I’m sure some of you will laugh at this. When I mentioned my “other” game today in kinchat, I was greeted with comments like “ugh.” I have played the sim series of games since they first came out with them . . . SimEarth, SimTower, SimCity, etc. and so on. So you can guess I was REALLY excited as I watched the development of Sims 3.

Yesterday, the hubby brings home the collector’s edition of the game. I loved my little USB drive - very cute. I played with that and looked through the docs that came with the game as it installed. I then set myself up with my new ID for the online community. I looked through the sim store and the sim exchange and downloaded a bunch of custom content for the game.

When it was all set up and ready to go, I set up my new little family, redecorated the house (which had significantly more hooks than my LotRO house, but I digress), and got their little lives going. They got jobs, made some friends, and random other things. I followed them around giving them little tasks to do until 5 a.m.

I played this afternoon, and did basically the same thing for a couple hours. When I told my main Sim to go to sleep for what seemed like the millionth time, I realized why LotRO kept me hooked for the past two years constantly, and why Sims hasn’t been able to hold my attention for any significant length of time.

In LotRO, after you finish setting up your house, or talking to other characters (who in this case, are managed by other real people), you can go do OTHER THINGS! I beta-tested and played TSO back when it came out, and although it was a little better due to the multiplayer aspect, it had the same problem as the standalone game, in my opinion.

As much as people complain about the grind in LotRO, at least there’s variety to the grind. You can craft, work on rep or deeds, roleplay, explore the countryside, play music, decorate your house, change your outfits and armour, and on and on and on. While playing the Sims yesterday, I decorated my house, created my outfits, then with the exception of working on some quest-like opportunities, pretty much was rinse and repeat the rest of the time.

I think I have boiled this down to one major difference that makes all the difference. In LotRO, I don’t have to tell my character to go to the bathroom. Ever.

LotRO= WIN

I have seen the forum posts that joke about playing too much LotRO - you know, the ones that talk about seeing resource nodes by the side of the road, and starting to pull the car over to get them.

This weekend, I figured out that I’ve become one of “those” people. I sat down with my friend that I game with, and we made a chart of our characters and their professions, so we could decide who needed to get resources first, who would be guilded first, and who would be the primary gatherers. We went so far as to denote secondary crafters as well for lower level items. This chart is in color, with symbols and codes so we know at a glance which of our 14 characters is at which crafting level and who needs what mats. The chart has been added to our new “gaming folder,” which holds other information we have printed out for quick reference.

I also started doing two things I promised myself I would never do, and never did before in any MMO. My friend and I have begun grinding slayer deeds and other area deeds for traits (which we discovered also helps earn money - who knew?). I also have started running larger group instances and raids. I have recently started understanding and participating in discussions about skills, class changes, strategy variations in gameplay. Saturday, I noticed I was one of the people who could quickly answer detailed questions in the advice channel.

None of this is probably anything that would be deemed news-worthy for most people. For me though, I have been gaming for *coughs-to-cover-age-revealing-timespan* without really understanding the details. I played UO for years, but didn’t group much at all, and played like it was a stand-alone game, without getting the whole MMO part of the game. I was very much a casual-playstyle gamer. So, I’m kind of proud, because this is the first game I’ve played where I have figured out the nuances of gameplay to this degree. I finally understand the stuff I would hear other friends talk about.

I look back on playing LotRO in early beta and kind of laugh at myself. I ran with the swad keys, and thought that hitting the keys faster meant you’d attack faster. I didn’t really understand how gameplay worked. It was kind of pitiful. *sigh* I now play slower, more deliberately, and better. I have made a point to understand the classes I play, and how those classes work best in solo play and within group dynamics. I’m kind of excited about all of this. I feel like I used to in school. You know how the teacher would go over something, and you wouldn’t understand each time she explained it, until suddenly - after the fourth or fifth time - it clicked in your head, and you go, “OH! I get it now!”

Well, I get LotRO, and to a wider extent, MMO gaming now. I still don’t think I’ll ever get into FPS or other popular games like my friends that thrive on discussing strategy and why A is better than B, and all that. But, I do have those moments where I see myself as having become one of “those” people. When a group of us sit around at work, and use gaming slang while discussing events and plans for the weekend. Other people pass and look at us with the mix of confusion and smugness - sometimes moving away slightly, just in case geek is contagious. When that happens, I wonder for a second if I may be too into this game. But that worry goes away when I pass another group of coworkers later in the day who are having a heated debate about fantasy football, Project Runway contestants, American Idol, or the upcoming bowling tournament. Then I realize that everyone has something that they are really into. For me, one of those things just happens to be a video game based on a classic fantasy novel.