Ethnologia Balkanica 16 (2012)

MMORPG: An Entrance into the World Without Borders1

Ljiljana Gavrilovi, Belgrade

Abstract
Until 2009, Serbias citizens were relatively restricted in their contacts with European
countries due to the strict visa regime, years of isolation and inability to travel freely,.
However, the hasty development of Internet in the first decade of the 21st century has allowed better access to information as well as incorporation into various social networks
that are an integral part of virtual worlds, such as that created by Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). The analysis of comments made by players of World of Warcraft (the largest MMORPG, with more than eleven million players
throughout the world) will address how players from Serbia fit into the global community of WoW players, how they feel about the world without borders, and how playing
within this virtual world influences offline communication and contributes to players
integration into contemporary European and world trends.

We are no longer stuck with the Game of Life as we receive it from our
ancestors. We can make a new one, almost however we like (Castronova 2005:70).
About the games
In 2065, a war gang of Orcs, accompanied by a dragon, robbed the central bank
in the digital game Avalon4. In the novel Halting State, by Charles Stross, this
robbery prompts a call to the police. Even though, the police woman who receives the call, initially thinks it is frivolous (after all, what is being robbed is
an imaginary bank in a game), when she is explained about the fine the manufacturer of the game will have to pay due to safety omission (drop of shares,
that is, drop of the company value), she realizes that the robbery, albeit in the
virtual world, is more than real. Still, she has a hard time understanding how
to investigate a crime that was committed by a radge bunch o faeries in a place
that doesnt exist (Stross 2008: 20); that is, how it is possible for the real and
virtual worlds to intersect.
1

This manuscript was prepared as part of project no 177026, Cultural Heritage and Identity, funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education and Science.

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For all those people who are not avid players of digital games, this entire
story looks like a science fiction scenario, not related in any way to actual reality.2 Nevertheless, in the past decade, synthetic worlds have develop quickly and
considerably.3 Numerous people spend their leisure time within these worlds;
new languages, cultures and worldviews are being developed at the same time;
and virtual events are increasingly reflected in the real world, that is, real
life (RL4).
In November 2004, Blizzards game World of Warcraft (WoW5) was released
in the USA and Australia. WoW, the fourth game designed in the Warcraft universe6, is located in an imaginary world named Azeroth. This is the first game
designed entirely as a MMORPG.7 During 2005, WoW was released in Europe
and Asia.8 Already in the first year, Warcrafts world became inhabited by more
than 3.5million players worldwide. Until 2008, the number increased to more
than 11million players (significantly higher than the entire Serbian population).9

This, actually, has already happened: On February 13, 2003, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that a man had surreptitiously entered Britannia, the world of Ultima Online,
through another users avatar. In that form, he sold her synthetic house to someone else for
about 50000 yen (US$ 416). Tokyo police found the man behind the avatar and arrested
him. Despite the small size of the theft, the incident was reported because it was an unusual case of an Earthbound security force intervening in the events of a synthetic world. In
August of that same year, the Korea Times reported that synthetic worlds were becoming a
hotbed of cyber crime. According to Koreas National Police Agency, of 40000 computer
crimes committed in 2003, 22000 were online game related. A typical case involved the
theft of 60quadrillion gold pieces from a synthetic world, funds that were later liquidated
into 1.5billion won (about $1.3million). Korean police have no qualms about intervening in these cases and taking the criminals to court. In general, the state can be expected
to intervene to defend citizens against property loss, as in these cases, and to defend them
against direct dangers (Castronova 2005:237).
3
In this paper, the terms virtual world and synthetic world are used interchangeably.
4
Abbreviation for Real Life, used by all MMORPG players.
5
An acronym used to refer to the game as well in this manuscript.
6
Real-time strategy games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, 1994; Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness 1995 and expansion Beyond the Dark Portal 1996; Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos 2002
and expansion The Frozen Throne 2003. A possibility of multiplayer participation was introduced in WarcraftIII onwards.
7
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of digital games
wherein a number of players are simultaneously present in the virtual world of the game;
each player has a constant interaction (cooperation and/or conflicts) with other players.
8
The U.S. version of the game supports English and Spanish, while the European version
can be played in French, German, Spanish and (from 2008), Russian language, while the
Asian version supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
9
These numbers do not include those who play on private/pirate servers, hence do not pay a
monthly rate (therefore could not be identified or counted).
2

