I love my job. Just throwing that out there. I haven't updated for 8 days, precisely because I haven't had work (and thus haven't been chained to a computer) for 8 days. I didn't take any time off, it's just a scheduling quirk that turns up every 3-4 months or so. Today has been spent reading the 3000+ emails that have piled up over the past week.

Maybe you think I'm exaggerating. I assure you, I'm not. Actually, the number might've been closer to 5000 emails. (By the way, this is another reason I love my job. I can say arrogant shit like "Yeah, my inbox has about 1000 emails daily." and mean it. It's fun to rub it in people's faces. Although that probably says something about my personality. Something like "I'm awesome.")

I was reading an article today about the Eve Online MMORPG, and I felt a familiar hungry lust start burning deep inside of me. This would be the need to excel, to devote myself so wholly to a particular game that I need no sleep, no food, no pithy creature comforts. Ie: the bad side of my gaming persona. Eve Online is a back-stabbing, spy-ridden MMO, with people constantly stepping on each other on the way to whatever consists of their top.

Mostly, it seems, they fight to advance their various Corporations (Guilds) through trickery, betrayal, and downright nastiness. One part of me would revel in unholy glee at such an environment, but another part of me (the older and smarter side) realizes what it would do to me. I've already been involved with such a game, and while I won't go into much detail, I'll just say that I hurt my friends, my enemies, and myself while I was playing.

It may seem odd that I include my enemies in that list, because hurting your enemies is a regular occurence in such games. And, in some regards, they did deserve the treatment they received. Even in the harsh PvP environment, we could have been cordial--and I would've eventually befriended them. But, of course, hindsight is perfect. After separating myself from the evils of my last online gaming experience, I exploited my hindsight to set in stone some guidelines that I would follow to help myself stay away from the "Dark Side" of games.

Anyways, here are my Gaming Commandments, which are mostly designed for my own personality and habits. Of course, if they help anyone else, I'm glad to do so.

Gaming Commandments:

1) I will never play a serious PvP online game again.

This was "I will never play an online game again" originally, which included such games as Starcraft and Battlefield 2. But it was softened to "I will never play a serious RPG online game again" after I broke the rule a few times and mostly got fed up with annoying-ass players. Do you know how hard it is to play a decent game of Starcraft or Battlefield? You can have 6 good player, and one ass can ruin everything.

It became the listed rule after my brother revealed to me that, against my wishes, he had gotten involved with Everquest 2. He insisted that I try it out, and dispite my misgivings (I basically lied to him about wanting to try it, or how I just kept forgetting, for about 6 months--he eventually made me come up and visit him at his college, and play a character on his account. I was hooked.) I really liked it, and now play a Ogre Berserker on Permafrost.

2) Family and friends are never second to gaming.

One of the reasons I hated going off to college was that I spent about 8-10 hours a day playing online, and not making friends. I really regret this, because a number of really cool people were approachable within the realm of "friend" and I basically blew them off. One was a guy just down the hall from me in the dorm, who was a big Counterstrike fan, but was also into tabletop gaming. Another was a teacher who loved my PowerPoint presentation on the "Deaths of Unreal Tournament" and said that we should hook up a Quake Server in the computer lab one weekend. I never took him up on the offer, and stopped going to class about halfway through the semester, but he gave me an "A" anyway.

3) Do not date or even become seriously interested in someone who isn't accepting of gaming/gamers.

I was very lucky to find the beautiful, nerdy, geeky girl that I did. And I realize what a tall order this can be, but if you date someone who doesn't "get" gaming, or worse yet, won't allow you to game, there will be pain and misery.

It's a tall order, but it is absolutely essential. If you date someone who thinks that video games/tabletop games are silly and a waste of time, how are you going to explain that you want to spend 10 hours on Everquest next saturday night raiding with your guild? Or drinking beer in your friend's basement while you slash down orcs with natural 20's? It's hard for someone to understand, if they're not a gamer, and in the end it can lead to a lot of misunderstanding and hurt feelings. After all, most gaming occupies a slot in time that could be taken up by a significant other--a significant other that could have their feelings hurt by someone (me) choosing to play Unreal Tournament over seeing them.

I'm waxing Mr. Relationship Counselor, but bear with me. A relationship that starts out very verbally open (ie: I like video games, Jane, but I also like you. Don't make me choose between them.) can lead to a healthy compromise, but trying to hide or minimalize the importance of gaming in your life will only lead to ruin.

4) When a game begins affecting how you act in real life, it is time to re-evaluate your interaction with said game.

This one originally ended with "it is time to cut off all ties with said game." but that proved to be disastrous. Cold turkey might work for some people, but not for me. However, taking a step back and evaluating how you feel about particular aspects of the game could still allow you to play it, but perhaps with a different attitude, or in a different manner. A "for instance" would be excluding myself from the PvP aspects of a game, and sticking to PvE.

It's pretty much a no-brainer rule, but it's good to list.

5) Love thy fellow gamer as thyself.

I almost think that this should be the first rule, which is simple and self explanatory. There are plenty of stupid assholes online that really ruin the experience. Just be a good person. Don't be stupid, though.

In EQ2 I usually give someone loot that they can use, if I end up with it--even if they're a total stranger. But in one group I was in, a guy tried to claim that he needed every-last-item-we-looted. After about the third item, every group member was rolling off against him, and we'd divide up any loot between the rest of us. So his greediness (or pure stupidity) ended up working against him... I think he wound up winning 2 more items, out of about 50.

This entry is far too long, so I won't list any more. I'll probably finish the list up in a Part 2.