Mystic Worlds

Mystic Worlds Fades to Black

I’ve been blogging for the better part of the last 6 years.  I started on a blog named, Him, Them and Me (HTM).  That was my first journey into expressing my opinions on the Internet.   HTM talked about two life altering events – a seven year relationship that ended in a broken engagement, followed a few weeks later by a cancer diagnosis.  As you may imagine, my whole world splintered into a million fragments of pain and despair.  It was during those first terrifying weeks that I turned to blogging as a coping mechanism and MMOs as an escape from the thoughts surrounding my fear of dying a slow and painful death, as I’d seen my grandmother, her brother and my mother’s only sibling, my uncle, all suffer through years before my own diagnosis.

Online gaming became an avenue for having fun and adventures while I was stuck in bed or too sick to do more than sit up for a couple hours at a time.  Having loved fantasy all my life, fantasy MMOs were the perfect outlet and I quickly indoctrinated all of my children, so that we could share the experience together.  I spent a few months trying to forge various unique and interesting memories with them just in case.  We played video games, MMOs and board games together.  I wrote them each a collection of poems to make sure that they knew how much I love them individually as human beings.  I didn’t want their last memories of me, if it turned out that way, to be any more painful than necessary.  We gamed. We laughed.  And of course, at times we cried.

Delving into The Sims 3 – Part 2 of 3

Why I waited
I’ve been playing The Sims for many years.  I started back with Sims 1, had all the expansion packs and continued forward with The Sims 2.  And it’s not just me, my daughters and girlfriends all play.  We’ve all been playing for years since I was the first one in and corrupted the others.

A cornerstone of my playing until now has been to live rather large.  I didn’t see the point in struggling financially in The Sims.  I have enough budget management in my real life.  I’ve also been a self-employed Sim long before The Sims 2 actually added gaming mechanics to support player run businesses.  Back in the day, I used hacks to modify in game objects that produce small items you could sell back to the game, as a source of income.  There were custom skins to turn the canning object into a chef’s stove, flowers into fruits and vegetables, the robot maker into chocolate candy station, etc.  I had working farms, cafes, bookstores and the alike – all home based businesses.  But the revenue generated wasn’t enough to sustain a household.  I had to use money cheats to make ends meet, and that’s how I played Sims for several years.  The Sims 2 Open for Business changed all that, allowing me to use native game mechanics to build my home businesses.  The Sims 2 Seasons expansion let me drop the game hacks that turned weeds and flowers into produce and I was in Sim heaven.

One of my chief reservations about The Sims 3 was starting up the next generation of the game without the two expansions that crystallized my particular gaming focus.  I didn’t feel like delving back into game mods and hacks to have my own business.  I’d purchased The Sims 3 (TS3) for myself and my daughters but I hadn’t bothered to install my copy.  I figured I’d wait for some of the generation 3 expansions to be released.  Discussing this choice with my best friend, she informed me that I could do something small scale from home.  She explained that gardening was part of the base game.  Additionally, the writing performed on your home computer now translates into a career with aspirations and rewards. Whachoo takin’ ‘bout Willis?  Say whaaat?  This was the catalyst for me giving TS3 a try now.  What would be cuter than to have a novelist career path on my Sim while producing a side income by gardening/farming?  In my book, nothing would be cuter and in I went.

My Sim starting her garden in TS3

Delving into The Sims 3 – Part I of 3

I’m in the jumping off part of the second screenwriting workshop I’m taking this summer.  Gaming and blogging time have been sparse.  The first of two student critiques provided some interesting food for thought and some laughs along with valuable feedback. 

First was a marriage proposal since I’m a woman who loves sci-fi enough to write about, has a blog and plays MMOs.  *Smile*  Of course the proposal was said (written) tongue in cheek but it was quite funny.  The same person suggested that I stop playing games and shut down the blog until I finish the screenplay.  He said the he found it impossible to write to his potential while gaming.  He probably has a point there.  It’s something I’ve certainly considered.  However, I’m trying to use discipline over extremes.  To that end, I’ve spent very little time playing games the past couple of weeks.  And when I did, I felt like I needed a real alone experience and turned to playing The Sims 3.

 
Affordable bedroom community I built on the outskirts of town.

The second was more encouragement about the premise of my story and the uniqueness of some of the plot elements.  That's always a good shot in the arm to help you keep going when you're tired and want nothing more than to slack off.  I didn't do much slacking off but when I felt like playing The Sims, I took small steps toward building my little community and establishing my character, while learning the new and wondrous changes in The Sims 3.

Fundamental Changes to My Personal Game-Play
The Sims 3 changes some of the fundamental mechanics and constructs of its predecessors.  My opinion on those changes and their impact to how I personally play The Sims, is too large for a single posting.  As the title explains, I’ll be doing this in three parts.  Welcome to part one.