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One could argue that the space has reached the upper limit of utilization, therefore, an increase in number of players is to be expected only by further updates
to the game.10
Even though it is usually assumed that the players of digital games are primarily children and teenagers, analysis reveals that the most interesting worlds
of MMORPG, such as WoW, have a different age structure of players:
(t)he truth is that the average age of MMORPG players is around26. In
fact, only 25 percent of MMORPG players are teenagers. About 50percent of MMORPG players work full time. About 36percent of players are
married, and 22percent have children. Thus digital or synthetic worlds
such as World of Warcraft are inhabited by people of various age, cultural contexts, and social backgrounds, from many different parts of world
(Corneliussen, Rettberg 2008: 67).
The typical MMORPG player spends between 20 and 30 hours per week in fantasy world. The more active players spend all of their free time there. According to Castronovas research from 2005, around 20% of the players consider the
fantasy world as their real world of existence, while the earth appears as a
place where they only eat and sleep (Castronova 2005: 12).
For all these reasons, MMORPG appear to be an important element of societys networking and digital culture, while the worlds created within appear
as a challenge to the traditional understandings of game playing and society (cf.
Corneliussen, Rettberg 2008: 7). WoW, as the most popular game so far, is the
best prism for an analysis of the relationship between virtual and real, as well
as for assessing influences of particular experiences from the virtual world onto
everyday behaviour within real life.
Crossing the border
At the time of WoW first appeared, Serbias citizens were under strict a visa regime11 so only a handful, after a long and painful procedure, which included
waiting in lines in front of foreign embassies, managed to travel outside the borders of the former Yugoslavia. Based on statistics collected in 2005, half of Serbias total population and two-thirds of its students, have never travelled outside
The game has in fact been enriched with three expansions: The Burning Crusade in 2007,
Wrath of the Lich King in 2008 and Cataclysm in 2010.
11
Most countries, including present members of the EU, introduced a visa regime for Serbias citizens in 1992. Serbia was only placed on the white Schengen list in the second half
of 2009.
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the former Yugoslavia (Jansen 2009). The majority of Serbian youth, during the
last decade of the 20th and first decade of the 21stcentury, have grown up lacking
the opportunity to travel abroad, to meet peers from other countries, and to get
to know their way of life and worldviews. The strong linguistic similarities and
shared political history with other former Yugoslav countries means that even
travel to these places is not perceived as a real foreign experience (cf. Jansen
2009: 33). This in turn has resulted in a generation of Serbian youth that has no
experience adjusting to customs and regulations different from those with which
they have grown up. Sreko Mihailovi refers to this youth as the Generation
of postponed life (2004: 22), describing these young people as a group that has
not, among other things, mastered the avoidance or transcendence of cultural
conflicts (cf. Williams 1994) unlike their peers, who have, more or less successfully, attained it during their upbringing.12
As Sreko Mihailovi shows, many young Serbs describe their life path as
involving a struggle to maintain individual and collective morality, normal social relations, and life goals in the midst of a crumbling society. Many also describe their efforts to gain access to the internet as a way out of the ghetto
in which they find themselves, a salvation from feeling detained (Mihailovi
2004:17).13 Much of Serbias youth immediately joined Azeroth: the first messages on the largest forum dedicated to playing WoW14 date to October 2005,
while the last ones date to the end of August 2011. The average age of the players appears somewhat lower than in other countries: the players are mostly high
school and university age students.
A logical consequence is a high level of ethnocentrism among the youth: Popadi (2004).
Access to internet is not equivalent to the personal ownership of a computer or home internet connection. Data from 2006 show that only 26,5% of households in Serbia had a
computer, while 18,5% had Internet connection (RZS 2006); in 2010, the percentages rose
to 50.4% of the households having a computer and 39% with Internet connection (RZS
2010).
14
The basic material used in the analysis is the subject World of Warcraft, located on the Krstarica.forum. This subject was started in October 2005, continuing into the present, with
the most messages (August 31st 2011: 8281 messages). Albeit some sporadic tries to open
the subject of WoW at other locations (for instance, Forum Sveta kompjutera, wow-srbija.
com, http://srbija.wowmmorpg.net), new players and discussion participants were redirected to Krstarica.forum, hence the new locations did not contain considerable messages nor
did the discussions last long. Throughout the paper, this particular type of data is used precisely because it does not represent answers obtained within a direct interview, based on
an assumption the answers express truthful attitudes, given voluntarily and free of possible
external influences which could hence distort/change ones oppinion/account. Clearly, the
conclusions drawn from this material should be tested in practice, but again, not through
interviews with participants but by observing the participants real life behaviour. This
should be attained within the next couple of years.
12
13

