How my kids saved gaming for me

In an amazing change of normal thinking, I believe that my kids have helped my gaming.

For those who follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I haven’t had very much time to play Diablo III since it’s been launched, due to various (mostly kid-related) circumstances. At the time of writing, I have a level 26 Barbarian who is recently into Act 3, and I’m still enjoying the game to its fullest extent.

Yet when I look on Twitter, the official forums, or other blogs, I notice a trend of people saying that they’re bored with the game already and are disappointed with Blizzard for not making a game with staying power. To me, this seems very odd. However, these people are already into Inferno difficulty on multiple characters only three weeks after launch while my highest alt is only level 8 and still hasn’t killed the Skeleton King.

I never realized how much better a game could be when it’s paced out and enjoyed over time. In the past, I’ve been the kind of guy who sits down and plays as much as possible to see everything as soon as I can. The game would be finished, then I’d play again and again, then I’d stop playing after a while.

Now, because of my two young kids, I’m forced to have only a few hours spread out over the week to actually devote to my gaming. Instead of having finished the game and getting bored while replaying it with alts or higher difficulty levels, I’m still experiencing new content. It’s a very new and different experience.

That being said, I’d love to have more time to play. I’m itching to get back into the world of Sanctuary and destroy the minions of hell. Fortunately though, when I do get that time to play, I’m finding that I’m enjoying it a lot more than I have had with other games.

When Mists of Pandaria comes out, I’m sure that the situation will be very similar. Having a few hours here and there, I will most definitely not be the first person to level 90. I’ll be behind on the leveling curve, the gear-getting curve, the crafting curve, and whatever other curves there are. But when the time comes that I’m in game, I plan on enjoying it to the fullest extent.

Even though play time can be limited, being a parent comes first. I might complain about not having much time, but hearing my kids laugh and having fun with them is much more of a reward than killing Diablo on Inferno. Not even a close comparison.

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