Let's Talk About Gaming!!

     What game have you played more than any other game? Was it a newer game, older game, or even an ancient game? No wrong answers here....just whatever game pops into you head first. The game of all games for you....which game you think about first and could probably play without ever getting tired of. Or maybe even a game that just hold a sentimental value inside you. You got one picked out? Let me know in the comments below odds are I might have played it. For me though my game of all games is the one and only Runescape. Never heard of it?, don't worry a bunch of people are most likely going to be in the same boat. Let me tell you what Runescape is to me.

    Runescape takes me back to dial-up internet (yes internet was old at one point), back to middle school, the greatest Linkin Park album still to this day (Hybrid Theory), and to the time we all miss dearly....no masks. Releasing Jan. 4 2001 I started somewhere around 2007. The 20th anniversry just passed a couple months ago. If you have or still do play Runescape then take a minute and give yourself a pat on the back form me. Runescape is more than game to me it is what roughly 90 percent (diehard players) call a 'grind' or 'no XP waste' kind of experience for me. Loaded with plethora of things to do and explore Runescape will keep you grinding it out until you reach the endgame material. When you finally get there you are rewarded with new content that that the producers are adding only adding more for you to accomplish. This same concept is true for multiple games where extra content is available to download to continue the story of the single player. Personally this type of business model is the one I believe is the superior choice. Would you rather have a base game that is regularly updated and new content added OR the same game copied and pasted with a new setting, some what same storyline, but with different era guns, mediocre name change by adding a number one value higher than the previous title number? I'm looking at you Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, and Battlefield. 

    Now don't get me wrong I'm not hating on those games I play them also. I just feel the game developers should take more time to produce a more different experience than the previous title/installment. This time I really am looking at you Call of Duty, haha. Ubisoft and EA have put two years between their releases now, although I think the content provided with Assassin's Creed games hold fans over for the time between the next installment. I mean have you played AC: Valhalla? The base game alone you can sink 60 to 100 hours easily into fully exploring the entirety of the map. Unless you sit for 4 to 5 days straight in front of your TV non stop and beat Valhalla you most likely will play it over a course of time. YOU GOT ME.....I easily sank the night of release until when I had to take the kids to school the next morning into playing Valhalla, but that's no where near the 8000 hours plus in counting I've put into Runescape. 

    Why does Runescape hold a special place in my heart you may ask? Runescape is more than a game it is in multiple ways a simulation, you can learn time management, trust, and even a little knowledge about stock markets. At least I learned that type of knowledge from playing it over the years. Imagine now! As a kid playing Runescape and you trust another player (stranger danger) thinking you are friends....then BAM!!! out of the blue this so called friend player scams you of your hard earned money in the game, you learn very fast TRUST NO ONE!! You learn that it takes money to make money, buy bulk items cheap and flip them for higher price to double or even triple you money. Similar to stocks in real life. 'Buy Low Sell High'. I'm not a fan of wasting time I'm never just sitting and not doing anything unless I'm sleeping obviously. I don't care if I'm doing something productive or recreational as long as its not wasting time, same as when playing the game it bugs me when my character is just standing there in one place doing nothing (mainly because I can't decide from the magnitude of things to do) at this point I usually log out until I figure out what I want to do in the game. Am I the only one? Do you shut a game off if you don't know what game mode you want to play? One of the reasons I tend to stick to single-player games. 

    Back to the business model of video games now. Do you prefer you the new game every year, or base with expansions and new content making it longer every time new content comes out? Over the year I decided I enjoy the second option better and I'm also starting to think PC games are more of the games that follow this model. Look at games like Runescape, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends. Expansions packs that add new characters, missions, map locations, and new weapons. I can see the argument coming. "What about Fortnite and Call of Duty battle passes?" Battle Passes are not entirely what I'm talking about in a sense. I personally enjoy battle passes. I think they drive the gamer to unlock the content included with the battle pass before it is then locked behind microtransactions when the season ends. In-game purchases are a different rant for a different post though. Do you play the game to unlock the cosmetic items included with leveling up a battle pass or could you care less? I'm stuck in the middle I'm a collector when it comes to video games I would like to unlock everything in the game even if it is a pink fish that makes absolutely no sense and I know I will never add to my gun to show off. Just the fact that I unlocked it make me happy. Problem is now day the battle pass model has taken off and it seems all the new games have a battle pass, so to keep up with all of them is an impossible feat for the casual gamer of a couple hours a night. Almost overwhelming at times when there many different battle passes you want to complete and you have either pick one to do or 'no-life' it for a few days to just grind it all out. Ultimately the decision is ours and everyone will chose differently.

    Video games today do not lack in the department of numbers you can find a game to fit what you are wanting to play and if not just give it a few years and they will make it. This past year or so of being quarantined in you home, the entertainment business has thrived tremendously. People have turned to entertainment purposes to keep their minds at ease with everything going on lately....including video games, movies and TV shows, and even books. Pandemic life is an isolated life in my opinion and I can't say I hate it...not having to deal with the crazies of the world just every now and then when you need to go grab something. Even then you can just emphasize your new law the government gave you called "6 Feet Apart" and tell that crazy to stay away. With all this home isolation the digital world took off more than it already had, Zoom calls, video chatting, streaming video games. This all leading to the increasing number of people streaming their video game sessions to the world. I mean who can blame them think about it: you are a gamer stuck home and told to stay inside so you play video games why not broadcast it online and get paid for it? Except everyone thought the same thing you did! Either way you like it or hate it, against video games or for them, the technology is growing and expanding fast and it will be integrated into everyday life in the near future for sure. The idea of that excites me I just hope we all be smart with the technology and not cause something like I-Robot to happen in the future or even better something like Maximum Overdrive for all my Stephen King fans out there. 

    Let me know in the comments the game(s) you like and the ones you absolutely hate and don't plan on ever playing again or not giving a second chance. What business model do you like better and if you think there is a different model I just gave to two most common ones that most games now days follow. If you have reached the end I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart and hope to gain a follow from you. 

    Until next time I hope you have a nice rest of your day and always have fun with your life but also be safe in everything that you do.