141 Characters Later

4 years since I joined VuTales. Alas, how many years has it been since MMOTales was made and we first started blogging there? I still remember my first blog, the one where a stranger dropped a few Maple weapons during Nexon’s (was it first, or second anniversary?) major event and those weapons were worth quite a bit in terms of mesos and I just happened to be around to pick them up. This was before Nexon published and maintained over 8 games, when BasilMarket was just used for auctions and little else, when MMOTales had just started for the first time. When most of us were still playing the little 2d sidescrolling platformer MMORPG MapleStory. To put it into perspective, that particular game is now approaching it’s 10th anniversary, raising its level cap to 250. It’s been a long time coming, that feature, but I guess they needed something big, right?

Looking back, it was so many years ago, and somehow the memories are still with me, tucked away in a little corner. I’m quite fond of them.

But, as with all good things, they must come to an end. MapleStory slowly became more and more bogged down with issues. Ever increasing inflation, the advent of the Pay-2-Win concept that Nexon didn’t hesitate to implement, to name a few. And of course there’s one thing that will never change, children will become teenagers, and teenagers to adults. We all age, it would be quite foolish to say otherwise, and as we age, our interests move away from activities such as games, and more towards topics that many of us didn’t really consider while in middle school or high school. University, social life, job hunting, all elements that are at times stressful, at times frustrating, but definitely time consuming.
And if there’s anything we learned from Economics 101, it’s that time is, invariably, a limited commodity.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still an avid gamer. From League of Legends, to Startcraft II, to more recent blockbuster titles like Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, and Fire Emblem: Awakening, I’m still a huge gamer. But after talking to someone from this site, I realized that it’s truly becoming more and more difficult to maintain this lifestyle. If I just focus on gaming, I can’t hang out with anyone, I can’t do anything with anyone outside of the online realm. This is because my time, like everyone else’s, is limited. On the workdays, I have 8 hours of work, and 2 hours of commute around that. I need 7 hours of sleep to be able to work properly, and an hour for food needs. That’s 18 hours of the day already gone, and 6 hours of time to myself, divided between online gaming, local gaming, social media and working on a professional development course that’s mandated by our University.

Now I realize this sounds like a ridiculous first world problem, and it does. We have it infinitely better than many out there, but when I look back at the years when school was such a breeze and actually fun to go to, because I could talk with friends, hang out, and have tons of leisure time to do whatever the hell I wanted. I could on a whim, contact some people, and we would all be down to go to the library, the park, go shopping, it just seemed so carefree and life was fun. Now if I contact people, they’re “busy.” They, like me, have limited amounts of time, and it just becomes harder and harder to make plans.

And me today? Well, I’m worried. I’m worried about bills, worried about my tuition and the pressure I’m putting on my parents. I’m worried about my diet, my physical appearance (haha more or less), my job performance. I’m worried about my future, my lack of social skills, my grades.

As I sit here, I wonder – what’s going to happen after this job? What’s going to happen if I can’t find a job for my next term? What’s going to happen if I fail, drop out of school, and amount to nothing?

Thankfully, this story doesn’t become a sad one. I realize that everyone has their worries, and that I have mine – but it’s no reason for me to get bogged down. I know that if I work my hardest, try my hardest, and take an optimistic approach, that everything will be better. I mean, all clouds have a silver lining right? It’s not always a dark, grim future, but it’s what you can make it out to be.

Now that I have talked about my experience, let’s talk about yours. Make an effort. Take half an hour out of your time and write a quick update. Or, join us on our recording of a new VuCast, perhaps this weekend (Skype required!)
Sign up sheet here: Click! Thanks to Wayne for making it..

So – what’s your story? 🙂