We are gamers. It is in our
nature -- as humans -- to learn and
develop skills through ludic activities, right from our early childhood to the
future of our lives, wherever that may take us. Were we playing purposefully
with our hands and feet even before we were born or were we preparing for our
emergence in life? What about the times we played with our brothers, sisters or
with our friends and we got all competitive? Did we love the game more than the
people that are close to us? Was it that important for us to win and prove that
we are better than them? For us it was, for all of us, even for our brothers,
sisters or our friends. Our genes tell us it was important, our parents agree, the society agrees too, as long as things don't escalate too much. That never
meant we didn't love them. And we loved to play. We played all kinds of games
with family and friends, from hide-and-seek, charades and board games to video
games and sports, helping with our social skills, enhancing our ability to communicate
with others, sharpening our dexterity and focus, bonding with our loved ones.
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Monday, 1 April 2013
My trial and error with MMOs
I must admit that it's hardly my place to speak of MMOs
since I'm not in the range of their tractor beam (or "taget market"
how some would say), but I do feel the need to dissect my experience with this
type of game. So feel free to comment, rectify and even scold, if you find the
need to do so, but remember that this is only an expression of my opinion.
Starting with a bit of my history as an MMO player, I have
to mention that I have not started with Ultima Online or Warcraft Orcs and
Humans as many of my age did. When those came out I was around the age of ten. No,
I started my first quest with RuneScape, one of the most mediocre titles of
2001. Why RuneScape? Three reasons: 1. accessibility, because the game was
browser based, running on java; 2. it was free, need I say more? and 3. because
it somehow reminded me of Nox, one of my favorite games to date, or it was so
probably because I needed something fresh - but still familiar - after a few
playthroughs of Nox. But RuneScape showed me what an mmorpg is, with both good
and bad. Those factors that drove me away from this type of games are still
there, altered or the same, but they still exist. Of course, once in a while I
come back, but they still never draw me in.
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