Week #5 Play Week

This is going to be one of those entries that practically writes itself because online chatting and gaming are things that have been a part of my online life for a very long time. In fact, I spend way too much time gaming online!

The first activity involves instant messaging and chat. I don't have and have no interest in getting a Gmail account so I can't use GoogleTalk. I also never seem to catch a CTLS person online to chat in the MeeBoMe box for the other option for this activity. However, I do have an AIM account and use this daily to chat with my husband at work or with my mother. I also sometimes chat with my friends on Facebook.

Social networking is another topic that I'm very familiar with as I've had a Facebook account for a while now and I've added many friends and applications. Here is my profile page. I've sent a friend request to CTLS and posted on my Notes for this activity.

Now we get to the part of this week's exercises that is the one most near and dear to my heart - online gaming. I've played all the different types of games listed but I'll just talk about two to fulfill the requirements of the exercise.

The first game would fall under the "competitive" category. There are numerous websites that take popular European boardgames and make web-based versions of them. The way they usually work is that you get an account at the website and either join a game our create your own for people to join. Some sites let you create a game and just invite friends. Some sites send you an email when it is your turn and for others you just have to check periodically to see if it is your turn. These games can be played over a period of days or even weeks, depending on how quickly the players make their moves. One of my favorite such websites is MaBiWeb and one of the games I played recently was In the Shadow of the Emperor.

My very favorite online games falls under the category of a "virtual world." This is the popular game, World of WarCaft. For this game, you have to purchase and install software on your computer and pay a monthly fee. It is a very involved and immersive fantasy world in which you create and play with a character. I am a member of a guild in the game and I meet once a week with fellow guild members to play online together. These are all friends of mine that are scattered across the country. We use Skype during our gaming sessions to talk, as in a conference phone call, so it's a very fun, social experience. I love it, although it can be very addictive and take up too much time.