Source: Satan's iPod shuffle and "we got an ewok down!!!"Mankind lives for a dead hope, all the most valuable things on Earth will fade away.
God says that He saved me to a living hope, one full of His abundant mercy, one that will last forever.
Which one have I been pursuing? I don’t mean lightly, I mean with all my heart and mind. Am I meditating on His law day and night? Hardly, seems to me that in eq2/wow/mmo I meditate day and night. I go to bed dreaming about the phat loot I got that night and wake up wondering what my next goal for my toon will be.
When I read ewoksrule's post back in February, it struck a nerve. I sympathized with his desire to spend less time "meditating" on games and spend more time meditating on Scripture. I understood and shared his desire to adjust priorities.
ewoksrule quit gaming entirely. I respect his decision and trust that if he feels it was the right choice, then it was. I will be adjusting my own priorities, but I will not be quitting gaming.
I will still be participating in Tribe of Judah's Unreal Monday, TF2sday, Left 4 Wednesday, and Straturday events.
What changes do I plan to make?
- I will stop checking gaming news sites on a daily basis.
- I will no longer try to "keep tabs" on the gaming industry.
- I've unfollowed nearly all of the game-related feeds on my personal Twitter account.
- I will no longer be loading Steam or Xfire on Sundays, Thursdays, and Fridays except when invited to play a game I own.
- I will stop applying for every closed beta under the sun.
- I won't be writing out any more lengthy posts defending the Nintendo Wii from detractors or recommending Wii titles. (Don't cry. It'll be okay.)
- I plan to uninstall games I do not plan to play again in the next 30 days.
Now before anyone thinks my decision was based entirely on personal convictions, let me share that I've noticed that my interest in PC games has waned.
Rather than de-rail this thread with personal opinions, I've created a separate thread entitled Dear PC gaming: It's not you, it's me. Okay, so maybe it's both of us.
What impact does my decision to spend less time reading and thinking about games?
For the communities I lead as President, probably not much. I do not believe the decision will affect my ability to fulfill my online responsibilities. If anything, it may help make me more efficient.
For me, personally, I'm hoping that it will help me complete a screenplay much more quickly, return to reading regularly, and, ultimately, be more fulfilled.
If necessary, I may call on community members to watch for bits of choice information and keep me informed on a few points. For example:
- Potential games for new Tribe of Judah chapters and guilds
- Major updates to and new content for games I play (e.g. Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2)
- New Japan-only puzzle game releases
I'm still willing to chat about games. I'd still be happy to pop into a Left 4 Dead 2 campaign if invited.
My main purpose is to shift the surplus of attention I direct toward games and apply that attention to other areas like writing. There are only so many hours in the day. If I'm to find more time and focus to sit down and right, I have to cut back somewhere. The time I spend reading and posting about games seems like the most prudent choice.
EDIT: Since I'll be using Steam and Xfire less, please add me to your other instant messaging contact lists if you want to reach me. My instant messaging IDs (AIM, Yahoo, Windows Live/MSN, ICQ) are available on my forums profile.
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