Level 30

MMORPGs are typically built around a leveling system, where you start at level 1 and work up to some max level. In the case of <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com" target="_blank">World of Warcraft</a>, that max level is 60. As is also typical, each next level is somewhat exponentially harder to achieve than the last.

I finally got to level 30 with my main character (which typically are defined by two things which determine abilities and play styles: race and class–in my case, I have a Night Elf (race) Druid (class)). It’s taken me almost a year of casual play, though some have done it in as little as 4-5 days. These people are insane.

Anyway, at various levels you can upgrade your character’s abilities in various ways, and at this level for my particular character, I was able to get a new ability which allows him to turn into a cheetah and move 40% faster (cf. the Wikipedia page I linked).

It sounds kind of a marginal upgrade, but when 80% of your time in-game is spent running from one part of the vast world to another, any increase in speed feels like a huge relief.

As for "Uberness", well… There is a long history in computer geek / RPG circles where the word "uber" means something like "ultimate", "awesome", "the best", etc… It is often used in conjunction with the word "loot" (alternatively "lewt", as in "phat lewt") to denote good or powerful in-game items achieved. It has started to be used as an abstract noun, i.e., "the uber", as in, "Dude, I’m goin after the uber!".

So I used it somewhat ironically, because the specific power upgrade my character received was sort of a mid-game thing which isn’t particularly awesome to those who are going after the real uber. But to a non-intense wanderer like myself, it is relatively uber.

How’s that for a crash course in gamer culture?