Grateful

Allow me to take inspiration from the Wowhead blog and say I'm grateful for World of Warcraft.

(And no, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines, but it's a really fantastic idea. A day to be thankful, how great is that?)

In a time when finances are heavy on my mind, WoW is the most cost-effective entertainment I have. It lets me keep in touch with distant friends, make new friends from places I've never been, and participate in storylines that make me feel like I'm part of something greater than myself.

I'm grateful for friends who are with me both online and off, who share a beer with me while swapping stories about instances and gear. I'm grateful for people who get why I need to have Wowhead and Wowwiki bookmarked and who spend nearly as much time as I do playing around with Sandbox and a Talent Calculator.

I'm grateful for a steady job that allows me to continue playing World of Warcraft, and where I have made friends who also play WoW (and not a few of who now play with me on Bloodhoof). I'm grateful for being able to work at a company that attracts other gamers.

I'm grateful for my beautiful wife and my loving family, without whose support I could not continue to play World of Warcraft. I'll occasionally skip a raid to go out and do something in the real world, but from their point of view it's really quite the opposite - I most often give up the real world to go raiding or instancing or farming. And they love me and support me nonetheless.

I'm grateful for my Guildmates, new and old, for the social experience of WoW. I'm grateful especially to the officers and raid leaders for their time and dedication. I'm grateful to the unseen multitudes who work on the resources that support my WoW experience - community contributors, wiki writers, bloggers, forum posters.

And of course I am grateful for Blizzard. I admire their dedication to making an already great game an even better experience for their players with each patch and expansion. I may not agree with every action they take, but I understand where they're coming from.

Thank you, everyone.