I did a pretty similar thing in school. I was playing a LOT of World of Warcraft and I was in raiding guilds with consistent and long raid times. So I’d go out of my way to get as much of my schoolwork done ahead of time as possible. I’d eat in class so I could work on my HW during lunch, I’d get like a week ahead on any work that I was able to such as reading textbook chapters. All so that I could make sure I never missed a raid night.
Unfortunately this kind of all fell apart in senior year of HS. WAAAAAAY too much work to ever keep up, so I had to stop playing.
I know people like to joke about WoW being addictive/life consuming, but for me being in a raid guild was a genuinely positive social experience that I haven’t really had elsewhere. I really miss it even if I think I probably couldn’t go back to it now. I do have a handful of friends to hang out with and I cherish my time with them, but it’s definitely a different feeling than the comradery of having a shared interest and goal with a group.
I didn’t like the grind that came attached to playing though. I’ve been really hoping someone would make a game that was a similar experience to WoW-style raids as a standalone so I could just do the parts I liked without all that filler. Recently I saw a game “Fellowship” that was kind of doing that, but it’s only small groups and while I haven’t tried it, from what I’ve heard the actual encounter design isn’t really the thing I’m looking for. (More avoiding the bad stuff than things that require strategy.) It is still in early access, so I’m keeping an eye on it to see if it crosses the finish line as something I might be interested in, but for now my specific niche seems to not exist.
I understand what you mean. Free time in a space where everyone’s efforts are pulled simultaneously toward a certain, similar objective feel momentous and gratifying. It’s the sort of fleeting group identity that I crave when I volunteer. I hope you find something that works for you!
I did a pretty similar thing in school. I was playing a LOT of World of Warcraft and I was in raiding guilds with consistent and long raid times. So I’d go out of my way to get as much of my schoolwork done ahead of time as possible. I’d eat in class so I could work on my HW during lunch, I’d get like a week ahead on any work that I was able to such as reading textbook chapters. All so that I could make sure I never missed a raid night.
Unfortunately this kind of all fell apart in senior year of HS. WAAAAAAY too much work to ever keep up, so I had to stop playing.
Unfortunately? I’d call that fortunate. Glad you made it out of WoW alive
I know people like to joke about WoW being addictive/life consuming, but for me being in a raid guild was a genuinely positive social experience that I haven’t really had elsewhere. I really miss it even if I think I probably couldn’t go back to it now. I do have a handful of friends to hang out with and I cherish my time with them, but it’s definitely a different feeling than the comradery of having a shared interest and goal with a group.
I didn’t like the grind that came attached to playing though. I’ve been really hoping someone would make a game that was a similar experience to WoW-style raids as a standalone so I could just do the parts I liked without all that filler. Recently I saw a game “Fellowship” that was kind of doing that, but it’s only small groups and while I haven’t tried it, from what I’ve heard the actual encounter design isn’t really the thing I’m looking for. (More avoiding the bad stuff than things that require strategy.) It is still in early access, so I’m keeping an eye on it to see if it crosses the finish line as something I might be interested in, but for now my specific niche seems to not exist.
I understand what you mean. Free time in a space where everyone’s efforts are pulled simultaneously toward a certain, similar objective feel momentous and gratifying. It’s the sort of fleeting group identity that I crave when I volunteer. I hope you find something that works for you!