Got Game?

     One thing I wasn’t able to mention in my writer’s introduction: I am a passionate gamer.  For as long as I can remember, I have had a real liking for gaming; from the worlds of Mario, to the moogles of Final Fantasy, the enchanting armors and fairy wings of MU Online, the intriguing personas of World of WarCraft, the realistic characters and terrain of Granado Espada, the challenge and teamplay of Defense of the Ancients, and most of all, the dynamic community of Philippine Ragnarok Online.

     People would say that I am the least likely person that they could think of who would be so into gaming.  And when they learn that I am an impassioned gamer, they would get this look of disbelief and ask why.  Whenever this happens, a “why” question also pops into my brain: Why is it that people find it so hard to believe that someone who is evidently getting enough rest, does well at school, and obligingly engages in a wide variety of conversations can actually be a gamer? 

     Sometimes, you could even go so far as to call this type of attitude baseless prejudice.  For the longest time, gamers have been pigeonholed as geeks at best and lazy bums at worst.  While some, and I do mean a really small minority here, may fit the bill, I believe that gamers are, for the most part, well-balanced individuals who very well know the delineation between the virtual and the real; people who study and work as hard as they play, capable of managing their time in such a way that responsibilities are met with enough time to spend at leisure while gaming. 

     Gaming is a recreational activity, and a constructive one at that.  Like the high-powered business executive who regularly goes golfing on weekends or the college Dean’s lister who builds model planes after classes, gamers are not much different from everyone else; they pursue what everyone else pursues, and that is to have something that they could enjoy doing after a tiring day at work or at school.

      So why do I go gaming..?

     Initially, it was because of the cute avatars.  Further along, it was the diversity of the characters.  Then came the enthrallment with alchemy.  And moving on down the road I realized that more than these trivialities, I play MMORP games because players are not just different people playing different avatars who happened to be online at the same map, at the same time.  I have found friends here.  I have found someone who shares my interests, my beliefs, and ultimately, my love here.  I have found a dynamic community and a family that goes beyond the limits of the virtual world.

     I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  Life has a way of letting us find the most precious things, meet the most special people, and learn the most important lessons in the unlikeliest places.  It may be ironic that the virtual could bear such close resemblance to the real, but this doesn’t mean that it isn’t true.  It is my sincerest hope that the skeptics and detractors would try their hand at gaming before debasing such an activity.  I’m quite sure that if they do, they might well be on their way to being not just converts, but advocates as well.

     Game on everyone!~ ^_^