38 posts on politics, 34 posts on everything else, combined.
I didn’t mean for this blog to go so political, but let’s face it, the Presidential election has been the biggest story out there in the last 2 months.
Since I’ve pretty much exhausted one of my nasty habits, politics, let’s talk about my other most disgusting habit. Online Gaming. If you’re reading this site, then you most likely have a passing familiarity with me, personally. If you didn’t know that I am a weekly columnist at Massively.com, I’ll wait right here while you go check it out.
In the gaming world, there is a story that rivals the Presidential election in terms of importance (to the gaming community, at any rate). Blizzard, makers of World of Warcraft are releasing their second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, this Thursday. With just over 11 million players, WoW is, by far, the largtest Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game in the world.
You may have heard stories in the news about grown men who take a day off of work when the latest Madden game hits the shelves? I know, personally, grown men who are taking a WEEK’S worth of vacation in order to play this game when it comes out. The games are so popular that Dr. Phil and others of his ilk run shows asking if these games are addictive.
To them, I would respond with one of the following:
- Are weekend golfers who spend 8 hours (or more) out of the house every weekend playing golf, addicted?
- Are couch potatoes, who spend 4-6 hours/day in front of a TV, addicted?
- Are women (or men), who spend 8-10/hours shopping on any given weekend, addicted?
It’s a hobby, folks. Just like any other. Like any good hobby, there are those who become compulsive or obsessive about it, and such people will always have something upon which to focus their attention. While I spend more than a little time playing this game, I manage to have a good job, a good home, a good family, and good friends. In fact, I even manage to make a little extra money writing about my hobby.
This hobby has allowed me to meet people I never would have met otherwise. Thanks to online gaming, I have been given the chance to meet movie stars, have dinner and drinks with TV stars from my favorite shows, and even sign autographs of my own. (Yes, he knew exactly who I was, and didn’t confuse me for someone else.)
There are those out there, most likely people who were just a little too popular in high school, who say that people like me “have no life”. In fact, it is one of the most common insults in the gaming world to say that someone “has no life” when they are particularly successful in a game. I have a wonderful wife, a beautiful baby girl, a job paying enough that I have to pay attention to the upper tax brackets, a chance to meet and mingle with celebrities from time to time, and get paid to write about my hobby. Oh, and every piece of computer equipment and every copy of a game that I buy is now a tax deduction.
I wouldn’t trade my life for yours if you tossed a supermodel into the bargain. (Unless you’re Manny Ramirez, in which case we’ll talk, just as soon as I learn to hit a curveball.)
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