Something has happened dear play chums. And this is a something I thought could never happen. It took me a while to come to terms with it, but it's still left me reeling.
I am an EverQuest widow!
Yes, me! I know! EverQuest II to be precise. Or to be even more precise EverCrack II, the new and improved freebase version.
How can this be? I'm a gamer for heaven's sake. I didn't know gamers could be widowed as a result of other games. I just wasn't prepared for it.
I used to scoff at gaming widows and widowers; there must be some of you out there. "Pah!" I'd say. "Why don't you widow types just get with the programme and start playing games yourselves?"
Well, to be honest I probably had more sympathy than that"a smidgen more. But at that point I'd never experienced the power of EQ. It seems to have a tighter grip on gamers than anything else ever, even Pac Man and Tetris!
If I'm wrong, why don't you get Dark Age of Camelot widows or World of Warcraft orphans? Maybe you do, but you don't hear about them, so they either whine quietly or there are less of them.
Prior to my EQII experience, I'd seen gaming addiction, heck, I'd even been addicted. Tomb Raider II took over my life from beginning to end, as did the first Tony Hawks Skateboarding. Shenmue 2 kept me inside on many weekends and City of Heroes and Villains still manage to keep me up until 12, even on a school night.
But none of them and I repeat none have kept me as addicted as the hold EQII has on my other half and many other halves around the world. It's not like I'd ever begrudge social engagements because I was in the middle of a raid or because the guild was standing around to talk guild business. But the EQA (EverQuest Addict) does resent the intrusion of real life.
The day I realised I was a widow was on a Friday night when I arrived at said boyfriend's house for the weekend. We usually chill and do our own thing during the week (see also, play our own respective MMOGs at our own respective houses).
With a week happily spent playing EQII (and in my case CoV) I naively thought the weekend could be spent doing other things like, er, I don't know talking, going outside, seeing other people. The door was opened promptly enough and a few pleasantries passed between us before he returned to the EQ throne and sank into the other realm.
It's a strange realm and one that's hard to reach from this thing we call reality. The body of the player is present in every way and even feels warm to the touch, but remains utterly unresponsive to all except spells, trolls, dragons and guild chat.
Sometimes utterances do emanate from the EQ ‘corpse', but they usually consist of things like, "Oh it's a level 23 double down heroic, but there's only one so I reckon I can take it if I use my summon the vine of Hermia spell to anchor him and then send in my pet to take the major aggro." This is all said without even turning to you, the living one, in the room. One can only assume the comment is directed at you, for your interest, but the lack of a need for you to respond renders this assumption irrelevant.
But how can I, a regular MMOG player and gamer begrudge someone their enjoyment? My only justification must be that I know when to stop and realise that if I stop for a moment to speak to a real person it isn't the end of the world, virtual or otherwise. I guess that means that I'm not an addict, just a hardcore user. If there are more pressing things to do, I do them. But if I have a spare evening, it's easy to try and eat and play, get indigestion and play into the small hours – as I did last night, if you must know.
However, I am not alone – well except maybe the bit about being a gamer gaming widow. A yahoo! group has created "EverQuest Widows" a forum for those deserted by EQA's (a term I borrowed from the forum). The forum introduction says it all really:
"EverQuest Widows is a forum for partners, family, and friends of people who play EverQuest compulsively. We turn to each other because it’s no fun talking to the back of someone’s head while they’re retrieving their corpse or "telling" with their guild-mates as you speak."
It's easy to make light of the plight of Wids (as they're called), but some of the stories on the forum are truly depressing and involve neglected children, divorces and loss of jobs.
I don't know what EQ's got over other games, or maybe it just attracts addictive personalities, but I never thought it could happen to me. Well, if all attempts at communication fail at least I can always come home and talk to my real friends Dead Monika and Angel Interceptor on City of Villains.
If you are an EverQuest widow or an addict seeking support head to EverQuest Widows at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/EverQuest-Widows/
Most played: City of Villains
Most wanted: Legend of Zelda: the Twilight Princess