Busy enough as it is…

Facebook and Myspace both run these apps like Vampires, Mafia Wars, Pirates, and Dragon Wars, and I am constantly getting invites to join this clan, alliance, family, etc…  Part of me feels bad that I haven’t taken anyone up on the offer.  My oldest son invited me to join his vampire clan on Myspace, but, frankly, I’m really not interested in any of them.  I feel like I’ve got enough going on that any additional distraction could throw off the delicate balance between getting something done and getting nothing done at all.

On one of my author groups, it’s been suggested that playing these games is a good promotional tool.  Maybe it is.  But I figure one of two things might happen.  Either I’ll like it way too much and run the risk of getting into it/them far more than I should, or I’ll find them absolutely boring and be stuck trying to figure out a way to bow out gracefully.

For one thing, I’m simply not competitive against other people.  I rarely play board or card games anymore because I generally don’t care if I win or lose.  I know that sounds strange, but it’s the unvarnished truth.

I know a lot of people play these games as a way to socialize, but I’ve never really gotten into that aspect of computer gaming in the first place.  Usually when I finish a novel I go out and buy myself a game.  Last time it was Guild Wars, a multi-player RPG game.  Except I don’t really make use of the multi-player aspect.  I log on and grab some NPCs and head into open territory away from the other players.  I just want to kill monsters and advance my character.  For a while I played MUDs, until I realized that I didn’t particularly care for the social or role-playing aspects of those either.

I am, at heart, a table-top RPGer.  Cooperative gameplay interests me far more than competitive gameplay, and I honestly prefer the direct social interaction, roleplay, and problem solving dynamics of a small, tight-knit group chowing down on pizza and driving the game master out of his or her mind by systematically out-maneuvering him or her.  That’s not even possible in most computer type games–they’re not designed with the tactical player in mind, unless they’re primarily strategy games, and most of those lack the role-playing aspects that I enjoy just as much.

I never got into WOW because I refuse to continually pay for something I’ve already paid for in the first place.  If I buy a game, I want to play it.  I don’t want to have to pay for it again and again and again.  I know this puts me in the minority, considering there are millions out there who don’t seem to mind.  I’m a low-maintenance type guy–I refuse to add another monthly bill for something that my wife and I can’t enjoy together, something that I’m likely to find onerous after a while anyway.  Besides, again, we have that whole social aspect again.

Gaming, for me, is a way to escape social pressures.  That’s one of the reasons I enjoy the table-top games, just ha,nging out and playing with people I already know and like.  I work retail, so I spend a lot more time than most folks dealing with a constantly shifting mob of people.  I’ve come a long way toward defeating my social anxiety, but everyone needs down-time.  Writing provides a lot of that down-time and I really can’t see how it could possibly be good for me and my mental state to sacrifice writing time for another kind of high-pressure socialization.

An old martial arts instructor of mine had something he called the “100 percent rule.”  Basically we, as conscious beings, only have so much mental energy to put toward things.  We have to choose where we put our energy, because we can’t possibly go beyond that upper limit.

So I’m sure it disappoints a few people that I haven’t and won’t join this clan or that alliance, but, as I said, I really have neither the time nor the energy.  Between the day job, writing, promoting, helping my wife out with her review site, taking care of our animals, cooking meals, cleaning the house, what little time I can donate to the local pagan group with which we’re affiliated, not to mention getting ready to get to work on my upcoming video project this spring, as well as occasionally spending quality time with my wife, I can’t imagine where I’d find the time or energy to engage in one of these games, much less half a dozen of them.

So if you send me one of those invites and I don’t respond, please don’t be offended.  I’m not joining anyone else’s clan, alliance, mob, or anything else.  I’m held hostage by the real world.  Honestly, I’m not sure how I could find the time to do a table-top game right now, and, as I’ve already stated, that’s my preference.

Hope everyone understands where I’m coming from here.  If they don’t, there’s not much I can do about it except to keep on doing what I’m doing.  It’s not as though I have a choice.