My Diablo III Experience, or Why I’m An Old-Fashioned Gamer
Logo Diablo III (Photo credit: Dekuwa)
I’ve never really thought myself to be “cool.” I didn’t hang out with the most popular kids, I was picked on growing up, I was overweight, our family’s social status was low, I had really awkward hobbies, I played video games on consoles and the computer; the usual stuff that back then wasn’t considered to be “cool.” My dad even showed me what Pong Paddles were like before console gaming, and my grandmother got me my first Game Boy. Entirely “uncool” back then.
Then, something happened. All the stuff I liked started becoming “cool.” Computers developed, gaming consoles began “wars” against each other, companies were created to deliver digital entertainment. It was a “golden age” of video games, led by a fat Italian plumber, a blue-haired hedgehog with red shoes, and awkward but technologically-savy “uncool” people.
Fast-forward to this week. After work (I have a career in IT), I went to Earth Fare with my netbook and did a bit of writing. Then, I went to a friend’s place and played Halo 3: ODST because he hadn’t finished it. After that, I went to my local Gamestop at 11pm and got in line for my copies of Diablo III. Yes, plural. I got the Standard Edition, and I got my wife the Collector’s Edition. The guys at the store asked me if I was sure I wanted two copies, even though some of them have seen my wife and me in the store several times. As I looked around the store, I noticed that the majority of the customers were younger than me. Some of them probably didn’t even remember playing Diablo II when it came out 12 years ago, but there they were. I pick up my games, go home, and go to sleep. Why? Because it was 12:30am, and I had work the next day. I figured I would play a bit when I got home that night.
I wake up the next morning to reports of gamers getting pissed off because they couldn’t login to the servers to play their games. People were upset because they took days off of work to play and couldn’t play. Pirated versions of the game that could be played offline were already available for download. One report was of a guy who has already beat the game in its normal difficulty.
And I find myself thinking, “Was I really like this before? Could I have been this obnoxious? This consumed by games? This… uncool?”
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let’s look at what all I’ve played in the past. I’ve had the NES, the Sega Genesis, nearly every version of the Game Boy up to the DS, a PS1, a PS2, a GameCube, and an Xbox 360, as well as home-built computers to play computer games. Okay, what games do I have? Some of the big hitters are: Diablo I and II, Pokemon games going back to Blue, Halo 1, 2, 3, and ODST, every Assassin’s Creed console game, a lot of Kingdom Hearts games, lots of Final Fantasy games, all the Half-Life games, all the Myst games, SWTOR… Okay, what games do I have pre-ordered? Assassin’s Creed 3, Halo 4, Bioshock Infinite, and I’ll pre-order Kingdom Hearts 3 when it (finally) comes out…
Okay, I’m not out of touch with video games these days, so why am I so shocked by this behavior? Did I take Tuesday off of work so I could play Diablo III? No, because even if I was allowed, I would rather save that day off for vacation or emergencies. Did I play it as soon as I got home from work Tuesday? No, because after I installed it, I had a friend come over and we played the game with some other friends online, and even then the servers crashed after 3 hours in. Did I get upset about that? No, because I knew at that point I had to go to bed because I had work the next day. Did I post on the forms calling Blizzard out for spending 12 years wasting our time with an incredibly bad launch? No, because they’re just people, too, and since I’m in IT, I understand what they’re going through, so I’ve cut them some slack. Did I play Wednesday after work? Barely an hour, because I was at another friend’s house watching Caprica before I had to go to church that night. What about my wife? Long story short, she’s at a summer job in another state, and I’ve sent her her copy and the means to get online, but she might not get to play until Saturday night or Sunday. Why? Because she has to work. Will I play tonight? No, because I have another friend coming over tonight to watch Top Gear. I also have yard work and laundry to do this weekend, and another friend coming over to grill some steaks, so I’ll probably just play on Sunday after church, and hopefully my wife will be able to join me.
Oh, geez. Is it because I’m… an adult? With a career? With responsibilities? With a family to support? But, my wife and I are members of the Internet. We quote Red vs Blue. We actually don’t watch Big Bang Theory because it’s too close to real life for us. We had a Portal-themed birthday party for one of our friends recently. We go to Dragon*Con every year. How can I be an adult if I still feel young? Is it because I do adult things? I do things that children like to do, too. Maybe it’s just that I have found balance, that I’m well-adjusted. Everyone knows that our society lives in instant gratification and self-importance. I wasn’t brought up that way. Maybe I’m considered old-fashioned because I don’t want to have absolutely everything right now, because I work to get what I want, because I’m willing to sacrifice, because I know to weigh pros and cons with everything, because I know how to wait and when it’s time to play and when it’s time to put my toys away.
