Games People Play

I have never been much of a game player. Although I can play a very strategic and good board game (everything from Risk to Life), they generally bore me. My DH, on the other hand, really loves games. We have to thank computers for the breakthrough in gaming for both of us. Interactive on-line games have taken over and are the main recreational occupation for my DH and a secondary amusement for me. I don't have a lot of time or energy to devote to my on-line multi-player games (and I really would rather read, paint, bead, etc.), but I try to devote my Friday and Saturday nights and part of Sunday to play with him. It makes him happy and allows my own characters to continue to progress - important in a game where my girls always seem to be hanging at the median range. For instance, in the current Lord of the Rings Online that we are playing, the maximum a character can develop to is level 60. I have one player over 40, and two in the upper 30's. He had a character maxed out within the first week after the new release upped the level to 60.

Differences in approach. Each night I sit at my computer and read my Email, pet my SuperPoke Pet, and read fan fiction. These are enjoyable computer activities for me. My DH, on the other hand, opens his Email when I tell him to, hates to read on a computer screen, and has no other on-line interaction outside of a gaming format. Even in-game he will rarely play with other players, preferring instead to slog through things on his own no matter how many times he may get killed by monsters and baddies. It's a different perspective.

And now I have a project bug in my head for a very complex item that will require gearing. I really don't understand a lot about gearing. And this needs to be hydraulic - driven by a fountain motor. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull this one off, but I did spend my lunch yesterday sketching the basics out so that I could see it on paper instead of just in my head. Now we'll see if I can "Da Vinci" the components so that this will actually work. I think a couple of years from now if I look at my current line-up of projects pending and gaming obligations.