Learn from WoW

A troll wrote "There is no knowledge or skills to gain from that game, and that "i improve reaction time" is biggest and most obvious self-deceit in entirety of gaming (really, you want better reaction - go play table-tennis if not against someone then against the wall, or something like that, it will do you much better then months of video-games). The only ones who can begin to talk about RL-skill improvement are guild/raid-leaders who get to get, practice and hone their leadership and adjacent skills. For everyone else profit comes in form of relaxation and distraction from RL, and that's the only thing they get from playing."

Why do I care instead of deleting his annoyment? Because I'm afraid there are lot of people who still believe that "learning" means being bored by some textbook memorizing data that could be found on the internet anytime. Most probably this is their excuse why they keep away from any form of learning. They are also the people who - claiming that games are pointless - want to play them "for fun".

So a little list of real world skills that can be learned from games, even from the nerfed-to-the-ground WoW:

• Above all: mathematics. All the abilities work according to formulas. They can be found, and optimums can be found. Some of the EJ posts are at the quality of student-made scientific works in a University.
• The pure fact that the world is governed by numbers. For someone who is practicing theorycrafting in a game, doing calculations before a decision becomes obvious. Note: for social people, it's everything but. They think making decisions "from instinct" (like impulse shopping) is a good idea.
• The habit to gather background information. For some of you it's obvious to read available material before making decisions. For most people making decisions "from life experience" is obvious. Someone who learns to read boss tactics every week may seeks information on the internet before signing a mortgage.
  
• To arrive on time, prepared, and be able to stay focused for hours. The lack of these skills are a serious problem of companies with young people. They are fresh from the university, with the habits of waking up late after long party nights, and making jokes and small talk instead of working.
• Accepting the fact that there are winners and losers in life. There is a very harmful trend nowadays that wants to remove all "stress" from the children's life. "Let's not judge them with grades" - they say. "Everyone is equal", "There is place for everyone" and so on. And the poor kid one day applies for a job and learn the hard way that some will get it, and some will not. If he gets in, he will have a boss and I doubt if he upholds the "everyone is equal" attitude in the office/workshop. There are losses, there are unfulfilled expectations in life. It's better for the kids to learn it when they lose only pixel-titles, pixel-mounts and pixel-gear.
• Grinding. While I do my best to show grind-less moneymaking ways, there will always be grind, since someone must kill the damn elemental or there will be no eternal fire in the AH. For 90% of the people, life won't be of a film star, millioner businessmen, astronaut or scientific researcher. They will be grinding metal in a workshop or papers in an office. The sooner they get use to it, the better.
• Getting out of the grind. Some can live a creative, entertaining life, with successes and fun even in the workplace. However it does not comes free. We earn these positions by being experts in our fields. The kid who learns that he must be an AH expert or a top raider with lot of BoE to sell to get out of the grind is a kid who will find it obvious to study at the evenings instead of drinking to get that extra edge that gives him one of the good jobs.
• Various group-management skills, I don't even bother to enumerate them, hundreds have done that.
• Finally my personal favorite: "There is M&S". For someone who grew up in a proper family, most of the above skills are just as obvious as breathing, therefore they tend to believe that unsuccessful people are just really unlucky, deserving help. If they got their fair share in PuG-ed WoW instances, they will definitely see the "poor" in a different way: "lazy bastard who just does not care".
• And the bonus, the one that most people would never accept (because of self-image-defense): skill > gear. In all existing worlds.