I’m sure we’ve all been there, right? No matter how much we love something. We need to take five and step away from something we enjoy and focus on other things.

This time that happened with gaming. I’ve been an avid gamer since I was a child. In the early years, three to about ten, it was the board games. I have so many fond memories of playing Don’t tip the Waiter, Jaws, Twister, Uno, Candyland, etc., with my brother. My parents would join in too. We had our own little community of gamers, and it was a blast. You know something, I’m carrying on that tradition with my daughter. It’s a great time to simply hang out with my wonderful little girl, act silly, and do something she truly enjoys! I love it.

When I turned eleven our parents purchased us a Commodore 64, and we moved on to computer games. Naturally (graphic-wise) the early 80’s games were a far cry from the games you see today. However, back then, those graphics were sitting on top of the world.

I have great memories playing alongside my brother waiting for my chance to play some of the single player games. I remember at times literally on the edge of my seat as I watched my brother tackle various obstacles. I did that when I was gaming too. It was a great feeling, holding our breath, hoping we could just finish our objective before… we ran out of time or went splat! We encouraged each other, laughed when we made stupid mistakes in games like OilsWells, Mission Impossible, Ghostbusters, Loadrunner, etc., Although we loved games, we didn’t spend too much time playing them. We loved the outdoors too much. That still holds true to this day. I love gaming but I love being outdoors even more.

You know what? At that age, at times it could be hard to think of each other when we were playing a great game, but we managed to work it out and think of others too.

But I’m rambling… (I hope you get the picture though) I love gaming. I’m not too much of a television watcher. Weeks and months can roll past without me watching anything. The same holds true with my daughter, but I don’t mind gaming for a few hours weekly.

Oh yeah back to taking a break, as much as I enjoy playing World of Warcraft I decided to take a break. No, I don’t hate the game. I still enjoy it. I just need a break, yah know? Taking breaks from a particular game is something I’ve always done. It’s my insurance policy that I won’t leave a game that I truly love prematurely simply because I was burnt out.

The social aspects of MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying games) are simply amazing and I have to admit that does appeal to me. If it didn’t I would only play my single FPS games on my Macbook Pro or Xbox 360, right? But, at times I don’t want to play multi-player games and this just happens to be one of those times.

I’ve met some amazing folks from MMORPG’s, and those I’ve connected with I still keep in contact with outside the game. At times, interest can change (and that’s ok!) or people get busy in the real world and put their gaming aside (rightfully so.) However, since we have established a connection I don’t miss them when they leave a game since I still chat with them now and again outside of the game.

Sometimes in the real world, we need to take a break or tackle things in a different way. For example, I enjoy working out and am in very good shape. However, I don’t like doing the same fitness routines all the time, and so I constantly switch up. Keeps me interested, and I’m not doing the same boring workout, and still staying in amazing shape. That’s pure win right there!

The above picture made me chuckle. It’s sort of the images I get when I think of a person being ‘burnt out’. I’m definitely not hating on the hippies. My friends and even my family too often refer to me as a tree-hugging hippy. What with the dreadlocs, vegananism, green lifestyle… I guess I’m an easy mark (or at least in their eyes.) 😉

Technorati Tags:
Mac games, MacBook Pro, MMORPG, WoW