Rift Watchers

I’m heading into this post not really knowing what I want to say. Kind of strange I’d still want to write, isn’t it? I have this funny feeling, though. It’s right above my belly, between my lungs and it’s been tickling my ribs all night long.

I’m excited.

The day before launch is always kind of like Christmas Eve at eight years old for me. When I was a kid, I used to have trouble falling asleep the night before the big day.  I’d usually have some idea of what Santa might have brought, though sometimes I was completely in the dark which somehow made the wanting worse. Then morning would come and I’d race to wake my family up so I could see what the night had brung. Sure, a lot of the stuff I’d played with in the store or with my friends, but somehow that didn’t matter. Having it there, in my hands, in my living room, made it all the better. It made it my own, for the long-term, and not just a few fleeting minutes in the toy aisle of Walmart.

Waiting for Rift is about the same way. It’s the night before and here I am,up late, twiddling my thumbs, and wishing the minutes into hours so that 1 PM will get here a little bit quicker. I might seem silly. After all, it’s just a game. And one I’ve already played at that.

But those Christmas mornings had a magic to them. And so does this. For me, anyways.

When you’re all grown up, a lot of the magic gets removed from life. It gets buried under the piles of responsibility and obligation. Christmas becomes less about what you hope to get and more about deciding what to get for others (and how to work that into your budget). We know all of the secrets in life that children only play at. So much of that all-encompassing wonder gets refined into little, spectacular points. For as beautiful as those are, they are also few and fleeting.

Counting down the hours before a new MMO has its own kind of magic. It’s hope for all the hours you’d like to spend there. It’s mystery,not knowing what’s around that next bend, or what surprises might lie in wait. It’s its own kind of wonder, as you wait to discover all of the little surprises and intricacies so many designers and artists have laid out before you. You start to look forward to the things you might do and see. You even imagine that this game, even if it’s not your third or even your fourth, will be the one you’re still playing two years down the line. You know it’s possible, and that it’s only possible when there’s something truly resonant in it.

When you’re a kid, you get that same thing from those still-wrapped presents. Your mind plays. You imagine yourself opening them.

That’s how it is with MMOs and the people who love them.

The demographics say that the average age of gamers is getting older by the year. Looking forward to a new game is so much like being a kid again, is it any wonder we get swept up again and again?

How about you guys, do you ever feel like this?

See you when the gates open,

Chris