So, I guess I have to start this thing out with some kind of a welcome so that then I can dive into the juicy parts of my life, my gaming life and my real life. I haven't decided how many people I know "for real" in either I will invite to read this blog, because then I might have to censor my words to some degree. I'm sure within the next 48 hours or so most of them will know this small piece of property on the information highway exists. I guess I'll start by telling you all a little about myself.
I'm 32 years old, a divorced mother of three little angels; sometimes their halos are held up by horns, but they really are angels. I am a gamer girl (umm duh) ... I've played games since pong and pac man ... my first real "favorite" game was a game called Balloon Fight on the original NES. I played many, many games on various systems over the years, I never thought I would be a computer gamer (beyond Freecell and Minesweeper), and then my boyfriend introduced me to Guild Wars and then the highly addictive World of Warcraft. I never thought I'd be a WoW geek, never thought I'd be this passionate about a game that basically has no end, but I am. I currently have 4 level 80s (for those of you unfamiliar with WoW 80 is the highest level you can be at least until the expansion, Cataclysm, later this year). All my 80s are alliance although I do have horde toons on other servers. My 80s consist of a Holy/Shadow Priest, Arcane/Frost Mage, Demonology Warlock & Restoration/Elemental Shaman. I am part of a casual raiding guild, but we have an inner group of progression raiders that I heal for on my priest. I probably could devote an entire blog to explaining WoW in layman terms, and probably will sometime soon. I also have an XBox 360, Wii, PS2, Gamecube, N64, NES, DS, and probably other ones I'm forgetting. I have sold and given away systems over the years, so that's far from all the platforms I've played on.
That all being said, as it mentions in my profile, I do understand the "gamer widow" side of things. The girly point of view ... the casual raiding guild that I am in, my boyfriend is the GM of, he spends a lot of time outside of WoW playing COD on the XBox (one of very few games I haven't started on yet). With administrative business within the guild and raiding groups and actual raiding time, we spend quite a bit of our free time playing WoW, and then we spend time outside of WoW playing other games. While we are doing these things together, rarely does it fall under the category of "quality time" by my definition. We both have fun playing together and apart, but sometimes the girl in me needs more than game time, so to any girls that just have guys in their lives as gamers reading this, I get that part!
Something that many people don't understand is that online gaming, regardless of the platform, is a social life.I have met so many people that have turned into amazing real life friends through games. Think about it, it's a social activity that you engage in with people from all over the world ... and if you play often you may talk to these people more often than you talk to your classmates, friends or even family. Let's say in WoW you raid 3 hour raids, 3 times a week. Even if that's all you play ... you are talking to 9 other people for 9 hours a week. It's not much different than being in a class together. There is a stigma associated with online gaming (PC, Xbox, PS3 and Wii), which is part of why I decided to write this blog. We are normal people, playing these games is really no different than being part of a book club, soccer team or any other extracurricular activity people choose to be a part of in order to be social and do something fun with people they enjoy spending time with. It is also relatively inexpensive, especially compared to going out to eat or even just have drinks with friends. Someone once said to me it was a cross-section of America ... and now I would say the world, I am a part of a huge cross-section of the world ... I play with people in England & Germany, California & Maryland ... all without leaving my home. I have made amazing friends that have helped me through very hard times in my life. As with all social interactions, there are those that annoy the crap out of me ... there are those I have fought with ... those I have had to put on "ignore" ... but overall the social experience has been very positive ...WoW has been much more positive than any other online gaming I have ever done. Halo had more sexist jerks and quite frankly perverted boys, Guild Wars doesn't promote as much social interaction as WoW, so the "friend making" isn't quite the same. WoW is built around social interaction, making quests and achievements within the game that require 10, 25 or 40 people to work together on in order to complete. WoW in many ways has changed my life, in a very positive way. My children all play on a limited basis, but they do play, I have a friend and fellow gamer that has links to reports about how games that involve as much problem solving and analytical thinking as WoW does improve their learning abilities and makes them more successful later in life. I believe it. There is a lot of problem solving required on social levels, logistical levels and developing strategies that work, because one strategy in the game does not work for everyone.
I guess I'll have to do a WoW 101 at some point, but for now I think I'll end this little post ... I will as time goes on be writing many posts about my real life; kids, boyfriend, school, work, etc., ... this I am thinking will be a true diary .. at least what I want to say in public .. but for now you get the mostly gamer side! :)