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The first messages show that there are players moving about Azeroth from
the beginning of 2005, meaning that they entered the world at the same time as
other players in Europe. Albeit virtual, that exit out of Serbia was a first chance
to learn new, different customs. In fact, the entrance into the world of this game
(but also to all others belonging to MMORPG) and learning its language and
culture, for the Serbian players was no different than from those players from
the West or East. For instance, Castronova describes her first entrance into
Norath, a world originated within MMORPG Everquest in 1999:
I feel the presence of humanity, but I suddenly feel like a stranger in a
very foreign culture. I become afraid of breaking some taboo, of making
a fool of myself (Castronova 2001: 2).
Corneliussen and Rettberg cite a frustrated female student, who says:
I cant write the assignment about World of Warcraft. I dont understand
the game. Last time I logged on, someone spat at me (2008: 1).
The students frustration disappeared when she met Azeroth, its language and
customs.
During 2005 and 2006, the Serbian players, especially so in the first months
of playing, have tried to stick together, forming a Serbian guild and moving jointly from server to server.15 Playing within these Serbian groups included, in fact, all those who speak the languages derived from the former Serbo-Croatian language. Although groups also formed under other ethnonyms,
there was little evidence of ethnic chauvinism or conflict within or between the
groups.16 This was important to players until they mastered the language of the

I played (on Dragonway server) and it was superb until the migration to Frostmane, then
around 80% of the Serbs migrated (Baklava_NS_88, 22.11.2006, Krstarica.forum).
16
I play druid (now Im 51 lvl) in a good Serbian guild (there are Croatians and Bosnians but they are OK, I dont mind) (username: Baklava_NS_88, 8.2.2006, Krstarica.
forum). Another type of statement, for instance, I went with the guild into the barrens
to meet with some Croatian guild, then we are off to the North (username: tommy gun,
12.12.2006, Krstarica.forum), also testifies to a successful cooperation within the wider
language group- those who can understand each other, cooperate well regardless of the national/ethnic membership. During this time period, only one message showed ethnic intolerance: Enigma is a piece of shit because its not a Serbian guild I have had enough of
these iptars [a term used to designate ethnic Albanians] on the server who are so numerous, including the leader of SECURITY (he is a good player, no doubt about it, but hes
a SHIPTAR) (username: Baklava_NS_88, 12.2.2006, Krstarica.forum). This message
points out that ethnic intolerance is stronger than the estimation of players objective qualities. No one at the forum reacted to this message (the moderator also did not take any action to sanction the author), so it could be assumed no one saw it as problematic. Still, per15

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game itself, since it facilitated intra-group communication. Although language

usage is one of the possible means for segmenting internet users, it also contributed to the efficient use of space within Azeroth (Gavrilovi 2008).17 This is evident from invitations to play the game on certain private servers:
The server is new and aboveboard to receive the majority of players
from the former Yugoslavia, wherein the players could speak in our language. Come and join us (stevamirkovic, 2.1.2010, Krstarica.forum).
Already at the end of 2006, invitations to group within national/linguistic group
became less frequent. Messages of similar type appear often:
On lightbringer I often meet Dutch and Swedish guys, even though
thats not such a big problem most of the time, it easy to make up a party (username: Duxiland, 3.10.2006, Forum Sveta kompjutera).
Or:
Are there some more guys on lightbringer? I meet only Dutch people,
they are OK, they easily enter into the party and want to help even when
they are bored (username: genius, 4.10.2006, Forum Sveta kompjutera).
After some time, these kinds of messages ceased to appear. The logical conclusion is that after some time of playing, people have managed to get around
Azeroth, learned its language and rules of behaviour, hence moving about in a
group where the mother tongue was not so important anymore. By mastering
all these new skills and knowledge, they have started to come out of the ghetto.
After all, the language of communication of the WoW players is only conditionally Serbian, and this is entirely reflected in communication at a forum.
Charles Stross picturesquely shows the impossibility of communication between
those who know the games (their designers and players) and non-players within
the English language speaking world:
you couldnt get a handle on whatever it was they were speaking: It
sounded like English but the words didnt make any sense (Stross
2008: 57).
haps such an intensive rejection (except by the Serbian public politics during 20042006)
was determined by the lack of language familiarity.
17
For instance, sites in languages of small groups and nations are closed spaces since the
intra-group communication is limited to only those who can understand and speak the language of the given group or nation. In a certain way, this could represent ghetto-ization
since the usage of the small languages disables a dialogue/communication with the members of other language/cultural traditions. This, in a very efficient way, limits the space of
action for minority communities on the internet.

