Open Letter to the Gamers

[drewbear]

Dear friends & acquaintances, cohorts and companions, geeks and gamers alike;

Please stop trying to get me to play EverQuest, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or any other pay-for-play MMOG. Especially World of Warcraft.

There are reasons that I have not joined one of these games and after years of increasing frustration, I have finally decided to list them for you.

1. My computer, specifically my graphics card, is incapable of running these games without crashing the system. Yes, I could upgrade my system or buy a new one, and have in fact received offers of help to do so. However, I have deliberately declined these offers.
   
2. I dislike the idea of being required to continually pay for a game. At even $10/month subscription, that is a minimum of $120/year to be able to play the game. For that amount, I could buy several good meals, more than a dozen books, or make an extra credit card payment per year. Staying in the gaming genre, I could buy 6-8 board games, 4-6 RPG manuals and/or supplements or enough dice to create a caltrop mine field across my entire apartment. Per year.
   
3. I dislike that there is no offline content. This ties in with #2 in that the business model of these games is less one of purchasing a product and more one of leasing a service. If I am going to spend an upfront amount of up to $50 for the initial software bundle, I expect to be able to play it even if their servers are down.
   
4. I dislike that after a point, it becomes impossible to progress without joining a group. Don't get me wrong, I'm as social as the next person, but I tend to be somewhat insular when I'm playing a computer game and dislike that I would be effectively required to join a clan or guild or what-have-you.
   
5. It would be bad for my health and social life. I tend to be somewhat obsessive about complex or involved computer games, particularly if there's a collectibles factor. In the past, I have spent upwards of 10 hours straight playing the same game without a break and I DO NOT want to get caught in that trap again.
   
6. Finally, and I apologize if you find this reason discomfiting, I dislike how these seems to dominate the lives of those who do play them. I have complained before how many local players inadvertently dominate & lock non-players out of their conversations because the only topic of discussion is their game of choice.

I have nothing negative to say about the gameplay or visual stylings of these games; I don't play them, so I have nothing to judge. Admittedly, I have watched other people play and the graphics look nice, but that's not enough to overcome my objections.

So in conclusion, I appreciate that you're making these offers out of the goodness of your hearts and because you want to share your fun with me. But please stop.

Thank you,
Drew

EDIT: P.S. The purpose of this isn't to try to get people to stop playing those games; I recognize that many, many people enjoy them greatly. I'm just a little tired of people assuming that I don't know how great these games are and asking how come I don't sign up with them. I repeat: these games are Not For Me.