A Real Life Gamer

This entry is near and dear to my heart, so please allow me the privilege of writing a slightly longer content.

You see, I’m a gamer, and I have been sober for about a month now. For friends who have known me for years, and for my dad who caught me when I was a teenager hiding underneath the PC table at 3 am, perhaps you’re wondering why I would give up my gaming.

I’m not. I’ve just shifted to playing a real life game.

I’ve started playing games when I learned how to press a button, any button. My era was when game and watches (if you don’t know that, I know what you’re thinking so quit wondering how old I am) were the “in” thing. It took me a while to get my own however, while I was maintaining the cadence of my regular fits to my parents in giving me one, I made my own out of folded paper. I drew some trees where this little stick man cut-out would appear to move along whenever I slightly tap each sides. Anyway, this is not a biography so I should really stop with the details. What I’m really saying is, I think I was born to play.

Oh the good old days…

I loved the stories of the Role Playing Games (RPG) I played, I easily get immersed in it. I would feel that rush whenever I face a very difficult boss, my palms get sweaty and my knees shake when I jump through ledges, and I would feel the best form of addictive exhilaration whenever I’ve discovered a rare loot.

Playing Neverwinter Nights and having a girly crush on Aribeth – I mean c’mon, even gay gamer guys can relate.

I always make time for my games. I have even spent 18 hours straight immersed in an MMORPG. I would rush home after work, have a quick dinner then play the whole night. Looking back at those days makes me question my decisions. Don’t get me wrong but I never regretted being a gamer, after all, It gave me my career. However, that interest of mine seemed to have spawned from deep within me – an uncontrollable urge I cannot drive.

But maybe I was wrong. Maybe ‘gaming’ isn’t really an irrepressible trait instead, a form of inherent passion channelled only to playing digital entertainment.

If I reminisce my days as a handsome winged archer and a sexy badass hunter, I would remember:

Left: I was the hunk; Right: those were my abs.

1. I waited until 2am to find a group outside a cave so someone could help me with my first dungeon run. I wanted the crossbow reward so bad.
2. Girls were flirting with me… errr.. well my avatar. When guys found I was a girl, they flirted with my avatar too
3. My first Territorial (Clan War) was f#$%#*% epic.
4. I finished my repeatable quests (called “punishment quest” – for a good reason) by myself most of the time. It involves killing hundreds of mobs.
5. I was temporarily appointed the the leader of our clan, which I resigned from in a short period of time. I wanted to run away from the drama.
6. I managed loot a rare material and was able to luckily craft it to a really epic bow – plus plus hunky points for my archer.
7. I rolled and I won a chopper (thanks to a generous friend).
8. I rolled on raids and I got more rare loots.
9. I woke up earlier than usual on Saturdays just so I could join raids.
10. Deathwing toasted me when I was passing through Badlands, I saw Thrall before he started wearing a skirt, and I sat on the Lich King’s lap.

I confess, getting killed by Deathwing was on purpose; I wanted to get Thrall’s autograph but he ignored me; okay okay, so it wasn’t me who was on Arthas’ lap – it was Jenn.

I miss those days, and I think I always will. However, these experiences made me realize that there’s more to us gamers than just sitting on our chairs and getting the thrill from well programmed algorithms with colors. We, my fellow nerds, can rule the world. Yep. But we can begin this global domination by starting with our own lives.

As I look at what I’ve been through as a gamer, I learned that…

• I can make time for my passion – always. Regardless of my busy schedule, there was never a hindrance in doing what I love.
• I am an achiever. I’ve never failed getting the rare loots I want for as long as I dedicate my time on it, even if I have to spend 18 hours straight doing the same things over and over again.
• I am a leader. I tanked dungeon runs, for goodness sakes. Do you know how hard it was to lead a group of noobs?
• I’m competitive and I fight to win. You should see me thrash my mouse and keyboard when I do battlegrounds.
• I’m dedicated. I can spend years being committed to my passion. In fact, I can do it forever.

You see those qualities I’ve mentioned? You have those too, my gamer friend. I’ve known people who are 10x more a gamer than I am and that speaks a lot about their characteristic as a human being. They’re overflowing with attributes that make greatness real. As what The Script sang, “you can be the greatest, you can be the best, you can be the KingKong banging on your chest…” – uhhh, just listen to this song as I finish up my post.

My fellow gamers, we are more than who we think we are. We can do more than what other people think we can accomplish. I can attest to what I said because in the past year, I did what I thought was impossible and that is to change physically and mentally. I’ve shed the most weight I’ve ever lost in my life and I’ve gotten back up from depression (but this is another story). I’ve decided to head off to a higher level of difficulty this year and make a badass character out of me.

Bad Photoshop cropping but you get the point…

I’m a real life gamer now. Everyday for me is an ongoing quest. I’m working on achievements that I can ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ on my stats. I’m in search for the gears and weapons I’ll use to conquer an epic real world boss – my dreams.

I’d like to end this post by sharing this video. This is from a TED Conference and it was the speech done by Jane McGonigal, a game designer who sees the potential in all of us as a powerful element in changing the world.

I challenge you… no… encourage you to be a real life gamer.