World of Warcraft Community Helps Dad Mourn his Gamer Son

Yesterday, a father who lost his son posted to reddit, asking readers to help him understand his deceased son’s favourite game, Blizzard’s MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

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?

Cue condolences, compassion, and help from an engaged WoW community:

The emotional father was understandably overwhelmed:

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.

The father left with a greater understanding of why his son loved 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 in a follow-up reddit post. “I can clearly see what was so engrossing about the game. Thank you so very much. This means so much to me I can’t accurately describe it.”

Source: Kotaku