understand your kids’ interests while they are still with you, even if it means you end up watching 9 series of Supernatural, and dressing up at cosplay events, and having an unexpectedly good time.
Best advice to give him would of been to go into WoW blind, at times it is confusing and difficult but that’s all part of the experience, some of the times in wow when i was still inexperienced and lost were the most enjoyable, being a noob is a fleeting experience.
Hopefully not all parents have to lose a child before understanding how important this is.
Bless all those nerds. This is really really lovely.
And this is why I forked out for 3 playstation fours.. so my kids and I could play destiny together, and complain about the RNG, of course.