...
Moment of clarity over. I guess I will now muse about something relevant.
As mentioned before, I play World of Warcraft occasionally. In fact, it would be fair to say I co-own a guild of local friends. Too bad, it is collapsing because we did not get off our lazy butts and raid sooner. Though, until I ran out of game time I was legitimately busy. Now I am just broke and told my best buddy to enjoy the reigns for a bit. I have no doubt that he will appropriately destroy everything I worked towards with guild relations. Honestly? I am fine with that. The problem with WoW is that I cannot seem to stay hooked like 99% of the player-base (The opinions expressed by my clearly professional research on the matter are just that. Opinions.). I mean, sure I play pretty hardcore for a couple months and then I find something more interesting. Cataclysm is so nice too. However, the feeling that they are ruining the paradigm by stripping out every vestige of accomplishment by handing out everything is unshakeable. Unless, of course, you count the absurdly long-winded grind for achievements and more gear. Though I noticed something important: WoW, itself, is not the perceived addictive digital crack so much as the hunt for better gear. Any captivating MMORPG can be guilty of this form of personal achievement which has been known to shake real drug addictions. That is the real glory of Blizzard. WoW is often associated with this model, because hell, they did it right. So, why isn't it illegal yet?
Why am I supposedly immune? I am a gamer. In reality, it is just another game by most regards. Why do I spend more collective time on it than any other single game? There's more to do and in the past, I played with a (now ex) girlfriend. Also, believe it or not, it's cheaper than other video games. The delicious irony is enough to cause an ulcerous death, considering most people avoid it as a money sink. Think of it this way, after buying the right to play the game and its subsequent expansions, you only spend $15 a month to play. I say "only" because how much would you spend on other video games to compensate for the same amount of play time? The beauty is that you can stop paying the monthly fee any time and there is no penalty. Want to pick it up later? Just shell out the cash. It is that easy.
So why have I stopped playing WoW now? It's easy, I have new video games. Beyond that, I just loaded CFW 3.55 on my PS3 and that opens a whole new world of possibilities, but that is our little secret. It certainly helps to alleviate the grief of the crack in my Darth Vader PSP2000's screen. Though to be fair, if I had cash, I would just buy a spare parts PSP2000 on eBay to replace the screen. It is amazing what you can accomplish with broken stuff and some simple tools (in fact, isn't that the whole premise of SWAT Kats?)
Remember kids, You do not win World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft wins you.
GAMING MUSIC
As a sign out, I decided I will probably showcase gaming music that has stood out to me at one point or another. Today's lucky mention is:
As heard briefly in a latter part of the oh so crude Conker's Bad Fur Day. Seriously, anyone remember this game? Infamous for being one of the very few if not only Mature rated games on the Nintendo 64 and quickly doomed to the $5 bin at Wal-marts everywhere for it. BFD is remarkable in the sense that this game was so radically different than other titles in the Conker line as well as any other game, period. Sex, violence, literal toilet humor, and over the top pop culture references managed this game a strong enough fanbase to warrant a censored remake for the Xbox. That's right, it was too hardcore for the Xbox. Drink that in. Yay for cult smash hits, I suppose. This song receives special mention for being a video game track that actually made it into my dance playlist. What is up with that?