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In the case of the Serbian language, the situation is even more drastic: the language used among the players to communicate does not even sound like Serbian. That is, the players use numerous abbreviations from the English speaking
world, which are a part of internet slang, as marks of moods,18 locations, actions
or objects from the game, that are incorporated into Serbian syntax. Another
feature involves the use of English verbs with Serbian conjugations. For instance, it is common to use constructions like hilujemo, raidujemo, which would
be the Serbian conjugation of the English verbs to heal and to raid. In the same
way, other English terms are used, specific for digital games: grindujem (from
grinding19 in English). Therefore, if within the English speaking world, the abbreviation LFGWC20 are unclear, at least it is comprehensible what the words
healing and raiding mean. On the other hand, in the Serbian version, even that
part of the game is lost in translation for the non-players.
In fact, the players of WoW, at the times they had stick to playing in a group
using the mother tongue, made a new barrier towards the rest who can speak
the same language but are not familiar with the game. Until they got entirely incorporated into Azeroth, they were a group within a group in both directions: in
Azeroth, they were separated by communicating in the mother tongue (regardless of how the language was altered and made unclear to the non-players), while
in Real Life they were separated by the group familiarity of the language used
in the game, comprehensible only to them. This was a half-step, preceding the
total crossing of the border and incorporation into Azeroth.
Choosing sides and fluctuating identities
The Warcraft Universe is based on Tolkiens, The Lord of the Rings.21 This novel
has inspired a fantasy genre worldwide and within the English speaking world,
it has been a childhood classic for more than a half of century.22 LOTR came to

For example, lol laughing out loud.

Grinding term used in digital gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or boring tasks over again to advance character level to be able to access newer
content.
20
Looking for a Group of fellow players to kill monsters in a place called Wailing Caverns
(Corneliussen and Rettberg 2008: 1).
21
As within the English speaking world, an acronym LOTR is used throughout this
manuscript.
22
A BBC poll in 1997 found that readers consider this novel to be the greatest novel in 20th
century; in 1999, it was chosen as the best novel of the millennium at Amazon. Both polls
were taken before the filming of the novel (20012003), hence before the film version ad18

19

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Serbia considerably late it has become widely known and popular only after
the 20012003 release of films based on the novel.23
Azeroth is inhabited by two large population groups (Alliance and Horde),
wherein each has several races among which the WoW players have to decide in choosing an avatar, that is, in choosing who they will be in this new
world, how they will behave and which skills and knowledge they will have to
develop further. At first glance, the universe is very Tolkien-like: Alliance is
made of humans, elves, dwarves, and good races of Tolkiens Middle-earth,
while Horde is made up of Orks, trolls and others, categorized as evil in Tolkiens story. However, in the third part of Warcraft, Blizzard stepped beyond the
storys good evil connotation. Namely, one of the WarcraftsIII heroes, is an
Ork Trahl, defined entirely as a positive hero. Developing further the universe
in WoW, Blizzard defines Alliance and Horde as two opposing groups, each
race within having a specific set of values and access to a particular group of
skills and knowledge. Discussion among the players about the quality of races
and classes are endless. This discussion is prominent on all forums, but Serbia
shows a deviation regarding the behaviour of the players from those in Europe
and the U.S.A.
In the West, some people have become fed up with the strict distinction good
(hobbits, elves, dwarves, humans): evil (Orks and the others), and a new reading
has appeared regarding the relationships within the famed novel:
Saurons army was the one that included every species and race on Middle Earth, including all the despised colours of humanity, and all the
lower classes. Hmm. Did they all leave their homes and march to war
thinking, Oh, goody, lets go serve an evil Dark Lord? Or might they
instead have thought they were the good guys, with a justifiable grievance worth fighting for (Brin 2002).
In Serbia, the strict distinction between good and evil within the fantasy world
appealed to real-life experiences. During the 1990s, the decade prior to the popularity of LOTR), public speech in Serbia insisted on firm, mostly ethnic or geopolitically defined distinction between good (we, the Serbs) and evil (they the
Croatians, Albanians, West, etc). Therefore, real life shaped playerss conviction that the only possible way of reading a relationship between any two clearly
separated groups in the fantasy world, was also on moral terms. It is not surprising, that the players from Serbia, foremost the beginners, had chosen avatars
ditionally increased the popularity of the novel, foremost in the countries outside the English speaking world.
23
The first Serbian translation of the LOTR was published in 1981 (Beograd: Nolit, translated by Zoran Stanojevi), without much impact on the novels popularity.

