For the longest time I used to play video games for fun. I would sit down, boot up my computer, and pop in Age of Empires 2 and play for literally hour sjust for the fun and enjoyment of building a city and crushing my virtual enemies. I never played online and I rarely played the campaign (at the time they were too hard for me because I was so young - I beat Joan of Arc a few years later), but I just loved to play AoE for hours and hours on end and would do it frequently.

I've played RuneScape for nearly 7 years. Now I know many of you are probably either laughing or judging me by now because "haha, Runescape is a game for kids, I stopped playing when i was 9, the community is terrible, etc., etc." And while it's true that many of the players are childish, there is a huge community of dedicated, mature people that play all the time. The graphics really aren't that bad, and the game itself is pretty fun.

Now I've noticed that slowly over time that my game style has changed. I stopped playing PC games frequently and switched mainly to RuneScape. When i first started out I would wander around and make money for fun, eventually it got to the point that I wanted to accomplish something, so I tried mastering a skill but bailed before I even got halfway due to boredom. I got really into flash games for a while due to Kongregate, went back to RS and finished all of the quests and now what do I do? I grind, all of the time.

If it's not making experience or money, I don't feel like doing it. Sitting and talking with people is a waste of time. I'm obsessed with exp and the next level, and I know many people who play MMOs or even shooter games, especially CoD, are the same way now. Where did the fun go?

What happened to the good old days when games were fun, and not just for exp, or for the next level, or for prestige, or for the new gear?

This has made me realize that I really need to sit down and play some of the classic games I used to love so much. I recently found "Majesty Gold Edition" (one of my favorite games of all time) on Steam, and I'm planning to buy and play it as much as possible fairly soon.

My point is that perhaps we need to take a deep breath, step away from the achievements and grinding and prestige, and ask ourselves "Am I really enjoying this, or am i "having fun" because I'm forcing myself to get better?"

Just consider it. You never know what you might actually think.