This really is turning into a yearly blog!   Maybe I will try to rectify that.  I was thinking of doing Nanowrimo (again) this year, and my decision not to do so has freed up a huge amount of time that I wouldn’t otherwise have had!   So, time to write about gaming again.

I’m still trying to balance gaming with “real life”.  When I quit SW:TOR about three years ago, I realised that spending hours in front of a computer screen was not good for my health, my fitness, or my figure.   I got fit, I lost weight, and I cut down my gaming time dramatically.    I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, that has to be a conscious decision.   If I didn’t make that decision, I’d quite happily sit for hours, playing games, while no doubt drinking wine and ordering takeaways (no time for cooking and washing up!)  I have to accept that it’s kind of addictive for me.

However, it works the other way too: the less I play, the less I’m drawn to playing, oddly enough.   I’d still rather do it than housework, of course, but it’s not like it was a few years ago, when I could happily have spent the whole day staring at the screen, given the chance.

And the less I play, the less social gaming is.  I don’t have the time and experience to do “dungeons” in ESO or SW:TOR, so they have become solo games.   PVP didn’t appeal terribly much in either of those for different reasons (I wasn’t wild about it in SW:TOR and in ESO, Cyrodill was so huge and I kept dying and having to run back and get killed on the way … rather frustrating and boring).   I did have a stint in WoW recently and that was much more social as there was so much group content that didn’t require a long time to organise and do: dungeons, old raids and achievements, world bosses, etc.   I enjoyed grouping up with other guild members.  Even raiding was quite accessible.   I know many people hate that WoW has become so casual-friendly, but I have to say, that if you are casual, then … it’s friendly.   It’s easy to gear up and you don’t feel excluded from the good stuff.

As for the hugely anticipated (by me), ESO: what happened there?  (So long since I last posted!).   Well, I loved it at the beginning, had fun doing the starter dungeons, but being a slow leveler I once again went through the experience of being stuck in what seemed like a single player game: levelling through quiet areas and lonely delves, not feeling I had the skill for veteran dungeons, and not managing to find a group for them at a suitable time (I did try to organise one, but the timing seemed to be wrong for everyone else).    It was SW:TOR all over again!

I still pop in now and then as it’s now buy to play, and called Tamriel Unlimited.  But oddly enough, I’m back in SW:TOR.   Some of my guild have returned to it and as it’s now free to play I thought I’d give it another try, and finish off the main class storyline for my inquisitor at least.  The story is actually turning out to be a little disappointing, but never mind: my misgivings about the game still apply, but I’d forgotten how pretty and atmospheric it was.

What I really want is to play Witcher 3 and Dragon Age:Inquisition, but my computer says no.  Maybe in a year or so, when they’re in a sale, I’ll buy them and put them on my son’s computer.    Meanwhile SW:TOR is providing a nice combination of single player story and MMO.