Character History and Personality

Gaming History

Behold the power of games. I have always been a gamer. It has always been about winning, and now, finally as I watch my oldest boy play games do I finally begin to understand what a pain in the ass I have been. You can teach an old dog new tricks....I hope.

I started playing RPG's in junior high around the early 80's. I am an old fart. I remember going to a friends house to play DnD for the first time. I fell in love with it instantly. I still play pen and paper RPG's off and on. Currently, we are playing a Gurps fantasy RPG and it is tons of fun.

My first real memory of a great computer game was either Wizardry (somehow I think the first ones were named different) or Wolfenstein. I remember playing these for hours. Many games came out after these that I played for many hours. Then I stepped up my gaming when Diablo came out. Wow what a game. I remember going to work hours early to play with a buddy in the morning.

Thinking that nothing could get better than Diablo, I stepped into the beta of Ultima Online. From that point on, Diablo just did not do it for me. I played UO relentlessly. We were horrible in that game. We played heroes, thieves, and murderers (hey we all act the child at times). Ever since UO, if it is not online it does not hold my attention. I still try to play a good strategy game once in awhile as a diversion between online-RPG games.

I actually reached the "end game" in Freedom Force, which was a rare feat for me. I went from UO to EQ. I remember the day it shipped. I had to go buy it. I played EQ for two years and I still go back to it once in awhile. After EQ was AO (I hate sci-fi genre and bugs). AO did not last long. Then I played DAOC for a while. I really enjoyed the look and feel of that game. I played it for over a year. I beta tested AC2, which was a beautiful game, but for some reason it did not draw me in. Currently I play Star Wars Galaxies (Boo sci-fi) and I am enjoying it, but it does not have the hold that the other games have had.

Maybe I am getting older and the games just do not grab me as they used to, or maybe I am a wimp and cannot get to the end game in one. Or maybe I just have better stuff to do now. But I keep holding on to that hope that the perfect game will come along. oW may not be it, but it could still be my favorite yet. It looks great. I am sure when WoW comes out I will have a pre-ordered copy. I am sure that on day one I will play it. Hell, I will probably buy a new computer to make sure I can play it at its fullest. I will play it nightly for many months. I hope that it will be the best. And I am not addicted to games. I can quit any time I want to.

Roak