EXEcution
08-14-2005, 06:17 PM
Reader Beware: I wrote this because I have been wanting to for the past couple days since I can't do the thing I am writing about as much here in Russia. It's gonna be a pretty long read, and will probably be full of spelling and grammar errors by the time I'm done.
This is intended to be a two-part 'story' with the first part being the past and present of me being a gamer and the second part with my visions of the futrure of gaming and myself.
As I sit in front of the good old monitor and keyboard I ponder why I chose to play online games, join several gaming communities (GM being the main one, of course) and make friends with people over the internet who share my 'hobby'. Some people regard gaming as more than a hobby thus the quote marks around the word, but I think that gaming is a hobby just like collecting comic books, fishing, and many other things.
Has gaming become more than just a hobby? I mean I haven't heard of anyone dying because of their hobby. Catching too many fish or having too many comic books, unless of course the former or the latter are infected with some sort of deadly disease. However, in the case of gaming, online gaming in particular, people often take this hobby way too seriously. There are degrees of seriousness that I can cope with, but not being able to physically and mentally control yourself while playing and ultimately hurting yourself or someone else is not something I would call being normal. I try my best to control myself when I game, and when other things have to be done besides gaming I can usually tell myself to stop or to finish a game and get down to business.
I began gaming when I was about 6 years old, my first game as far as I can remember was Doom. A nice and bloody shooter that had me going through the same two levels at the beginning over and over again. Since I was young I did not progress well through the game. Later on I played strategy games, RPG's, simulators, platform and console games. Then when I was 16 I got into the online gaming scene.
My first online game and still my favortite is without a doubt Serious Sam: The Second Encounter from out beloved developer Croteam. My family did not have a very fast computer when I first got a copy of the game from OUTLAWS Tip, something with a 500MHz processor, 64 MB's of RAM and 8 MB's of intergrated Video Memory, so I was not able to run it at all. Luckily I was given my very own HP Desktop PC with a 1.2 GHz processor, 128 MB's orf RAM, and about 32 MB's of intergrated VRAM which would later be replaced by a Geforce 440-MX video card with 64 MB's of vram. When I got the computer I was very happy to say the least and I joined up Gamemecca, because of Tip, and started play SS:SE.
A lot has changed since then, including my overall outlook on life and who I want to be in the future. All that isn't tied with gaming of course because now I have very little desire to become a pro-gamer. Anyway in the span of about 2 years (give or take) the computer became my #1 interest. I log on practically every day through my DSL connection, which sometimes sucks because of some retarded-ass people over at Verizon, and browse the web, post on GM and other forums, and play games online. That's not much different from most of the people here. We know why we do it, because its fun and gives us something to do.
I can safely say that Gamemecca is like my online home, although its not my homepage, that honor goes to my primary/secondary e-mail site Excite.com. I feel that I've grown up here with SAL being my daddy and Lev being my mommy... OK. OK. We won't exaggerate the analogy, but we can have Aries be the daddy and Sepra be the mommy, or Pure Evil as the mommy/daddy. AI can be the pet. :D
Well there's your comic relief in the middle. Let's get back on topic. After I decided that my HP Desktop would no longer suit my gaming needs, I began to do research on how to put together my own computer. And frankly it was not very hard, but it did take a long time since I did not purchase all the necessary parts all at once. I remember about 5 or maybe 8 years back when I read an article in a magazine where a kid biuld his own computer. I though that was so cool and probably impossible for someone like me, but I proved to myself yet again that nothing is impossible, even though the kid probably had a much harder time biulding his PC. :P
So after I had my system all biuld and ready I resumed gaming, steadily uprgading the computer, and buying new accessories (mice, keyboards, peripherals). My skills in Serious Sam steadily grew and although I do not consider myself to be the best player, I think I have what it takes to play with the best. My knowledge of maps, prediction of player's locations, weapon usage, and timing of jumps have never been better. The skill that I pocess in Sam is far greater than the skill I have in Quake 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter-Strike 1.6 ans Source, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, Painkiller, and all of the other games that I've played against other people. That fact can be simply linked to my lack of experince with those games, and that I have no motivation to play them as much as Serious Sam.
I know just as well as everyone else on these boards that Serious Sam is not the most popular game out there, but for me as well as several other of you it is the most fun deathmatch experience out of all those 'other' first-person shooters. And since I am not into any other type of game other than first-person shooters it is the most fun game for me. I have nothing against the other games, and I would probably be playing something other than ssam if it wasn't the first online game with a community that I was introduced to.
In conclusion of my first part of why I am a gamer I would like to say that I game because its fun. I don't hold personal grudges against anyone I play, I don't feel that I need to prove myself to other players. I am who I am and I play the way I like and choose to play. If someone has a problem with the way I game please tell me, I will try to change, but I do not guarantee it. People can only change so much, in the end there will always be a part of them that never does.
