Beyond Gaming

I've got twenty five minutes left on my laptop battery. Yes, I realise I can just plug it in, but I prefer writing to deadlines.

Huh ... you know, in my head, that opening line sounded funnier. Probably because I had more time to write it at the start and took it for granted.

I take a lot of things for granted, the world around me doesn't always work for me because of it. It's something I'm happy to fix, but it just never comes together. It's the reason why I continue to find myself alone on most occasions. Please, don't confuse me with a loner here, I have no interest in receiving 'oh you poor thing' replies. If anything, I'm just trying to make more sense of my own life.

I do consider myself happier on occasion if I'm sitting by myself doing my own thing. I don't go out often, not because I don't want to, I just don't. I do what I please. More importantly, I do what makes me happy, not to make others happy. Selfish, perhaps, but at least that way I'm not holding people up, nor sitting in the corner looking like an idiot because I'm not enjoying myself (trust me, that's happened too often).

So I play games. I play them because I want to avoid reality, which I hate with a passion. It hurts both physically and mentally, the heart can't keep up. It's expensive, it's dirty, it's demanding. Egotistical. Melodramatic. Other words longer than three letters. It gets you down more than it attempts to impress, it's a wonder our population is increasing not decreasing. Or is it?

More and more gamers are turning to online games every year, spending countless hours and just as much money on their World's of Warcraft, DC, guilds, heroes and villains. It's getting so big, it's become an institution all it's own. There's laws, traders, certain communication guidelines. Lives revolve around what time the next raid takes place, or how long it will take to dig enough pieces of eight to trade for that shield you need to take out that character just to get an even better shield to beat that other character. It's far more than just a game, it's a living. A professional addiction, if you will.

I'm not bagging MMO's. I've played them, I understand the enjoyment of them. But I worry for those who put so much time into it, that any life spent outdoors exists simply to go down the road for milk. Unless they're lactose intolerant. Maybe just water, if they don't have a tap to get it from in the first place. Or they prefer bottled water ... you know what, let's move on.

So yes, I play video games, but I know my limits. I don't play for hours on end, I do have a social life per se, but it's not the most important thing in my life. If someone came up to me and dragged me out for a drink, I wouldn't argue against it. I wouldn't crave the thought of being at home judging who should die by my giant hammer of death while pretending to like beer.

Of course, it would be nice if someone did ask me out every once in a while, instead of my poor attempts of doing it myself. But that's a different story. Safe to say, I'm not entirely lost to the world of the imagination. Although, I am a writer, so let's just put me on the edge of insanity for sanity's sake.