Now before the half of you reading this jump to the conclusion that I'm anything like Jack Thomson, please, refrain. I've been a hardcore video game enthusiast throughout my entire highschool life. I'm a bit older now and my grasp on my social life and adult life is a bit less hazy than it was a few years back. My opinion pertained within this blog entry is simply that of a concerned nature, and less about being a tyrannical, obnoxious bring-down.

I got my hands on my first real PC game in the 10th grade: Operation Flashpoint. A massively multiplayer online combat simulation game that allowed us (players) to create any map/vehicle/weapon/storyline that we wanted for online coop. It was like finding a well of water in the middle of the desert. Somehow, this was exactly what I'd been looking for during my awkward teenage years. I learned everything about foruming, ventrillo, moding, downloading, flaming, trolling, you name it, I learned it within that first year. I was an addict. I spent every waking hour of my life, when not in school, playing OFP. I would stay up until 6 am, go to class, come home and stay up again until 3am. I gained 100 lbs. within my three year benge. I was pale, pastey; I never showered, and all I cared about were my scores, forum posts, and map making.

I'm not exactly sure when my revelation occurred, but somewhere during my senior year of highschool I realized that I just couldn't keep this lifestyle up. I'm sure it had a lot to do with my friends (Real Life) pressuring me to get up and get outside to do something. Yet I didn't have any interest in anything having to do with people, social interaction, or sports, what-so-ever. So I got up, and got out. I later joined the US Army that year, did my tour, learned A LOT about real life, and now I'm kind of falling back into my old habits.

I feel like we as gamers really need to regulate our usage. We need to take a look at how much time we are spending online, and see, with open eyes, how it detaches some of us from the real world. I know that's not the case for everyone, but there are a lot of young kids who are growing up online, and who aren't picking up the proper social skills that they will need when they reach their 20's. I think gamers should encourage other gamers to get out more, and to maybe meet each other in real life, too. But don't just limit your online personality to the internet. We act out our real emotions on the internet more than we do in real life because of the fact that we can remain anonymous. And these days we can do ANYTHING on the internet. Shop, watch tv, game, read the news, order food, make love? Yes, somehow we can make love online now. We can almost do anything by sitting down and using our fingers.

I'm not going to preach anymore, I'm done. I'm tired. But seriously guys, think about it. You don't need to drop the internet, and I never will. But regulate yourself, limit your usage. Like with anything, moderation. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more.