May 01st, 2024
My pre-teen and teen life was consumed by playing SNES, PSX, and PC games. It was spent pretending I was the character on my screen. I was overweight, socially stunted, and unable to face the world.
I went through about 8 years of severe depression. Diagnozed with severe chronic depression, adhd, and social anxiety, I was left wondering if I would ever be able to cope with life. I often asked myself how much gaming impacted my lack of social development. How much did it impact my development as a man? Usually I justify it by telling myself that we all forge our own path in life, but it's hard for me to not think about what I would have accomplished had I not lived my life online.
The current generation of teenagers never had to go through the feeling of being cast aside socially because then used computers. My sister, 15, is more connected than I ever was but has friends that do the exact same thing. It's just what they do in their spare time and sometimes while hanging out together...
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May 01st, 2024
In January 2010 I picked up my life in my native Tempe, AZ and moved to Houston, TX. Really the reason for me moving here was for my girlfriend who I met playing WoW in 2007. At the time I was more than excited to start a new life in a new city, but I'd be lying if I wasn't nervous. Sure, I'd travelled to other places in the U.S. with my family and friends, but never without them. This would be the first time I'd be away from everyone for more than a week.
Almost immediately after arriving here a massive feeling of emptiness overcame me. In my passion for being with someone I loved, I had overlooked just how much my family and friends meant to me. My mother, father, sister, and brother had been my best friends my entire life. I had grown to love them more than I realized.
Then came August 2011. In my depression I decided to move back home to Tempe, leaving behind someone I loved very much. The day I walked through the door of my parents house was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life...
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May 01st, 2024
As a gamer I've long fell subject to the "waiting game". A new game gets announced, we get teased with content, then we figure out how to best spend our time before we get a chance to play it again on the day of release. Maybe it is because the game itself is really that good and we see it as the second coming come to rescue us from the throws of gaming boredom. Maybe it highlights a bigger issue; boring lives. I consider myself to be pretty lucky to have an awesome girlfriend, who has an awesome son, I have a roof over my head, a stable job, and enough money to at least pay the bills (and play games).
I play games because it feeds my imagination as well as my artistic side. After all, what is gaming if not interacting with art and imagination? In the case of MMORPGS, creating a bit of art as well. However, most of us have done the same things for years now and looking forward to a new game is our way to break the tedious nature of modern life whether you consciously think about it or not...
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