Conventions, PC Gaming and Obsessions.

2/13/10

As this is my last tour of duty with Katsucon, I must admit that I was not expecting to attend what has probably been one of the coolest and most meaningful panels that I have ever attended at this particular function. Perhaps it is due to my latest addiction, but the WoW-centric “MMOs Unite: WOW: Wrath Edition” panel was a highly entertaining panel if not very informative on a personal level. In fact I believe that I have made quite a few self- discoveries, in that I will never ever be a championship-level MMO player.

The panel speaker, Manny Camacho showed his obvious love for warlocks and disdain of the warrior-class aside, yet was still brilliant! The CEO and founder of GPX gaming Inc approached the game from a mathematics standpoint that had me wanting to break out a pen and paper for a few equations. He spoke of the various class damage scales in ways that would make school kids madly enthusiastic about math and PVP encounters. And while he didn’t apply that higher level of math to the economy of the AH and WoW universe, it was still blatantly obvious that gaming encompasses so much more than sole entertainment.

But the brilliance didn’t end there! Oh no. While Manny didn’t touch upon the crippling damage done by gaming obsessions, or the sociological damage done by hours spent hooked into the game, I believe he illustrated it damn well.

He showed this video (Funeral in WoW) and while the room lit up with laughter, mine too…I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and how I might have been the one to have done something so crass in my obsession.

You see, apparently a young woman died in real life and her friends decided to have an in-game funeral for her in a neutral contested area, which the Horde(an opposing faction) proceeded to attack as if they were raiding a low-level dungeon (ahem, Deadmines). While I laughed and cried during this the showing of this video, the main thing on my mind was that if that were my friends funeral I would make sure that payback ensued…in game and like a mad mutharfucka!

I don’t have to go into details about addiction, there are others with worse sob stories than mine, but for some reasons this was the point when I had to leave. Why? Because it can’t be that serious and yet it is at times… Am I getting help for my addiction? No but realizing the problem is a quarter of the battle.

Alas, as I prepare to do my last all-nighter for Katsucon at the Gaylord Hotel (a very swank establishment I might add) I will miss all the anime kids, the platform gamers (there is no love for the PCers in the game room)and the nights of consuming mass quantities of sugar and caffeine while. But I will be attending Balticon…and at one point perhaps Blizzcon, who reeeeaaally needs to have an event on the North East Coast.

Selfishly...It comes

I cried for a moment, had my own little pity party and booted up World of Warcraft the day that I decided that I needed a bit of a writing break, the day I excused myself from writing circles and decided to float. I can't rightly say that I'm going to be published again and I definitely can't MAKE it happen. I have a full time job and can get by, although extra dough would be nice. So while traipsing about in Northrend, or waiting patiently for another raid to begin, for yet another night, I return to square one.

I was always a gamer. World of Warcraft is slightly more addictive than Final Fantasy but I have always engaged in some type of game playing. I played social Advance Dungeons and Dragons for years and have had consoles for as long I can recall, but my love of writing and reading has never waned. I've taken time to write, be it a small amount or a massive amount of time, and even though my raiding schedule can get pretty hectic...and ridiculous (5 hours trying to best Sunwell sucks)I was pleasantly surprised to turn out a few pages today.

While I would love to blame WoW for my lack of writing, I can't. I can't say that I've lost an obsession that has been with me longer than I can recall. What I can say is that a break was needed. So many nights spent typing away in a vacuum of my imagination needed to be countered with a little social interaction, even if it is "Nice heals," "Good Run," or "Buff up."

The camaraderie I get doing a run or socializing with the guild offers me something that muse often doesn't. Interaction. My muse loves wild things like anti-heroes, assholes, near-villainous protagonists and banter. I try to steer it towards the happy, happy and it seeks the dark. It prods me with it's belly full of all the hardcore scifi and horror novels I've been reading. (Thanks Neal Asher, Matthew Reilly and Edward Lee). My muse points and I follow. There is little interaction involved.

The craft of writing is pretty much a lone job. You write and you present what you created. Rejection letters seldom come with detailed explanations, that is NOT the publishers job. Critique partners can often sugar-coat, pass off or completely ignore a story. Fans may enjoy your story but rarely leave feedback...but my guild tells me immediately when I fuck up and when I do a good job.

I'm selfish. I've been told that before but truly in this time when I have slowed down my writing time, I think that when I do eek out a page or two, that I feel better...less the tortured artist alone in her workroom struggling with the prose. As I stopped pushing and hoping and worrying about writing, it comes...it always did. It's selfish too that way.

Fastest Rejection Evah

In less than 5 days. Yeah that was pretty quick.

1st Manuscript of 2010 sent off...

Getting back into writing after a long, not quite therapeutic obsession with World of Warcraft. Yes it is horribly addictive and allows me to forget about my short-comings as a writer, yes I spent more time researching specs and gear rather than editing ( there, I have admitted it) but for 2010 I have set a mildly aggressive goal of 2 Novels and 3 Novellas. This is not counting the free stuff, a novel which will be posted soon.

While I am still playing WoW, I have pre-game goals and word counts and am actively seeking a beta reader. The allure of chatting and slaying fiends in an MMORPG are hard to resist (at least until I reach a gear score of 2700) but I have resolve and a feisty muse.

Will try to have the free novel up soon for those who are interested :D