The Other Me

When the sky begins to darken and the children are hustled into bed, when the wine is poured, and the lights turned low, I don my leather corset, thigh high boots, and strap on my twin daggers. Then I kick some pixelated ass.

 One of my most beloved outlets to destress from the daily annoyances is to game with J at night. We stumbled upon gaming B.C. when one of my best friends from high school gave J EverQuest, a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game). The next thing I know I was a Gamer Widow, never seeing J at night as he sat at his computer and played until he passed out in the wee hours of the morning. After months of this, realizing everything on tv sucked, and I was spending too much cash on books ( plus I missed my babes) I finally had enough. I marched into his office, commandeered his chair, and demanded that he show me what the hell he was playing that I didn’t see him anymore. So he did. He took the time to show me the game, explain the characters, the freedom to create an avatar of what you wish you could be, and how to play them in a completely fantastical (yet believable) virtual reality.

When his demonstration was finished I told him if he would purchase a computer and desk for me, plus another game account, I’d like to play with him. He went out that very weekend and set me up beside him. Except for a year when we moved and had crappy internet, we’ve been gaming together ever since.



Gaming is fanfuckingtastic for a number of reasons. For one thing, it gives J and I something to do as a couple on a nightly basis and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than dinner and a movie once a month. We play in the same room together, banter the night away, as we work as a team questing, grouping, raiding, etc. It hones our ability to be able to work together as a team, learning to communicate with each other, which is great. Cause sometimes when I say something and he misinterprets it badly, I’d rather us bicker over the fact we’re being killed by a bunch of computerized trolls than to miscommunicate on something important, like Xavier and school.

We’ve also found a community of other adults, many parents themselves, and created a bunch of wonderful friendships through gaming. Each night we log on we not only have our couple time, but we have the choice to get together with friends from all over the world to hang out, talk online, joke around, and work as a team to achieve goals you cannot do on your own within the game.

But a big reason that gaming is addicting is that you can put aside your everyday “you” and become the “you” inside yourself. My persona online is actually not very far from what I really am. I’m sarcastic through and through. I love to banter with friends. But I allow more of that out than in the outside world. I don’t stop and filter myself and wonder if the person standing in front of me actually understands sarcasm? It’s a worry that doesn’t exist when gaming. But on top of that is that you can create your character to look how you wish you could look sometimes. Not all the time, of course. I mean I sure as hell wouldn’t want to wear high heel boots 24/7. I can only imagine the blisters I’d get. And can you imagine trying to carry armloads of groceries in stilettos??? But online, I can have my avatar wear them and a corset (OK I do own one of these and they are so ego stroking. I strongly suggest ALL women get one for themselves) and matching leather pants. And of course, your weapons of choice. Who wouldn’t feel sexy wearing all that and kicking ass?

Meiune, the virtual me

You might not feel sexy when you’re wearing yoga pants with your hair thrown up as you race out the door to carpool dragging 3 kids in your wake, but you perk up later when you take your virtual you out for a spin that night.

My avatar is Meiune (May-Yoon). That is my “Other Name” and in each game I have played over the years I have always had a Meiune. She has been many things, but she is always a reflection of me. Recently I started a new MMO, Rift, and Meiune is a Rogue. A bunch of us who have been gaming together for almost 10 years now, decided to check out the game together and it has been a ton of fun. If you are a fellow gamer, no matter what the game, make sure you /wave or I’ll track you and smack you upside the head. And if you have any questions about gaming, I’m always happy to answer questions.!