draftingarm - I've been told i would love WoW, of course I can't bring myself to commit to a monthly subscription fee and my partner has threatened to leave me if I ever join an MMORG. So while i would love to play, i don't see myself joining up anytime soon?

try EVE...you can make stuff from "blueprints"

I've been playing Fallout 3. It's pretty cool. Has this future as seen from the 1940's look to it. It takes place in D.C. 200 years after the Chinese nuked the US in 2077. Think GTA IV meets Mad Max. The depth of the world design is really cool. So much detail. Fun how you can solve problems in multiple ways and depending on how you solve them, the story changes: who will help you, what you can do. But my Xbox experienced the Red Ring of Death (fatal error), so I had to send it in to Microsoft. Have you heard that apparently 54% of Xboxes have the RRoD? I don't even play that much. I'll go months without turning the thing on. Good game though. And, I like it because it has an end. Never could get into or even wanted to try WoW. Not an RPG fan in general, but Fallout is solid.

Heh. I used to play WoW really seriously during the first year or two of my undergrad. Yea, it was fun - but in retrospect I wish I had never opened the box.

Seriously, that game is so damn addicting. I could have done much better academically if I wasn't staying up until 2 in the morning raiding three nights a week. Although, draftingarm, I've always been intrigued by couples who play WoW together. Even though 'liking the same video game' seems kind of trivial - having a mutual interest in warcraft is alot stronger of a bond than most would think, I imagine! It's definitely a bit more than 'just a video game.'

Hasselhoff - I just installed Fallout 3 on my PC! Seems like a good game to unwind with for a half hour or so during a break from work. See, that's the problem with WoW - there's no pause or save button... the online community and group of peers that you're playing/competing with never 'take breaks.' It was really hard to draw boundary lines with that game.

But, I have to say my gamer roots lie in Starcraft. That was the first (and best) game I ever played religiously.

s.selophane-
sorry to hear about your partner. i finally gave in to my gf and friend's wishes and started playing... i have to say it has been quite a pleasant surprise how social the game really is... especially being able to play with friends and mostly type & voice chat across different time zones. I found the game play to be quite cooperative.

some people like to collect gear
while others like to manage 'wow gold'
the combat play can be quite hard and requiring a group of 5,10,25 people to complete.

jk3hl- i can see how this game can become addicting... there are so many hooks that can grab you.... like fishing... mining... instaces... etc.etc. not to mention peer pressure... haha...

i really enjoy being able to fly around... there has to be a few architects in within blizzard's art department... some of the building/space/landscapes are breathtaking... i even found a pair of corbu glasses in the game recently.

i seriously dislike WoW.

i've played at least 3 trials and the graphics are horrifyingly ugly and the game's population seems, on average, far too average for my taste. what do i mean by average? i mean people who are either collectors, hardcore pve-ers, roleplayers or other less gamer-y types.

the gameplay is also far too slow for my taste. there is not enough of an emphasis on movement, and character progression is actually necessary for top level performance (not necessarily bad, but bad when you have loads of schoolwork + are trying to teach yourself a few things your school will not teach (scripting digital project, maya, python, etc).)

TF2 is the best game i've played in the past two years. fast action pvp releases tension oh so nicely. Left 4 Dead was pretty good too.. except my ego gets hurt all to easy when my girlfriend destroys me in versus mode... this is how i got rid of stress throughout my thesis, because other MMOs' main emphasis on leveling is not really compatible with graduate school (played Warhammer, was top ranked in the PVP ladders of City of Heroes, tried EVE and it was like an achiever personality's dream).

Some people keep pets, some watch tv, throughout grad school, I gamed.