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from Alliance: they wanted to side with the good side, lacking the perception that even when there are two sides, they dont necessarily have to be understood as good versus evil.24 While some European and American servers
were swamped with players massively choosing a membership in Horde, causing
blockages in the game, at the same time, local servers (mostly private), visited
by kids from Serbia, showed the opposite. The discussion during 2005 points
out that Serbian players did not understand Blizzards concept of a qualitative
equalization between Us and Them,25 that is, an abolition of the distinction We
(Alliance) are good, while They/Others (Horde) are bad. This is illustrated by
comments regarding the appearance of the races belonging to Horde:
Horde is piece of shit, they look like shit their heads look like a piece
of meat (username: Bllade, 30.9.2006, Krstarica.forum).
they are falling apart, they can hardly walk upright, trolls have their
heads in the middle of spine, their IQ is 0.1, only Orcs do not deserve a
comment, green muscular idiots, they dont have to be all handsome, but
these are creeps (username: Bllade, 30.9.2006, Krstarica.forum).
Already during 2006, and especially so later, a gradual fluctuation was introduced. Even though the players, at the beginning of game, still opted to choose
humans, or avatars close to humans from Alliance (those defined by Tolkien
as good races, such as dwarves), during play they commonly switched to
choose avatars from Horde, hence, on different servers they play under the different sides. After a longer period of playing the game, many have opted eventually only for Hordes side. A good knowledge of the game has allowed them
to choose an avatar depending on skills and possibilities of development.26 This
implies their choice of the avatar was not based by a priori values. Older players argue, kids get easily attached to the Alliances races (VisionOfDisorder,

This is clearly shown by exchange of messages regarding the question Which side in the
game is evil, Horde or Alliance? (Miki 13991, 13.5.2006, Krstarica.forum), followed by
the answer: well, the name says it all (username: fantom piroman, 13.5.2006, Krstarica.forum).
25
The question: yeah, Horde is shit, has shamans too, plus it gets Blood elves, whats
the Blizzard logic behind it? (username: Baklava_NS_88, 4.11.2005, Krstarica.forum),
clearly points out the player does not understand why Blizzard had included otherwise attractive races in Horde.
26
Some players have made the choice already in their first year of playing the game: Glory
and fame of a battle are known only to warriors, dont let others to fool you. We dont stab
in the back, we dont undergo a healing, we dont do magic, we go forward, bravely. Welcome to Horde! (username: VisionOfDisorder, 28.11.2005, Krstarica.forum).
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26.2.2006, Krstarica.forum). This further implies that the choice of the particular side depends on the players maturity: in a real life as much as in the game.
A second misunderstanding that players from Serbia initially had regarding the games concept, was a question of choosing a gender for the avatar. The
games manual reads:
Feel free to switch between male and female; the sexes are treated
equally in every regard in World of Warcraft, so playing as a man or a
woman is a purely cosmetic choice (Blizzard).
Nevertheless, the Serbian players, despite the explanation, frequently posed
questions such as:
Why do a lot of people play with female characteristics? Im not bothered by it, Im just curious about the reasons for, if that is not a problem
(username: Sahib, 19.2.2006, Krstarica.forum).
Some of the players explained their choice as a consequence of aesthetic
criteria,27 that is, as Blizzard said, a cosmetic issue which suggests that they
have accepted the manufacturers promise of gender equality others were suspicious towards this concept:
I dont trust female characters played by men (username: Master_Chief,
20.2.2006, Krstarica.forum).
At the same time, no one questioned the choice of avatar by only few girls in the
WoW28 game. Since no one perceived it as a problem when a girl chose a male
avatar, but the case of the opposite raised considerable suspicion, we can say that
the vital Balkan patriarchal Weltanschauung was being applied to the game,29
even when the manufacturer had not intended players to ponder the values of
For instance: To me, female characters are much more attractive than the male ones.
What do you think? (username: NTT, 19.2.2006, Krstarica.forum).
28
In Serbia female players are rare in WoW, while worldwide, the number of male and female
players equalized several years ago (Nielsen 2008). Research regarding this subject has not
been done in Serbia.
29
State efforts to equalize gender relations by expanding access to education and jobs for
girls and women has not diminished the social and cultural preference for male dominance
in public life and family leadership (e.g. Gavrilovi 2005, vorovi 2008, orevi Crnobrnja 2011). Despite professed equality, parents continue to invest more in their sons futures than in their daughters; sisters waive their inheritance rights to their brothers; and
women remain disproportionately responsible for chores, and for household and social reproduction taking care of the children, the sick, and the elderly in paid and unpaid work.
The preference for male leadership was intensified and revitalized by the wars and political crisis of the 1990s.
27

