Four days of annual leave. To play a computer game. Is he actually serious?! Image: Region.
I only noticed he was gone because I needed something from him.
“Where’s Morgan?” I asked literally everyone who sits around him on Monday morning, when I couldn’t remember my password for the back-end of the Region website.
“He’s on leave,” someone said, not looking up from their computer. “He took four days off to game.”
I’m sorry, what? He took four days of actual hard-earned annual leave to play a video game?
No one else seemed as dumbfounded.
There are many things that are acceptable for four days of annual leave. Heading to Vanuatu on a cruise? Absolutely. Pregnant and exhausted? Yes, yes. Go lay down! Heading to Perth for a cousin’s wedding? Enjoy!
But taking off almost an entire week to game? Not on your nelly.
“Basically, you get together with all your friends and go fight evil,” is how Morgan describes WoW. Image: Blizzard Games.
“Most people won’t get it,” Morgan admits, when I bail him up with a million questions the second he returns to work.
“It was the release of the new World of Warcraft … eight-year-old me has been waiting 20 years for this.”
He wasn’t the only Canberran waiting. A bunch of his mates – tradies, public servants, IT consultants – also took multiple days of leave to join him in exploring the estimated $100 million upgrade to the game.
The new World of Warcraft: Forever builds on the original game, adding new places to explore, updated characters and abilities, and features that make the game easier to play. Players can still only reach level 60, but there are more ways to develop their characters and enjoy new adventures.
And worldwide, around nine million people joined Morgan online to play it.
“It was just like being back in the old days,” Morgan says.
“A lot of it is just the nostalgia, like stepping back into the shoes of being that happy kid wandering through this fantasy world where no problems are real.”
Dwarves, humans, night elves, orcs, trolls, the undead (skeletons) and Tauren (cows) are among the characters you can choose. Image: Blizzard Games.
I rapid-fire questions at him.
Did you actually spend the whole four days playing it?
“Not quite. I racked up 50 hours of game time across the four days.”
(That’s 12-plus hours per day, ladies and gentlemen.)
How many White Monsters did you go through? (Okay, I didn’t actually ask this, but another colleague yelled it out across the office. I thought they were referring to monsters in the game; they were actually referring to the energy drink.)
Answer: 8.
Did you stop for food breaks?
“Yes. Every day. At lunchtime, a kebab that I’d Uber Eats-ed over.” And a White Monster, of course.
The new game introduces a new species: The Sky Elf. Image: Blizzard Games.
What did your girlfriend say about all this?
“I had to give her a fair amount of preparation leading into it. Like months. I had to explain, ‘I’m taking this time off with the boys; unless it’s an emergency, please leave me alone. I will make it up to you. I’ll do whatever needs to be done leading up to and afterwards to get me in the clear for this.’”
Was it worth four days off?
“Absolutely, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I’d do it next week if the boss would let me.”
Are you a nerd or a geek?
“A nerd.”
As he leaves for a meeting, I realise my curiosity and disbelief are tinged with a touch of jealousy.
Imagine being so passionate about something you’re willing to sacrifice four days of annual leave just to experience the new version of it. And to have a group of mates just as invested? Incredible.
I realise: I don’t have that.
But what I do have is an office containing at least three gaming nerds, which makes me happy. Cause they’re kind of the best.
