LS 521- Spring ‘02
4/04/02
The Black Hole of Time
When
you think about wasting time, many, many different options come to mind:
shopping, napping, sun bathing are all there.
But at least you get something from those activities; bargains, rest, or
a tan. Online gaming, however,
redefines the term “a waste of time.”
As part of the elective offerings for this course, LS 521, I choose “Games” as
one to investigate. I have fond
memories of playing Spades and Chess online during accounting class or when
I was supposed to be writing a paper in college, when thought it was my right
to be playing those games… Well, as it turns out, those games are just as
addicting and time-consuming as they were back in my undergraduate days. Only now, I do not have the massive chunks
of disposable time. Now, my personal
time is at a premium, and there is certainly no surplus! So, in being a good student, I went online
and played Hearts online, and here are my
observations:
1) The people who play games online are of three
categories; students wasting their time, adults at home, or people at work
wasting their employer’s time.
2) As in life, there are various personalities
online. Some people love to chat while
playing, others are extremely impatient and demanding. Either way, the results are the same. Someone wins, and everyone else loses. Not only that, but then you are given a
ranking which will follow you around as you dart in and out of games.
3) Similar to capitalism, online gaming provides the
consumer with an almost staggering array of options. You can host your own game, set the rules, kick out anyone who is
annoying you, argue, make friends, flirt, all the while playing traditional
games like chess, checkers, and rummy, to crazy new games that are invented
online.
I played Hearts for an hour or so, and enjoyed limited progress. At first I played with a friendly crowd of beginners, from all walks of life and very talkative. Then after they disappeared I played in a serious group. This serious group did not talk, nor was there any pause between play. I could almost imagine the three other players hunched over their machines, starring at the screen, shouting at me to play my cards. I never did win a hand of Hearts, but came close. My ability to count cards and recognize my opponents strategies was just not there.
I enjoyed my “forced” try at online gaming, and learned a valuable lesson. For aggressive and competitive people, be prepared to surrender your lives to this, as your internal fire will never be quenched. For every time you win, you will also lose, as there are some serious “gamers” out there who come from all walks of life and all corners of the globe to find you and beat you! And to the casual gamer, if you can enter the above described world and find a gentle nook to play against a textile student form Pakistan or an engineer from Belgium, enjoy. But beware of the clock, it is your enemy and will swallow up any precious moments that might be better spent on laundry, bills or dinner!
Based on an afternoon of gaming on Yahoo Games where it is free and you can play
for as long as you dare fight off reality.