Post some feedback! :D
This is intended to be a two-part 'story' with the first part being the past and present of me being a gamer and the second part with my visions of the futrure of gaming and myself.
As I sit in front of the good old monitor and keyboard I ponder why I chose to play online games, join several gaming communities (GM being the main one, of course) and make friends with people over the internet who share my 'hobby'. Some people regard gaming as more than a hobby thus the quote marks around the word, but I think that gaming is a hobby just like collecting comic books, fishing, and many other things.
Has gaming become more than just a hobby? I mean I haven't heard of anyone dying because of their hobby. Catching too many fish or having too many comic books, unless of course the former or the latter are infected with some sort of deadly disease. However, in the case of gaming, online gaming in particular, people often take this hobby way too seriously. There are degrees of seriousness that I can cope with, but not being able to physically and mentally control yourself while playing and ultimately hurting yourself or someone else is not something I would call being normal. I try my best to control myself when I game, and when other things have to be done besides gaming I can usually tell myself to stop or to finish a game and get down to business.
I began gaming when I was about 6 years old, my first game as far as I can remember was Doom. A nice and bloody shooter that had me going through the same two levels at the beginning over and over again. Since I was young I did not progress well through the game. Later on I played strategy games, RPG's, simulators, platform and console games. Then when I was 16 I got into the online gaming scene.
My first online game and still my favortite is without a doubt Serious Sam: The Second Encounter from out beloved developer Croteam. My family did not have a very fast computer when I first got a copy of the game from OUTLAWS Tip, something with a 500MHz processor, 64 MB's of RAM and 8 MB's of intergrated Video Memory, so I was not able to run it at all. Luckily I was given my very own HP Desktop PC with a 1.2 GHz processor, 128 MB's orf RAM, and about 32 MB's of intergrated VRAM which would later be replaced by a Geforce 440-MX video card with 64 MB's of vram. When I got the computer I was very happy to say the least and I joined up Gamemecca, because of Tip, and started play SS:SE.
A lot has changed since then, including my overall outlook on life and who I want to be in the future. All that isn't tied with gaming of course because now I have very little desire to become a pro-gamer. Anyway in the span of about 2 years (give or take) the computer became my #1 interest. I log on practically every day through my DSL connection, which sometimes sucks because of some retarded-ass people over at Verizon, and browse the web, post on GM and other forums, and play games online. That's not much different from most of the people here. We know why we do it, because its fun and gives us something to do.
I can safely say that Gamemecca is like my online home, although its not my homepage, that honor goes to my primary/secondary e-mail site Excite.com. I feel that I've grown up here with SAL being my daddy and Lev being my mommy... OK. OK. We won't exaggerate the analogy, but we can have Aries be the daddy and Sepra be the mommy, or Pure Evil as the mommy/daddy. AI can be the pet. :D
Well there's your comic relief in the middle. Let's get back on topic. After I decided that my HP Desktop would no longer suit my gaming needs, I began to do research on how to put together my own computer. And frankly it was not very hard, but it did take a long time since I did not purchase all the necessary parts all at once. I remember about 5 or maybe 8 years back when I read an article in a magazine where a kid biuld his own computer. I though that was so cool and probably impossible for someone like me, but I proved to myself yet again that nothing is impossible, even though the kid probably had a much harder time biulding his PC. :P
So after I had my system all biuld and ready I resumed gaming, steadily uprgading the computer, and buying new accessories (mice, keyboards, peripherals). My skills in Serious Sam steadily grew and although I do not consider myself to be the best player, I think I have what it takes to play with the best. My knowledge of maps, prediction of player's locations, weapon usage, and timing of jumps have never been better. The skill that I pocess in Sam is far greater than the skill I have in Quake 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter-Strike 1.6 ans Source, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, Painkiller, and all of the other games that I've played against other people. That fact can be simply linked to my lack of experince with those games, and that I have no motivation to play them as much as Serious Sam.
I know just as well as everyone else on these boards that Serious Sam is not the most popular game out there, but for me as well as several other of you it is the most fun deathmatch experience out of all those 'other' first-person shooters. And since I am not into any other type of game other than first-person shooters it is the most fun game for me. I have nothing against the other games, and I would probably be playing something other than ssam if it wasn't the first online game with a community that I was introduced to.
In conclusion of my first part of why I am a gamer I would like to say that I game because its fun. I don't hold personal grudges against anyone I play, I don't feel that I need to prove myself to other players. I am who I am and I play the way I like and choose to play. If someone has a problem with the way I game please tell me, I will try to change, but I do not guarantee it. People can only change so much, in the end there will always be a part of them that never does.
Post some feedback! :D