They were aware, but hadn't got the correct understanding. They had thought all the time that WoW was a competition, beating the machine.. like the video games

They were aware, but hadn't got the correct understanding. They had thought all the time that WoW was a competition, beating the machine.. like the video games they grew up with (and, er, I did), i.e. car racing games and the like. In other words, they weren't aware of the social aspect of the thing.