That WOW Feeling

FULL DISCLOSURE: I planned on writing one thing. Something else sort of came out and I went with it.


There's this gamer...thing, you know it: that inability to pick what to play. Sort of like dinner, maybe more like dessert, tacos usually winning. Just me? Now replace tacos with World of Warcraft, or really any MMO. Final Fantasy, WOW... Whatever, I just want to belong to another world.

I always want to play an MMO because of that. It's another world. A tedious grind, basically a job with the amount of hours you sorta kinda need to log, but the grind generally involves romantic notions. You're a mage or a great hero, you raise the dead to do your bidding or... Actually, an aside: I would LOVE an MMORPG where you play the villain. The point is: everything becomes a grind, it becomes work, but at the end of the day you can huck a fireball. You get it? You get it.

Sounds lonely though, doesn't it? That need to escape? It is. I've also never really played those games with people, games where literal millions of people are logged on. I'm slow to make new friends and my chums have never been want to play. That ended up sounding sadder than I meant it to. But when I play I don't feel alone. I feel comforted and safe. It's only when I remember I'm playing a game, that I'm no longer having fun. When I pop back to reality I feel somewhat guilty. This isn't how I thought this post would go.

Okay okay okay... This poses a question: what at the most basic level draws me to these games? 

(30 seconds later)

Got it: The sensation I feel is the same as when I craft something. I'm a blacksmith, a writer and a sketch artist, in terms of physically creating things. Whether it comes out right/wrong or whatever, at the end of the day I have a representation for my work. A knife, a chapter, a sketch - I have something to show for my time. That is why I like MMO's.

You grind and you spend your time and you level and snatch new loot. You have a representation for the time and effort you put in. And while it may not be reality prime, it is a world that matters to many. 

I guess this shows me what I'm missing: I need to make stuff. Cool. Didn't plan on going down a self help route this post but I'm glad it went that way. I've got less to think about now. Turns out I actually am an artist. Neat! 

William Blake: I will not reason or compare, my business is to create...

FULL DISCLOSURE: That W. Blake quote is one of my favorites, and I had an art teacher who called it "The most important art school bullshit you'll ever hear." Also: This was originally going to be a short post about me being stoked for the new FF Online expansion. Funny how things take their turns.

Have the best day you've ever had.

PS. I had this sentence running through my head: "I can satisfy my physical self all day..." That's dirty. You're welcome. It was going to be an extra prose point about being "spiritually" unsatisfied for a while but... Well it turned into a masturbation joke in my head. You got that. Hey! Check out my favorite podcast: Dead Frogs. It's about comedy and dissecting what makes it such. Right. See, cause there's this analogy about comedy and dissecting a frog... [Brain jumps out of head, puts on a tiny hat and leaves for the day]