Who Says Computer Games Are A Waste of Time?

There's a joy and beauty to figuring things out. That's why I like games, particularly strategy games. Once one understands the mechanic of the game, that is, the essence of how to fashion a winning position over your opponent (or opponents), there's a moment where the universe simply fits, like getting the one piece you need in Tetris.

Games occupy my attention for a while, until I figure out the best way to "beat" the game. Civilization is a good game. Settlers of Catan is a great game.

Ah, but World of Warcraft.

I miss World of Warcraft. Each encounter was a new puzzle, a new game that required a new strategy. When you have to practice an encounter with nineteen other people just so you can get to the next encounter, it provided endless challenges to keep my brain occupied. I likened my experiences with that game to The Doctor's orchestra practice, in the sense be both would team up with a bunch of people all who had to time their specific roles in order to accomplish a common goal. She gave me dirty looks.

I spent entirely too much of my life with that game. The Doctor insisted I was wasting my time. In a way, my kids convinced me I was wasting my time as well.

But then I see this.

Clearly, I need to start playing WOW again, so I can keep my moose-avoidance skills current.