Wacky Hijinks Ensue

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.

It's been an interesting week and weekend.

As you know, I rolled my ankle last Monday and have been wearing a splint since Tuesday. I've gotten to the point where I can put weight on it and take off the splint for short periods, but pivoting it still hurts like a mofo, so I'm gonna be on the meds for another couple of days. I REALLY hope this is over and done with by Wednesday.

This weekend I went to the local farmers' market with some of my friends from work* and we had a good time, despite the looming weather. We had a nice breakfast at the little restaurant, though the waitress was a real jackass who screwed up 2 of our 5 orders and took forever to get us refills. Let's just say she earned the no tip she got.

The market itself was fun; there was a lot of produce and the weather/season is such that the vendors were just starting to start selling some plants. There was also a woman there who was selling some absolutely beautiful homemade cedar furniture. The prices were pretty good, though I don't have enough money available at the moment (damn saving up for the new job!). I got her card, though, and if any of y'all are interested, you can see the stuff here: Cedarwood Furniture by Franklin.

I had originally been planning on going to the North Carolina Ren Faire as well, but my ankle was starting to bother me towards the end of our tromp through the market & the docs at the clinic, as well as the physical therapist there, recommended that I try to walk on it for no more than 30 minutes at a time and then rest it, elevated, for at least 10-15 minutes. That, combined with the rain sweeping through the area, convinced me that it would probably be a Bad Idea to go yesterday. I feel bad, though, because I wanted to see my friend Alex all in his piratical gear. I'll just have to see him next weekend. ;-)

In sadder news, I went by my local (& favorite) comic shop after leaving the market and it's closed for business. I knew that it was going to close at the end of this month (the property management raised the owner's rent/"maintanence fees" by $1k/month without any warning), but I thought the last day was going to be either today or tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to the owner (a really nice guy). I do know that he was looking into possibly re-opening in down in the Garner area at some later date, which I fully support. Not only does Garner need something along those lines, but it would be cheaper rent, which is always nice.

Today I plan on downloading/printing all the forms I'm gonna need for my first day at work (tax stuff, health plan enrollment, etc.), writing my "this is why I'm REALLY leaving" letter for work (haven't decided if I'm going to hand it over or not, but it sure is cathartic), going to my gaming group for the first time in lord-knows-how-long and then picking up some furniture from the house of some friends. And yes, I'll be careful when moving the furniture :-P

*I've always maintained that I like the people I work(ed) with, but increasingly hated the people I worked for. My coworkers and I plan on keeping in touch as much as possible.

So there's a new comic shop that opened near here about a month ago. Yesterday I decided to go check it out and see what it's like and if they stock any of the indie comics I like but can't find at the other stores around here.

Well, they didn't have the comic I was looking for, but it was on their order list for January, so I'm glad about that. They also have a very impressive backstock of comics, which they bought from a store that went defunct in New Jersey when the original owner/operator died and his heirs were uninterested in keeping the store open.

I talked with the guys who run the store (Billy & Church) for about 90 minutes and they seem like really nice guys. They're also trying to establish the store as more than just a comics shop, but also as a geek hangout and gaming spot. They have several TVs mounted on the walls (set on SciFi Channel when I was there) and mentioned getting an Xbox hooked up soon. All-in-all, I'm really hoping that they do well, since they seem like good people.

Oh, and did I mention that both of them are fucking hot? Billy especially? No? Okay, then. ;-)