This release of Diablo III, this game that’s been 12 years coming, has given me a glimpse into a world in which I thought I belonged, when you would find the free time to play a game, either alone or with others, and you’d play, and then you were done. Now, it looks like it’s turned into a world where all is sacrificed for the games. There are leagues where people are paid lots of money to compete in playing video games. People have died from malnutrition because of playing video games. I don’t want to be associated with that, even though video games is a part of my lifestyle. But that’s just it. Video games is a part of my lifestyle. My dad would always say to me growing up, whenever I would get obsessed by something, that “There’s more to life than just ____________.” I get it now. Life is the summation of all of the things we do, and our lives are filled with all the things that make us who we are. We should all feel so privileged that we get the freedom to find out who we are.
So, if all this makes me old-fashioned, fine. If it makes me uncool, fine. I would rather be considered “not a true gamer” than sacrifice who I am. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do. My level 17 monk in Diablo III will be waiting for me when I get around to him.
Mass Effect: The Citadel
SSV Normandy, Commander Kami Shepard, personal log…
*sounds of papers being shoved off of a desk*
*a fist slams on the bulkhead*
I should have known that wasn’t going to go well. What was I supposed to expect from bureaucrats? I know we need to play nice with them because we’re still trying to gain a seat on the Council. I can’t count the number of times I heard that from Ambassador Donnel Udina. Anyone want to take bets that he would place anyone other than himself in that cushy seat?… Yeah, I didn’t think so.
So, just to clarify, the Council decided that there’s not enough evidence to link Saren to the geth or to the attack on Eden Prime, so he’s still a Spectre. There was a turian just outside the meeting, Garrus Vakarian, having an argument with the the head of Citadel Security. He tried to warn me before the meeting, telling me he couldn’t find anything against Saren before leaving. I agree with Alenko that we need to talk to him about what he did find. Cooperating with C-Sec would look good with the Council. Udina suggested to contact a retired human C-Sec officer, Harkin. Why a retired officer would have better luck than an active officer, I don’t know. I’m thinking Udina just wanted to deal with humans instead of aliens. *sigh* Captain Anderson suggested a less-than-official approach: contacting the Shadow Broker. Now, I understand the reasoning behind going through non-official channels, but I don’t know how I feel about dealing with an informational black market.
Still, I have to explore all options, otherwise we’re grounded. Yeah… we’re being held responsible for Eden Prime until we can find anything on Saren. If there’s one enemy that I’ll never really know how to fight, it’s politicians.
Good news, though. Williams has been transferred to the Normandy. She’s set up shop in the cargo bay with all the munitions. I imagine she’ll get on nicely with the quartermaster there.
We had the service for Jenkins before we got to the Citadel. How many more will there be at the end of all this?
Time to be investigators.
Related articles
- Mass Effect: Eden Prime (duckwritings.com)
Mass Effect: Eden Prime
SSV Normandy, Commander Kami Shepard, personal log…
My head hurts. No, it’s not just that I came back from a mission. No, it’s not that I woke up in sickbay, though the meds probably did something to me. It was that blasted vision.
They always say to start at the beginning for things like this, right? Maybe it’ll clear the fog in my mind.
I had Corporal Jenkins and Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko on this mission. We were to head to the excavation site where the beacon was discovered. Not long after we arrived, we were ambushed by several geth drones. We fought them off, but we lost Jenkins. Why is it that the eager ones are always the ones to buy the farm? He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like so many other people who’ve died fighting wars, or being swept into them. I promised Alenko we’d have a proper burial for him.
We pressed on and rescued Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams from another ambush. After we waxed the geth, Williams informed us that she was stationed at the garrison on Eden Prime, and that she was the only survivor after the attack. Doesn’t that sound familiar. I was a person down already, and she was holding it together as best she could. Part of me wanted to send her back to the ship, but I needed her skills.
