The Regular, Everyday, Normal Guy

The guy who enjoys computer games but is not hardcore, plays music but not for money, works for a living but isn't rich, reads books but not very often, likes the gym but isn't there enough, and likes the ladies but can't find the right one.

Author: jhazard

Here's the deal, folks.  I enjoy computer games.  I also enjoy a vast array of other pursuits in life, computer games being only one of them.  As a result, I bring with me a wide variety of life experiences into computer games which I will see to outline for you here.  Whenever I feel like it.

This often is problematic with the MMORPG genre.  The successful MMO players are the ones that simply shut out the real world and devote themselves to the game world.  I do not necessarily have a problem with this; people that complain about "geeks" and "nerds" and how they are missing out on life clearly haven't been hardcore into MMOs before.  The nature of our world is changing, and the internet isn't going anywhere.  Just the other night, I spent time with no fewer than 4 different online communities that I had made friends in over the past 6 years.  These are real relationships, real experiences, real fun, real emotion, real drama, real everything (almost). 

The problem comes in when you can't be as successful as you'd like to be in an MMO because of your real world responsibilities.  Work.  Girlfriend.  Wife. Kids. Friends. Band. School. Health. All these things take your time from the game (as they should).  That leaves people like me in the position of always playing second fiddle in most MMOs, a position I have come to accept whole-heartedly.  If I didn't have any desire to go out with buddies, work on a relationship with a lovely lady, keep in touch with my family, hold down a good job, etc. then I would be more than willing to put lots of time and effort into a good MMO.  My circumstances just aren't conducive to hardcore gaming, and sometimes that's a bummer.

My goal with this blog is to take my perspective as a casual gamer and apply it to my various experiences over the years in MMOs.  Hopefully it's worth the read.