Eternally Addicted

A buddy of mine has been playing a Facebook game called Rise of Mythos, so last night I decided to hop on and see what had him so jazzed. The game is alright as far as Facebook games go - you have a deck of cards to use against your opponent, and each turn you summon creatures in to different lanes and send them at your opponent. There's always the option to pay real money to advance faster in the game, but so far it seems like a decent freemium title, especially since you can set the game to run your deck on autopilot while you go accomplish something while playing a Facebook game.

This morning I got a text asking if I was addicted yet. While fun, I told him I dig it but that's about it. But deeper in my mind I told myself that I couldn't afford one more addiction because Warmachine is taking up most of my hobby time. Then that really got me thinking about how that's always my reasoning for not diving in to another game or hobby.

Thinking back through my life, there's always some form of entertainment I've been passionate about. Not just something broad like video games, but something specific that was always running in the hobby side of my mind, making me want to live/eat/breathe whatever it was until I moved on. It wouldn't really impact my personal or "professional" life, but it certainly wasn't willing to share room in my mind with other hobbies.

To name a few:

• Age of Empires and similar RTS, or city-building games like Zeus or Caesar
• Origami
• Pokemon
• YuGiOh
• Magic
• World of Warcraft
• Call of Duty
• Halo
• Saxophone
• Professional Wrestling
• Warmachine
• Painting miniatures
• Whatever book I'm currently reading
• Cooking

Whatever my addiction is at the time, it usually follows the same cycle. I'll use the situation that first drew this addiction cycle to my attention.

I was really in to origami in high school. I'm not talking about just folding cool flowers - I was at the point where I was working my way through the most advanced books I could find in English or Japanese, and any extra money I had went to buying paper or books. Then new games started coming out on my Xbox.

I gradually started using my free time to play game, and only rarely would I fold a piece of paper that wasn't a strategy guide I'd printed off. By the time games like Splinter Cell, Fable, Ninja Gaiden, and Halo came around, my days of origami were totally squash-folded.

Splinter Cell held my attention for awhile. Sneaking around in the dark, trying to do missions perfectly, and later enjoying the multiplayer component was all I wanted to do. Then, on a whim, I started looking at World of Warcraft. You know where this story is going, I'm sure. WoW got me like it got everyone else - not as bad as most, but it was definitely my primary gaming addiction for a couple years. I'd sneak away in the middle of the night my computer was sleeping and give my console some love, but for the most part my first two years of college were spent in Azeroth.

And then Call of Duty 4 came out. I found a competitive online experience I really enjoyed, with a game that used my gaming time wisely. In WoW I'd get 15 minutes to play and I'd be able to maybe complete a quest. In CoD4, I could get in 2-3 games of deathmatch and get back to my homework without feeling like I really wasted my time. WoW faded, and CoD flourished.

On and on it goes. But part of this cycle always has me returning to previous hobbies in a more healthy way. I once again picked up origami during WoW, spending a few minutes here and there enjoying it in a healthy manner (and also using it to woo my wife-to-be). During CoD I'd also play the latest RPG or stealth games, but I'd stop once the credits rolled.

Part of this had to do with my need to preoccupy my mind. I hate having my mind sit idle, so I'd always fill it with reading or other entertainment. But I think that's also just the nature of us geeks. We latch on to our hobbies because they offer so much depth and reward. Whether you obsess over Star Trek, Warhammer, Magic, or Halo, you can always find a community of people that match your passion level. Forums are dedicated to what we love most, and there are always those superstars creating new lists, writing stories, creating cool videos, or whatever else it is that we vibe on.

Sometimes it's dangerous. A friend of mine had a coworker get fired because he used up all his sick days to stay home and play Warcraft. People can go in to debt just to get a competitive deck or army. It can affect relationships negatively just as much as it can help us find lasting friendships.

Still, I love it. I can do origami, I can cook, I can paint miniatures (something that seems to be at a stable, mildly-obsessive level)... my addiction cycles may be unnecessarily dynamic, but at least it ends with a good deal of left over knowledge!

[And since someone always brings this up when I talk about this, I'll say it now. I'm not addicted to my wife, I'm devoted to her. Both require passion, but only one is a lifetime pursuit.]

See you tomorrow!