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each gender. Still, a number of players have chosen a female avatar, pointing out
that the pressure of the patriarchal concept of the world decreases its pressure
before aesthetic criteria, aided furthermore, by unplanned and often unexpected
advantages provided by female avatars.30 Therefore, gains acquired in the game
so have overcome the prejudice acquired in the real life.
Learning Bon Ton
The usual stereotype associated with the players of digital games is that they are
anti-social, lonely wolves living in the world behind their monitors. However,
MMORPG abolishes this stereotype in full: the players create and build within
the synthetic worlds, entire societies wherein the player is not alone and cannot
survive on his own. The players thus have to establish social relationships with
others (cf. Corneliussen, Rettberg 2008), by respecting the needs and wishes of
the others in order to achieve common aims. Rettberg argues:
in a larger sense the game is training a generation of good corporate
citizens not only to consume well and to pay their dues, but also to climb
the corporate ladder, to lead projects, to achieve sales goals, to earn and
save, to work hard for better possessions, to play the markets, to win respect from their peers and their customers, to direct, encourage and cajole their underlings to outperform, and to become better employees and,
perhaps, eventually, effective future CEOs. Playing World of Warcraft
serves as a form of corporate training (2008: 20).
This concept is exactly what the youth in Serbia cannot learn due to the lack of
opportunity; to learn to compete and cooperate at the same time appears very
difficult for them.31

Experience shows a well designed female character has better communication skills and
cooperates better with other players, even though the male players often model the behaviour toward female avatars based on experiences acquired in real life. For instance, they
try, as a rule, to protect female characters, expecting them to be good healers but not so
much successful, strong warriors (for instance, see Matzan 2007).
31
A value of corporate capitalism was not considered important in this research. Without any
doubt, the fact remains that corporate culture is a reality, whether we like it or not, and that
for Serbian youth, it appears very beneficial to manage life skills associated with a succesful living inside this culture. Some theoreticians, who reasearch synthetic worlds, however,
believe that the games precisely (not solely WoW, since the same skills are learned almost
within each MMORPG) will bring about a change in this kind of reality (see Castronova
2007, McGonigal 2011).
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Messages by the WoW players from the beginning of period show the process of learning team work within the game has just started in 2005, the majority of players had just begun to play networking games (many were still on
dial-up connections, appearing to the world at that time, like it is for Serbia today, almost like an impossible mission)32. Those who have played the previous
Warcraft episodes in multiplayer mode (mostly in playrooms) had an easier time
adjusting to the new conditions of the game, while the majority also in MMORPG transmitted prior experiences from single, offline playing.
Forum discussions contain almost endless arguments about qualities of particular races, with an aim to determine which combination of race/class is the
most successful. Many complain frequently about not being able to mix certain
races with desired classes. The more experienced players explain in this way to
the unsatisfied ones:
blizz has balanced everything but not in the way we would all like it
to be (that anybody is capable of everything), so each class and race has
something the others dont have, so whatever you chose and whoever you
play with, you will be OK, but something will bother you, the point is
in the team work/play, and not 1 on 1, and thats the only way you can
overcome all disadvantage of a particular class (username: SiviStojko,
23.11.2005, Krstarica.forum).
And:
It would be much more beneficial to associate together than to exchange
individual experiences since two guys will always be stronger than a single one (username: Sahib, 5.2.2006, Krstarica.forum).
Still, in the beginning, comments like the following one were frequent:
of course I will not heal the others, if they are into healing then why
dont they play such a class, I have a healing for you (username: Baklava_NS_88, 5.2.2006, Krstarica.forum).
These kinds of comments disappeared altogether later on, which implies the
players have mastered a lesson on required cooperation.
By playing WoW, the Serbian youth has learned another important thing
the thing they could not, unfortunately, learn in any other way: they have learned
Messages such as: Since red.335 and I want to play WoW over the internet (pirate, etc), and
we use (both) dial-up connection I kindly request that someone download the patch1.7,
burn it on a CD and send it to me at my home address (username: djix, 14.11.2005, Krstarica.forum), show that the connection to the internet was so weak, that a lot of players
could not even download all the games elements.

