OK, sometimes a girl just wants a little peace and alone time to slay her own dragons.
No, I’m not speaking metaphorically.
I’m a little bit of a nerd. To those who would say I’m a lot of a nerd, I say: HUSH, YOU!
Anyway, because of this mere trace of nerdiness, I occasionally like to play video games. (Occasionally even get a little obsessive about them, even.) I’ve played a number of them. One thing holds true about most of them: I really suck. RTSs, RPGs, FPSs, at all of these my suckiness shines. But still, against all reason, I still like to play many of them.
So, in 2002, a game came out that I loved. Neverwinter Nights. Dungeons and Dragons in video game form. It was awesome! I played it completely through and many custom modules as well. One thing that made it so irresistible to me was that it was solo-play. I didn’t have to PvP with kids who could kick my trash with their mouse hand tied behind their backs. I could go forth and slay dragons at my own retarded pace and beat the game and feel good about myself.
So this last week, after much putting off, I bought me a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2. The interface isn’t the greatest, but after some getting used to, I’m having fun by myself, slaying lizardfolk and thugs.
But then my husband asked to play.
Sure, I said, we’ll just download a module to play…..uhhh….
There ARE no custom modules. No live community forums. No support. Nothing. Apparently a lawsuit killed it, or something. Details are sketchy. However, the website claims, never fear! You can now play D&D online!
What?!
Sure, it has some draws to it….my undead-hating cleric that I always play can still exist and go about turning undead to her heart’s content. However, just like World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online or any of the other dozens of MMOs out there, it will have this one great flaw: I will suck at it and suck publicly for all the world to see.
Um, game industry? Could you occasionally cater to those of us for whom video gaming is not easy, and make something that is fun for ‘the rest of us?’ Besides Sims, I mean.