You see, this is the first time an expansion has been released for a game that I am heavily invested in that isn't Magic: The Gathering, which is kinda a different beast altogether. I've been spending a lot of time playing Diablo III in the last few weeks, I've been working hard to get my characters ready, and I got one of each class to max level. That's a major accomplishment for me. It's the first time I've EVER been so deep in an online game that i can experience endgame content. It's a new experience for me!
I mean, I was pretty heavily into Everquest for a while. Back when it was newish, and between it's first expansion and second, I spent an unhealthy amount of time playing it, but I wasn't focused on getting to max level or anything, I was just completely lost in this living online world! I literally skipped school for a week, just to play Everquest for 16-20 hours a day. No lie. I would get up with my mom, get dressed (I used to walk to school) leave and walk around the block until my mom left for work ten minutes later, then I'd let myself back in and play Everquest all day. She came home around 5 and I would make up some bullshit about homework or whatever and just keep playing the game.
I had a problem.
I eventually got caught. I think the school called her, but it may have been my buddy's mom, but by that time I had spent six days in a row playing hooky to play Everquest. I got into a lot of trouble. Any my mom cut me off from the game. I was PISSED! I raged and yelled and threw stuff and threatened her and all kinds of things, but she was the adult. I was Seventeen and thought I knew everything.
But, today I thank her for that. I've seen what game addiction can do to people. You see, online games like Everquest (or e more contemporary World of Warcraft) don't end. And it's possible to play the game so much that your drive to live, your very drive to succeed at life gets transferred to the game. Normally you want to finish school so you can get this job and make that money or buy this other car. But when you get addicted to one of these games, your life becomes about wanting to reach this level so you can beat that boss and get this other item. You put so much of yourself into the game that your actual life crumbles around you.
It almost happened to me. And it DID happen to my buddy. For a while he played MMORPG's (like Everquest or WoW) literally from the time he woke up to the time he passed out that night. He had no friends outside the game other than me, and even then he was always trying to get me to play with him. The game became his life. Now, it's a different story for him, he had some family issues (that have now mostly cleared up, thankfully) and some health issues (that he is getting under control) that made his real life absolutely miserable, and the game was his escape. So nobody really blames him for losing himself in a world where he wasn't sick or lonely.
He's doing much better now. He still games, but now it's more of a hobby than a life replacement. But for a while, games made his unbearable life tolerable. They got him through some rough times, and for that I will always be grateful.
I don't know how this went from talking excitedly about diablo III to talking earnestly about game addiction...
I tend to ramble when I get tired...
Anywho, that's all I have to say for today. Good night everybody!
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