We reached the dig site only to find that the Prothean beacon was missing. Not good. I had already lost one soldier on this. Losing a beacon would be unforgivable. Williams suggested to check out the research camp. We found at the camp that the geth have these spikes that will impale organics and turn them into a kind of geth-shaped lifeform. Human-shaped synthetic zombies. I’m sure that it could work with other species, but I’m not sure I want to entertain the thought of a krogan turned into one of those things. We did succeed in finding other survivors: Dr. Warren and Dr. Manuel. Dr. Manuel was obviously shaken by the attack. I tried calming him down as best I could while Dr. Warren informed me that the beacon was sent to the spaceport. On the way we rescued a few farmers, but I immediately knew something was shifty about them. Something about holding weapons for a smuggler–I can’t really remember because of this damn headache.
I do remember finding Nihlus. One bullet, PBR. We found that smuggler, Powell, cowering behind some crates. He saw the whole thing happen with Nihlus. He says another turian Spectre shot him, Saren. This is serious. I really don’t know how to explain the possibility that a Spectre has gone rogue, not to mention one as decorated as Saren. Is it possible that Saren has allied himself with the geth as well? It’s almost too strange. The geth do not look favorably on organics, so why would they be led by one? I’m hoping the Council will have some insight.
We took a train to the spaceport and diffused some bombs, which I now think were probably set by Saren. After neutralizing the remaining geth, we found the beacon. Alenko found some way to activate it, and it lifted him into the air. I had to move fast. The last thing I remember was tackling him, pushing him out of the way, and then…
Darkness… Pain… Synthetic and organic materials… Fire… War… A planet… It was all so fast.
The next thing I know, I’m in the sickbay back on Normandy. Dr. Chakwas says I’ll be fine. I do admit, it helped to record all of this. Maybe some of it will make more sense to me later, but right now, I have to inform Joker that we need to dock at the Citadel. Looks like I’m getting my wish about the Council.
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- Mass Effect: Prologue… (duckwritings.com)
Mass Effect: Prologue…
SSV Normandy, Commander Kami Shepard, personal log…
I’m not much for logs, because I never really expected people to want to read whatever comes into my mind. I never kept a diary or journal growing up, although I probably should have from all the traveling. My parents were both on the Alliance military, so seeing new places was just a part of life. Part of the reason why I joined up, too; I can’t handle staying in one place. I’ve been to so many ports, it almost feels like the entire galaxy is my home, not just Earth.
It also feels like one gigantic battlefield. Sure, Captain David Anderson considers me a hero. Yes, I’ve had more than my fair share of medals and commendations. But no amount of metal pinned to my chest will bring back those that were lost. Everyone talks about me and the Skyllian Blitz at Elysium as if it was out of some fantasy movie. If I had my way, I would want to forget everything about it.
Medical evaluations have suggested that I record my thoughts as I go through this new assignment to keep from developing things like PTSD. I’m usually not one to agree with psychological evaluations, but I would rather maintain myself on the battlefield than lose it under pressure, and if the eggheads think this will do it, then so be it.
I guess a little about me is in order, then. Human, female, red hair, average height, weight, and build. Average for the Alliance, anyway. I’m also a biotic, but I don’t like to rely heavily on my abilities. Nothing beats a good gun at my side, and good soldiers at my back.
We’re en route to Eden Prime, on a shakedown cruise of the new and experimental starship, the SSV Normandy. Well. The official statement is that it’s a shakedown cruise. The crew is talking a bit too loudly that we’re too well-armed for a shakedown, not to mention having Nihlus Kryik, a turian Spectre, overseeing the mission. Flight Lieutenant Jeff “Joker” Moreau certainly had a few words to say about Spectres, and I couldn’t find anything really funny about what he said. Navigator Pressly suspects that Nihlus and Captain Anderson are hiding something from the rest of us. Unfortunately, he’s probably fueling the rumor mill on this one. But, don’t all ships have their share of rumor mills?
This feels weird, talking to a recorder like it’s a person.
Had to give a pep talk to Corporal Richard Jenkins. He’s from Eden Prime, so I’m glad to have him on the ground team. He’s green, anxious, wanting to please, wanting to be noticed even more. Over time, he’ll see his own share of action, and that’ll change his outlook. Gotta admire his spirit, though. Just wish he wasn’t so naive. But I can’t be too hard on him; after all, I’m technically the FNG here.
Captain’s calling for me. I think I’ve figured out how to turn this thing off.
~~~~~
Pressly was right, but he didn’t know how much he was right.
A Prothean beacon was discovered on Eden Prime.
Eden Prime is now under attack by some unknown force.
We’re being sent in to retrieve the beacon and return it to the Citadel.
Also found out that Nihlus is observing me on this mission. Apparently, I’m a possible candidate for the Spectres. Can’t think about that now, though. People are dying.
Time to drop.
