Gaming During the Pandemic: A Thankful Player.

Thursday December 2, 2021

I'm Lucky, and I know it.

Throughout all of Covid I’ve considered myself fortunate. I’ve been blessed with going to work every day and feeling comfortable with the safety precautions my co-workers and I work under. I deal with the public on a constant basis. Fortunately most of the interactions are from a decent distance. At the beginning it was a scary time, trying to figure out how to be safe and still remain open to the public.

One thing that did not change was World of Warcraft. Being an online social presence in the game was just the same before the Pandemic as during. That, and my comfort in never having to have a physical presence to feel social with others helped greatly.

D&D

The only major change in gaming was my monthly Dungeons and Dragons sessions, but we investigated some online options and for the past year and a half we’ve been using Roll20 to continue our games. It’s actually increased our frequency, from one 8-hour Sunday a month to a weekly 3-hour session. As I said, I’m blessed.

A very common comment I hear from people is that how the Pandemic has been a terrible experience for them. I’m empathetic to their situation but when they ask how it has been for me, my usual response is that I’m doing fantastic, as I’ve been training for this most of my life. Ever since my parents gave me a Commodore Vic-20 for Christmas when I was 13, I’ve rarely been bored. Video games were always at the forefront of my entertainment, and this kicked it up an incredible notch. Spending money and time in a Video Arcade, or at a friend’s house playing on their game system or computer quickly became replaced with time on my own computer.

I’m lucky, and I know how lucky I actually am.

Wylset