Gamer's Domain #1 for 2/6/12

Hello and welcome to the first 'actual' Gamer's Domain. I'm Levi Castle, and I'll be your storyteller.

What I'd like to talk about today concerns a genre that almost every gamer is familiar with: the MMO (massively multiplayer online). But first...

In my lifetime of playing video games, the FPS (first person shooter) genre was dominant in my collection of electronic entertainment. I absolutely LOVED (and still do) the classic shooter series like Battlefield and Call of Duty - though the latter is getting a bit stale in my opinion. In fact, my most-played game of all time was highly underrated, in my opinion: Black Hawk Down for PC. I can't tell you how many hours I spent sniping, gunning, flanking and 'nading with my clan buddies in what must have been at least 1,000 player-created custom maps. I have yet to find a game that brings me as much joy in both single player and multiplayer for as long as Black Hawk Down and all of its expansions did. I read all of your comments, so what was your favorite game of all time? Was it also your most time-consuming? I spent at least 5 years playing, and I only stopped because nobody would log in anymore!

Speaking of time-consuming, let's move on to the reason for today's particular blog: the MMO. Two years ago, I discovered the sensation that was World of Warcraft. Even though my PC at the time was complete garbage, it didn't stop me from playing what to me was the greatest fantasy game of all time. If you might disagree that it is 'fantasy', I'm defining it for this blog as "medieval/magical, expansive, in-depth, has a virtual economy, and no firearms of any sort." Anyway, the game took control of my life. Even though I tried to balance homework with WoW time, the game grabbed hold of me and had me scrambling in the mornings to finish my assignments. A few of my friends had also joined in on the fun, which cemented my addiction in the world of Azeroth even further. By the time my WoW career had ended in October 2011, I had 5 level 85 characters, two of which were in the top ten geared toons for their classes on my realm. My PVP (player versus player) Hunter in particular had over 40 days of game time. My PVE (player versus environment) Warlock that I used to raid had over 60 days. Who knows what the others had in addition to that! Black Hawk Down still has WoW beat in terms of time played, though.

You've probably gathered that I found a new favorite genre when I discovered the MMO. A close friend of mine who has played the same games with me since the beginning of time said that fantasy games were the most fun because they were nothing like real life. I entirely agree with him. There's something unimaginably fun and satisfying about the fantasy world. In fact, I'm listening to music from the Lord of The Rings soundtrack at this very moment. Talk about obsessed! Or would you call it passionate? If you know what I'm talking about, you've probably had a hard time trying to describe it, too!

When my friend and I simultaneously quit WoW due to the repetitiveness of the fights and incompetence of some other players, we were at a loss with what to do. Sure, Skyrim took up massive amounts of our time, but after 300 hours each, we were ready for another MMO. Skyrim's single player-only was easily deserving of the Game of The Year, but the desire to fight alongside each other and communicate with the interwebs was itching at us incessantly. It's undeniable that the two of us are avid Blizzard Entertainment fans, and what we had most recently set our eyes on had us scrambling to find as much information as possible about it:

Diablo III. If you are unfamiliar with Blizzard's upcoming sequel that has been anticipated for more than a decade, I encourage you to crawl out from under your rock and research what people are calling a "masterpiece," just from the BETA! Unfortunately, it doesn't yet have a release date, so it looks like my friends and I will be playing League of Legends till it does!

Alright, so it's obvious that the graphics and the storytelling will be top-notch for the game, given who is making it. But what my friend and I am so excited about is what we had lost when we quit WoW: playing and interacting with other people. We both pre-ordered the collector's edition, mainly because the game's soundtrack is included. Nothing makes a game like it's music, and soundtracks are just as evident in my collection as the games themselves (and yes, Black Hawk Down's soundtrack is FANTASTIC). I'll provide a link so you guys can see everything you get with the CE from GameStop.

That's all I've got time for this week, but now it's your turn to give me your opinions! I'd love to read your answers:

What is your favorite game of all-time?

Was it also the most time-consuming?

What does a game's music mean to you?

Do you have any titles currently pre-ordered?

Thanks for reading Gamer's Domain!

Levi Castle

epicgamer93@gmail.com