Facebook

2010-06-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

Facebook is a scary animal.

I equate it to the community swimming pool.

You don't know what body fluids are in the pool. Once you jump in you are literally sharing everything of your physical self with everyone else in the pool. You never know when a Baby Ruth is going to float by. The only coverage you have are the clothes on your back and behind.

Facebook makes me chant the Litany against Fear when I think about it.

The Nature of the Beast

2010-06-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

On a clear night in March of 2008, I started playing World of Warcraft. And, like the in game achievement what a long strange trip it's been.

I've learned alot.

Lesson 1 - Digital friends and physical friends are not the same. Co-workers got me started playing. For about a year, we had a lot of fun. But, inevitably, the real world caught up with them and one-by-one they stopped playing. I enjoyed having the commonality of social interaction that the real/digital crossover gave me. Socializing with the guys online without having to go anywhere was a blast and I found very convenient. As they left the digital realms, I found myself isolated in the digital world. While I still socialized with them and I also enjoyed the MMO hobby they got me into, I had to treat the two as separate activities.

So, I made new digital friends. I met and interacted with people all over the world. This lacked the depth of interaction that I had become accustomed to and I struggled to find a comfort level. And, I still do. This leads to lesson 2.

Lesson 2 - MMOs can be a pain in the bank. As I struggled to find 'happy times' in the digital world, I moved around some to different WOW servers. That costs money. I hate that. Money can't buy you love, but I think that it might be able to find you some short-term happiness at least in MMOs. I searched to find people in the MMO world that I could relate to. People like me. So, I spent real money to find digital happiness. That sounds perverted. But, that is how microtransactions work and is what makes them tick. Damn them and their thinking of ways to make a buck.

Lesson 3 - Digital satisfaction can be found, but is fleeting. I have found several digital homes in WOW that I initially thought were good fits. Like Goldilocks, I discovered that some Captain Rumsey's Lager is too hot, and some is too cold. Ive been in a handful of guilds on three different servers now. All of them had there merits, but just didnt 'feel' right. So, I moved on in search of others.

Those lessons led to where I am in the World of Warcraft. My current guild , Casualties of War , on Rexxar US seems to have been a good choice. I spent a few quid on the move to the server. That sucked. But, they have good activity, mature people, and seem to be playing for the fun of the game. In the end that is what is all about, isn't it?

First.

2010-06-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

This is a test. This blog is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.

:)

Burlap Hammer

Facebook

The Nature of the Beast

First.