Michele Pierantozzi

LS 521 Sp 02

3/9/02

Games Online0

Games Online

I recently ventured into Yahoo Games to attempt to conquer online games. I signed on to the web site (http://games.yahoo.com) and registered. The first game I tried was Spades for beginners. It was confusing to start the first game; it took a lot of clicking around to figure out how to get into a game. Then I had to wait about five minutes until three others committed to playing with me. My opponents were “sugar-baby”, “collection52”, and “jasonmono”. This game went slowly because my challengers took their time on their turns. I didn’t win but stayed for a second round. The second game took a few minutes to start. “Sugar-baby” left and a new player joined. A few rounds into the new game, I learned that I had taken someone’s seat in this game. The instant messenger at the bottom of the screen displayed this person’s anger at me. He or she was writing furious messages complete with curse words telling me to get out of his or her spot. I finished the game without participating in the angry IM banter between the other players and the angry seat loser. After deciding the messaging was nonsense, I went on to a new game.

I went on to try several other games on the Yahoo Games site. Naval Command is similar to battleship. It took a few minutes and a trip to the help page to set up my ships. I won a friendly game with no nasty words from the other player. I went on to Go Fish! I played with two people, one from Utah, the second from Australia. It was easy to play and a lot of fun. The most addictive game I tried is General Trivia. I did not play against anyone, only a timer. A question comes up with four possible answers. Clues pop up every few seconds. The score depends on how quickly the question is answered. I was late for work one day because I couldn’t stop playing!

Through this experience, I have learned that playing online games requires patience, skill, and an excessive amount of free time. It has been fun to visit the games site when I need a break from reality or school work. I can understand how people spend hours competing in online games.