So what do you do when you want to make some art about World of Warcraft? Go and make the WoW pod that has water, food, a toliet, WoW, and more so that you don't have to get up except if your house is on fire or if you are unable to sleep upright. Come join David "Xerin" Piner as he discusses what the WoW pod is, will it ever have an affect on your gameplay, and what exactly does the novel Snow Crash have to do with this WoW pod thing.

So, let’s take the toilet out and just move to the food and water. Then let me ask how far your fridge is away from you right now? Many raiders I know keep food and drink nearby during raid times. I myself have a fridge within chair rolling
distance of my computer full of video game essentials like soda and snacks. There is nothing really special about having food and drink around. That leaves a computer and you’ve got one of those reading
this!

What does the book Snow Crash
have to do with World of Warcraft? Not a whole lot until some
WoW fans over at MIT created the WoW Pod. The WoW Pod is a hut that
helps you isolate yourself from the world by containing all of the essentials
(including a toilet) that you need to play WoW nonstop. Of course,
it’s technically not limited to just WoW (even if no one has yet to
look at the prospect), but it still holds a high interest as both an
art piece and a social statement in the MMO community.

The WoW Pod is an art piece created
by a group of people over at MIT that contains a large screen monitor
(and accompanying computer), a toilet, a hotplate integrated into WoW
(which is probably in some way breaking the ToS in a non-harmful way),
food, water (in a cool water pouch), a chair, and a fold out keyboard
all within a neat little hut. The intention is to create a neat little
place where you can raid without having to get up to eat, drink, or
make a trip to the bathroom.

The reality is that this thing gets
so many kneejerk replies across the Internet. “LOL SOUTH PARK” and
“LOL NERDS COMING UP WITH NERDY WAYS TO STAY IN THE GAME”. I’ll
be honest; the only part of this that gets a strong reaction from me
is the toilet. Not for the humor but for the design. As a male there
is no way for me to cleanly use it while playing WoW. When raiding you
have to give the game 110% and if you’re busy trying to do something
other than raid you’re going to find yourself causing a wipe.

So, let’s take the toilet out and
just move to the food and water. Then let me ask how far your fridge
is away from you right now? Many raiders I know keep food and drink
nearby during raid times. I myself have a fridge within chair rolling
distance of my computer full of video game essentials like soda and
snacks. There is nothing really special about having food and drink
around. That leaves a computer and you’ve got one of those reading
this!

So essentially what I’m saying is
that a dream of this leading into a Snow Crash revolution where we can
live inside of a game until it’s time to sleep is pretty near null
and void. It’s nothing special in itself because it doesn’t provide
anything that most of us don’t already have except the non-practical
toilet and who wants their vent bind to misfire during the use of that
thing?

It does make a neat statement on the
social isolation of some MMO players and how raiding can cause a kind
of reclusive state where a lot of things like cooking and cleaning come
second to getting the latest boss’s new loot. It’s
in the same way that it conjures forth more stigma by the uninformed
masses who see the picture on their latest news blog and automatically
assume that they’re not only for sell but installed in every house
of everyone who plays WoW.

I will say one thing. It sure does
look pretty and sitting on a throne while playing WoW may be a really
cool idea. If these things were ever produced (sans the toilet) and
I was really rich I wouldn’t mind having one just for a decoration.
You can pick up some more information about the WoW Pod and even go
visit it in MIT’s Museum right here. As for owning one? Not for sale
and the creator’s have stated that they have no current plans to produce
the hot plates.

Oh, and here is one for our forum crew.
See this picture of the food? Do you think this would be a tasty treat
or would using the thing to warm up some water for instant ramen be
more your thing?