Of Love & Warcraft: How to Convince a Non-Gamer Girl to Play WoW

Lately I’ve noticed that I have been getting a lot of Google hits from people searching the topic “How to meet a girl who plays WoW.” As it just so happens, I am a girl, and I play WoW. And lucky for you, I am willing to help you out.

To do that, I’m going to assume a couple of (pretty major) things:  1) you are searching for ways to meet girls who play WoW because you genuinely want a friend or girlfriend who is interested in the game, and 2) you are not a stalker.

Alright, so. It occurs to me that there are many different types of girls and that many of you are in different sorts of situations. Therefore, I am going to write a series of blog entries that address these different types of people/scenarios. Cool? Cool.

For our inaugural installment, I’m going to start with the scenario I am most familiar with–how to convince a non-gamer girl to play WoW. Alright, so, buckle up boys and girls, heeeeeere we go!

1. Just Talk to Her
Just because a person is a girl who isn’t necessarily into gaming, does not mean that they are snotty and above you and think you are a geek. I promise. So, go talk to her! (If this is an issue, lemme know. I’ll provide conversation starters…) However, for the non-gamer girl, WoW is NOT the first thing you should bring up.

Real Life Example: I honestly did not know Nick played WoW until I had known him (as a friend) for about 6 months. Not that he was hiding it, it just never came up. But I did know that he played video games, that we had similar interests in geeky things (one of our first in-depth conversations was about how we both want to go to Comic-Con), and that we really enjoyed each other’s company. However, I can tell you with a good amount of certainty that if the first thing he said to me had been “Hi, I’m Nick. I play World of Warcraft.” I probably would have been a little freaked out.

1a. Get to Know a Girl Before You Talk to Her about WoW
So here’s my advice– get to know this girl, and after you know her a little, then you drop the WoW-bomb. And if she immediately reacts negatively, don’t be offended, and don’t just stop talking to her after that. Keep pursuing the friendship/eventual relationship and let the WoW issue blow over….but don’t let yourself become discouraged.

2. Slowly Introduce Her to the Game
So, let’s say that you and this girl become friends, or even more than friends. At this point, even if she is just a friend, you guys care about and respect one another. So now is the time that you can bring up WoW again.

Maybe casually ask if she would like to watch you play. Or devise some sort of situation where you are playing when she stops by. Whatever. The first time I saw Nick play, I was actually amazed at how pretty the game was. I’d never known anyone who played, let alone seen the game in person, and was kind of fascinated.

Now, I’m a curious sort, and so I immediately started asking questions–“Why do you play?,” “What are the rules?,” “Wait, you play with other real people?”–that sort of thing. (I was obviously utterly clueless.) So, explain the game to her in non-gaming terms, tell her the story of the game and introduce the main characters and storylines. That sort of thing. It’s hard not to be fascinated by the complexity and scope of it all.

And after I saw Nick play he asked me if I wanted to create a character. And I actually did! (I think it was a blood elf hunter.)

So he showed me how to play for all of 30 minutes, and then I was bored and wanted to watch TV. And so that’s what we did.

3. Be Patient
MONTHS after the little episode I just shared with you all, I started playing.  Nick never pushed the issue or pressured me into playing–I decided to do it on my own. That little italicized part you just read: that’s the key. You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to do.

Now, I know some of you are probably thinking “But, Bethany, it’s really important to me that the girl I date is someone who can appreciate  WoW and my devotion/love for the game.” I totally understand that.

If you have struck up a relationship with a girl, even if it’s just friendly, there are other ways than patience to convince your lovely lady to play WoW.

4. Get Creative
There are few things that get a girl’s attention  like a little bit of creativity. So, think about what this girl likes a lot.

Let’s say it’s dance–show her the in-game dances the characters do. Maybe she loves to read–tell her about the World of Warcraft books, find reputable reviews of them online, and see if she’d be interested in reading it. Or maybe give her a copy of your book, or check out a copy from the library for her.

Maybe she’s a fashionista–show her some of the different outfits your character wears and y’all can talk about what exactly the difference between ret gear and healing gear is or tell her about the tailoring profession. Perhaps she’s really into video editing or film–show her great machinima or some of the WoW cinematics.

You see what I mean? The possibilities here are endless! And, if nothing else, give her a giftcard for three months worth of playing or one of the adorable plushies for her birthday, and guilt her into playing. You never know–it might work better than you think.

If you can’t think of ideas, feel free to ask me (wowsororitygirl@gmail.com or @wowsororitygirl on Twitter) and I’m more than happy to help you brainstorm!