Lifetime of Gaming

I have been a gamer, well for most of my life really. I have two brothers and I, of course, am the baby of the family. My middle brother, Clinton, and I were avid gamers when I was growing up. We had to take turns playing on the different systems. Sometimes we played together like it was a world series for gaming systems. None the less, these were some of my favorite memories. We have also paid attention to the evolution of gaming systems and the graphics and play styles required for them.

When I was about five or six, my parents bought an Atari Gaming system. I play all types of games, but I seemed to excel with games that required a high degree of hand-eye coordination. For Clinton, it was strategy games. Taking turns was sometimes a challenge. Some of the usual sibling rivalries happened because we wanted to be on the system simultaneously. We both struck the right balance of Atari time and being outdoors and hanging out with our friends. This was also a time where when the streetlights came on, and you go home.

When the Macintosh Plus came out, my parents got one. My mom used it sometimes, but again it was mostly for gaming purposes. Do you remember Uninvited? Leisure Suit Larry? (which was a favorite for both my brothers) I am sure that one was the first game to have vivid graphics and innuendo that was immensely grown-up. I made sure no one was around when I looked. Curiosity got the better of me. Uninvited was my bread and butter, though. There was only one puzzle I had a hard time with, and that was the chess puzzle. On a side note, I still suck at chess, but I am trying to learn. Just a quick side note you can get Uninvited on Steam for about four dollars.

After high school, my life changed drastically, and I put a pause on my gaming. I had become a mom with no sleep because y baby girl was colicky and was up every night with a tummy ache. I had a minimal social life. That is a story for another time, however. I had I did not pick any games up until nineteen ninety-eight. That was my six-year pause. I was so busy that even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

I got a computer that could handle games in nineteen ninety-seven, and I signed up for a beta test for Everquest. Some called it Evercrack after it came out because there were people who could not stop playing. They were like drug addicts in some ways. I heard many stories about people who were getting a divorce because the husband or wife dedicated all their time to finishing quests etc. I also heard about people losing their homes, cars and never had enough food because they could not afford it. I was utterly shocked that people were having those kinds of issues, and I could not understand that kind of mentality. The thing that shocks me even now is the fact that the graphics have never changed. They have never taken the time to upgrade their platform. I worked and gamed at the same time and never had a problem. I played Everquest up to two thousand and six. My life had changed drastically, and I was moving from Mississippi to Arizona. That one is also a story for another time.

After I got to Arizona, I started to work at a Pizza Hut and met a fellow gamer who was playing World of Warcraft. I got it and loved playing. I was working up to sixty hours per week at one point because I would get called into work, and I could never say no. My manager was just fantastic and really good to work for. Six months after I got the job, I was promoted to shift manager. I had no problem with doing both, but I would come home exhausted on some days because of a high volume of orders. The Super Bowl, Valentine’s day, the day before Christmas, and other times were hard on everyone, we were all exhausted by the end of our shifts.

The next game I picked up after that was Star Wars: The Old Republic, as well as StarCraft Two and Diablo Three. I was not working since my three years at Pizza Hut. I had been fighting with mental illness and trying to get a proper diagnosis and medication. That was not a fun time at though it was resolved in two thousand and ten. I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2. It made my life even more challenging. I felt like I was grasping a cliff edge with my fingertips.

The next game I picked up after that was Star Wars: The Old Republic, as well as StarCraft Two and Diablo Three. I was not working since my three years at Pizza Hut. I had been fighting with mental illness and trying to get a proper diagnosis and medication. That was not a fun time at though it was resolved in two thousand and ten. I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2. It made my life even more challenging. I felt like I was grasping a cliff edge with my fingertips.

I loved SWTOR. It was fun. I played characters on the light and dark sides. Each had four general classes, AKA Jedi Knight, Smuggler, etc. I played each one to the end of the character plot lines. I also joined a guild, and we did a lot of the operations, and we did flashpoints as well. We always hit conquest, which was great too. There was nothing better. I made friends and also started to lead the guild.

After nine months of putting my “blood, sweat, and tears” to lead that guild, I gained a strange loyalty that I never expected. But I had someone who went behind my back, talking to the guild owner, and I got booted as the leader. I walked away from the guild, which was painful but necessary. About twenty people followed me out, including two of my good friends who were officers in my guild. I never told them anything except frustration and anger. I also never asked them to follow me. I told them how I felt about being replaced, and When I left, I realized that I had an audio recording of my Guild Leader saying how people pretend to be def, and they must show proof that they are. Medical records preferred. He also was always saying how people with mental health issues are not people at all. I edited it to just the sound from the meeting. There was a bunch of gameplay before that. I sent a copy of that recording to Blizzard and EA, pointing out the discriminatory remarks. I got a reply from both that it was freedom of speech. I sent a reply that if they allow that kind of discrimination, then their games will be corrupted and a place that would make it unfriendly to people with disabilities.

The gaming world is a unique place with people who come from all walks of life. It is excellent when you get to know those people. Sometimes just talking to them makes all the difference in their day. Gaming is meant to be a fun experience, and when it gets to be too serious, it becomes a burden to play, and you lose interest. I have always had a lot of fun playing. Sometimes there is nothing better to get out the frustration you have from the “World of Real Life.”