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that respect of intellectual property is mandatory, better for themselves than

breaking the law. Namely, according to the officials statements,33 in Serbia, in
74% cases illegal software is used, while the estimate is that citizens, privately,
use it in almost 90% of the cases. Despite frequent, proclaimed actions against
software piracy, the condition concerning piracy is not getting any better. Still,
regarding WoW, things are a bit different.
The majority of players in Serbia had started the game on some of the private/pirate servers,34 but after several months, most transferred to the legal version of the game, offered by Blizzards servers. Playing on pirate software was
partially a consequence of the usual behaviour a lack of habit to purchase software in general and partially due to the objective circumstances: lack of available money or even impossibility to buy/acquire legal software. And since the
majority of players belong to the younger generation, without financial means
of their own, it was logical that the respective parents, in the general economic
hardship,35 were not inclined to provide a monthly payment necessary for the legal version of the game. In addition, the parents were probably also bothered by
the time their kids spent playing the game, worrying it would compromise their
kids results in real life: success in school or college. Besides, for those players not living in bigger cities where it was possible to obtain the original game36
(during 2005 and 2006, Belgrade and Novi Sad37 were the only two cities where
it was possible to buy the original game), obtaining the legal software also meant
traveling to the places that had the software, which again was connected with
additional outlays of time and money. Therefore, for the majority of players in
Serbia, it was not only less expensive but also incomparably easier to obtain a
pirate version of the game.
Still, a consensus was reached very soon: it was much better to pay for the
game and play the original version since these imply also becoming a full citi The statement made by an assistant to director of Tax Administration for Blic (Jovanovi
2010).
34
This was before 2011 when Blizzard began to allow free play up to the 20th level.
35
Average income of the household in Serbia in 2005 was 26952 RSD, or around 340euros
(average members per family was 3.1); in 2010, it was 46156 RSD, or around 450euros
(RZS 2010a). According to statistics, only wealthier households had internet connection
(2010: 83.5% out of the households having a monthly income more than 600euros, but
only 19.8% of the households having an income of 300euros RSZ 2010), however, even
those counted as wealthier did not have many extras.
36
As argued by a discussion participant: I would buy an original, but theres no place to buy
an original in my home city, and I do not order through Post bad experience (username: milospv, 26.11.2005, Krstarica.forum).
37
The situation has changed completely after downloading the original games became possible from Blizzards website.
33

