Apathy

Well, it's here. The long-awaited release of 3.2.

I couldn't care less.

I might try and log in tonight to poke around a bit. Can't imagine the servers will be stable enough to try anything too serious.

I suppose if I tried hard enough I could get excited about the Emblems of Conquest and the possibility for huge upgrades over what I currently have, but right now I have a bleh feeling about it.

I thought that maybe 3.2 would be the beginning of another WoW hiatus for me, but waking up today I realized that I'll keep pushing forward...running heroics for the new Emblems and working on getting as many upgrades as I can with the hope of seeing as much raid content as possible.

I'm still looking around for another MMO so I'm not spending all my computer time on WoW, or at the very least a new game to occupy some of my time so I'm not flying around Northrend for hours wondering what to do. I've considered giving Left 4 Dead a shot now that the price has dropped and there's a sequel on the horizon. My bro-in-law has been trying for ages to get me to play Call of Duty on the Wii with him. We'll see.

But anyway, 3.2 feels like filler content that wasn't entirely necessary. I'm not drooling over EoCs, but I certainly won't complain about getting them. There are a couple of other additions that seem kind of cool, but there just isn't anything that's got me wetting myself in excitement.

Happy Patch Day, everybody. Don't forget to update your addons.

Pre-Patch Blues

I've logged on several times in the past couple of days, but each time it feels like a chore.

There's just something about knowing that a patch is just around the corner that makes me not really interested at all in doing anything in-game. This patch, especially, makes a lot of things feel pointless (i.e. heroics).

I posted a week or two ago that WoW has not yet run its course in the grand scheme of things, but I'm wondering if it's run its course for me, personally.

I'm behind the raiding game...waaaaay behind the raiding game...and the prospect of a new patch with a new raid that I probably won't get to see is somewhat discouraging.

I've been poking around elsewhere, too, looking for a new MMO to play. I downloaded the trail for WAR but got remarkably annoyed at how long the patching was taking.

I don't know. Anybody got any ideas?

Gamer Pride

Our oldest daughter, for whom I have yet to develop a good blog nickname, asked me if I was a "gamer" the other day. I said that I considered myself one, and she said she wanted to be a gamer, too. That got me thinking...

~*~

For years, there's been a stigma attached to the word "Gamer." While those within the community embrace and celebrate the term, those without picture adult men living in their parents' basement camped in front of a computer or a console for hours on end (think the Jenkins character in South Park's Make Love Not Warcraft).

While there's certainly truth to some stereotypes, they're generally the exception rather than the rule. I'm a gamer with a full-time job and a beautiful family. I know others who are also living full, happy lives while proudly waving the gamer flag.

People, however, see video games as a waste of time. If you spend several hours on a Saturday in front of a video game you're not out doing something "productive." People see gamers as geeks or nerds who can't get a date. These stereotypes are firmly affixed to the word "gamer," and while we in the community may wear that brand with pride, we're often looked down upon.

~*~

So here's where Uncle Mis gets ornery and picks a fight with the world...

It's 2009. Many games, PC and console, have online capability. MMOs, Xbox Live, the Wii Network, etc, etc, etc all allow people to log on and interact with individuals from all over the world. You can chat, team up, compete against one another, and make friends. Instead of going to an arcade at the mall like I did when I was a kid, I log on and, now, the world is my arcade.

If I chose to spend my free time golfing, playing on a beer league softball team, or making models of little boats in bottles everybody would accept that as a legitimate hobby. So what's the difference between any of those things and being a gamer?

Exercise? Fine, I'll fire up my Wii and, believe it or not, get a pretty good workout.

Teamwork? Yeah, there's a ton of that. Read a raid guide.

Skill? Hand-eye coordination, the ability to adapt to changing situations and decide, in a split second, the best course of action to take, on-the-fly calculations...oh, and let's not forget people-managing and leadership if you're a GM or RL.

~*~

My wife used to play softball on more than one team at a time. I used to get out and play music a lot more than I do now. When we had the Baby Tank, though, we had to scale back because of her special needs.

WoW is our way of getting social interaction. We've made friends in-game who we talk to out of the game. My brother-in-law plays, and if we didn't we probably wouldn't get to talk to him as often as we do.

We don't really have the time to get to a gym, so we bought Wii Fit. Our oldest daughter uses it, too. Speaking of the kids, about the only time they're not fighting is when they're playing Mario Kart or another game.

~*~

Bottom line, I'm proud to call myself a gamer. I think that we, as a community, have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Play your games, have fun, and hold the banner high.

To the teenager who puts up with all the evils of high school society and finds solace in a video game, to the hard-working 9-to-5ers who like to blow off steam when they get home from work, to the moms who like to sneak in a Wii workout while the little one's taking a nap, and to everybody else who chooses to live the life of a geek, a nerd, a gamer...

I salute you.

Gotta Green

My virtual world has been invaded.

As I walked into my house last night after a long day at work, I discovered that both of our computers were full of characters wearing cloth armor that appeared to be designed by H&M or some other store in the mall out of which, if I entered, I would promptly be escorted and sent to the nearest Target.

None of the NPCs can be properly tanked, although you can apparently draw aggro if you're getting frisky with the maid and your girlfriend/wife finds out.

It's all so confusing.

~*~

So yeah, we've got The Sims 3 installed on both computers which allows Cheesi (who is a major Sims addict) and the kids to play.

Cheesi and I played the original Sims, The Sims Online, and The Sims 2 (her more than me on that one). I enjoy them, but Cheesi absolutely loves them. She'll spend days designing a house down to the smallest detail.

I remember one night soon after The Sims 2 came out. Our house at the time had a dedicated gaming room with a couch in it. She was sitting at the computer and I dozed off on the couch after playing some PS2. I woke up at 5:00 am to find that she was still building the same house she was working on when I fell asleep. She had not taken the game out of build mode that whole time.

So, at least for the next couple of days, I'm afraid that I'll be hanging out on the couch while all the ladies in the house take turns playing with their new toy. Not a big deal, really. A little break from WoW can't hurt and it gives me a chance to watch a movie or two that they wouldn't want to see anyway...specifically movies with boobs and explosions.

I still plan on posting and flooding other WoW blogs with pointless comments as I usually do. Gotta keep myself busy somehow.