Addiction Pt. 2

Yes, there is yet another thing of which I can't get enough. I guess I just have an addictive personality, getting hooked on these things so easily. No, I'm not talking about drugs. Sure, I've tried a few things, but I never really understood the whole drug thing. They never seemed to do anything for me, and I never felt like I had to do it again. In fact, I always felt like I never needed to do that again. Alcohol can be nice, but I don't drink that much. I have a very fine line between being drunk and feeling good and being drunk and praying to the porcelain god. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at recognizing that line, so I now keep drinking to a minimum. No my great vice is a computer game of the MMO variety. And, no, it is not World of Warcraft. I'd rather play a game as Paris Hilton (blech) than an elf or whatever the hell else you can be on there. My other addiction right now is City of Heroes/City of Villains (supposedly stand alone games, but really two sides of the same game). Worse, I am a total altoholic. For those that don't know, an altoholic is someone who can't just play one character and enjoy the game but has to make character after character (or alts as they're known). In this game creating other characters is especially addictive because it has the best character customization in the industry, at least as far as appearance goes. You can play as a superhero (City of Heroes) or a supervillain (City of Villains, duh). You can also choose from plenty of powers (and the developers have recently announced that more are coming, so I have to make even MORE characters now). This game appealed to me from the start because I am a long-time fan of comics and the whole world of superheroes and supervillains. It continues to appeal to me because it's just a blast to play. Depending on your mood, you can solo or team with other players. When I originally started, I was a total soloer, as I usually am in real life (I just prefer to not interact with people anymore than I have to, not to sound bitchy or anything). Then I started teaming and found the challenge of working with others and devising the best ways to use our combinations of powers enjoyable. I've been playing the game for more than 15 months now, and that's not counting a break I took for several months. I decided to come back and found so many new things to do and more being added all the time. I consciously work on not playing it too much, though, and I make sure that I spend time with the people that I should and doing the things that I need to do, as well as doing other things that I enjoy (check the previous post). But there is no denying that part of me wants to play 24/7! I think it's that kid inside who used to read the comics and dreamed about being someone just like the characters that I play in the game. Damn kid.

Recommended song download: Stand Back (Tracy Takes You Home Radio) - Stevie Nicks