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Ljiljana Gavrilovi

zen of Azeroth instead of an illegal immigrant. Albeit playing on pirate servers

allowed faster progress (it was easier to reach higher levels characters), a lack
of many options available in the legal game, a large number of bugs, as well
as the instability of the pirate servers, have caused the players to understand it
was much better option to pay for the game. As an additional advantage, the legal game, after some time, due to its own inner economy, could become free to
play again:
You have to pay for it, but its not a problem, if you are capable of earning gold in the game, you can always exchange it for game time (30 days
of playing, for instance), for I have, 2weeks ago, obtained 90days in
this way for 70000 gold pieces (I gave bonus to the girl of 20% more),
currently my main character has 800000 and at least 300000 in material and stuff for sale (username: markons82, 17.8.2011, Krstarica.
forum).
Legal playing assumed another possibility: communication and cooperation with
players in some other spaces, beyond borders which could not be crossed until
2009, or in the case of a successful crossing, have involved great difficulties.
Achieving a success in such a jointly played game, has shown to the Serbian
players they also could achieve a success in the same place as their peers beyond
borders, making this success dependent only of their own will, persistence, arduous work and a drive to succeed.38 These successes in turn, have helped them
to at least partially establish self-respect, that had been seriously compromised
by the tightness of the Serbian state border (Jansen 2009: 3235).
New beginning
MMORPG allow a player to Define oneself in a different way, ornamented
with features and physical characteristics totally different than ones real, established personality. For many players, this represents a possibility to escape
from the bondage of ones own circumstances (Rettberg 2008: 23). Additionally, MMORPG also permit a creation of new, parallel lives within synthetic
worlds, allowing much more satisfaction than real/offline lives. Critics of dig In theory, the game provides the same possibilities to everyone. However, as Castranova
argued an outside market changes the assumed equal conditions: A synthetic economy is
more fun if it rewards hard work with a rags-to-riches story line. Its also more fun if it undoes the injustices of birth on Earth: everyone starts with the same rags. Both features are
damaged when wealthy heiresses can buy mountains of gold pieces and advanced accounts
online (2005: 150).

38

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367

ital games would argue this represents a form of escapism.39 However, who has
the right to assign to someone else what to understand as real life? Especially
so if the players themselves experience their virtual identity and life as more realistic than their real lives, and if they are content with it. This is furthermore
confirmed by the behaviour called exodus from real into synthetic worlds, as argued by numerous authors (cf. Castronova 2007, McGonial 2011).
Young players experience digital games, including MMORPG, as a means
to resist their parents. In Serbia, this is especially pronounced, considering the
obvious low level of computer literacy by the parents generation. In this situation, the gap between the knowledge that the young consider important (including very elementary computer skills)) and the knowledge that they learn in
school and from their parents is a considerably greater gap than that found in
other countries where the impact of MMORPG has been studied. In addition,
crossing the border and being successfully included into an international and
multi-generational community of players, have a positive effect on self-esteem:
the young are aware of the fact they are successfully involved in doing something that their parents cannot do. Furthermore, since they are doing it with the
same rate of success as their counterparts elsewhere, they could perceive themselves as being more successful than the generation of their respective parents.
Their parents have made themselves excluded from world affairs, and with the
exception of individual cases, they cannot manage to establish a successful cooperation outside Serbian borders.
For the youth in Serbia, learning skills that cannot be learned in Serbia, and
their successful application in online lives have a special importance. For them,
this means that at least partially, they can live their own lives on a par with
their counterparts in countries that they believe to have a brighter future. Even
though they do not have jobs, nor do they know if or when they will be able to
get one; even though they do not know if they will ever be able to start a family;
at least in the virtual world they can feel equal for within the virtual world,
what counts are a desire, work and personal effort, totally independent from the
given conditions of RL.
Sources
Blizzard: Beginners Guide, Chapter I, Getting Started. URL: http://eu.battle.
net/wow/en/game/guide/getting-started.

39

Similarly, escapism could also be, for instance, reading literature or watching movies: despite their artistic values, they are a stride leading beyond the real world.

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Krstarica.forum: Normalna tema o WoW-u [Krstarica.forum: Normal subject about WoW], URL: http://forum.krstarica.com/showthread.php/75865World-of-Warcraft/, page 1332, 8281 poruka [8281 messages].
RZS 2006: Upotreba informaciono-komunikacionih tehnologija u Republici Srbiji 2006 [Use of information and communication technologies in the Republic of Serbia], Republiki zavod za statistiku, 21.12.2006.
RZS 2006a: Saoptenje [Report ] No. 125, Serbian Republic Institute of Statistics, year LVI, 30.5.2006.
RZS 2010: Upotreba informaciono-komunikacionih tehnologija u Republici Srbiji [Use of information and communication technologies in the Republic of
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RZS 2010a: Saoptenje [Report] No. 270, Serbian Republic Institute of Statistics, year LX, 2010.
World of Warcraft: Beginners Guide. URL: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/
guide/getting-started.
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