Don Spatafora (aka “Big Perm”)

Don Spatafora had many aliases. He was “Big Perm” to all the folks at the Ivory Tower Game club. He was known as “Phred” to many of his gaming friends. He was also lovingly called Bear by some.

He was to me, the ultimate gamer. He loved D&D, and was a very good Game Master. He knew all the rules, and was creative. He could weave a wonderful tale, and lead his groups into the best of adventures. The reason he was better than most, as a GM, was that he did not bring his Ego to the table. He didn’t flaunt that he was the GM, or want all the attention, or become the “Lord of the Rules”. So many GM’s get on a power trip, and ruin the game for the players. For him, the most important part was the players enjoying the story. Read more

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Don’t join MySpace Mobsters

A few weeks back, my daughter sent me a link to join a game called “Mobsters” on Myspace. (They actually have several similar games - Heroes, Rockstar etc.) It is just one of those little Apps you can add.

At first it was kind of fun. I didn’t get into it as much as she did, but I would log on every day and buy more territory, do a few missions, and add people to my Mob. Read more

The Internet is Too Distracting!

So as you know, I have been trying to learn all about this thing they call ‘blogging’. During my travels, I read many articles on “what every blogger should know.”

One told me that I really needed to register for Digg, so I did… What they didn’t tell me, is that I would end up wandering around the Digg site for three days, reading blogs and digging them. (so much for writing my own blogs) Read more

What makes us keep coming back to EQ?

I recently started playing Everquest again. When my friends heard, several of them came back too. Suddenly, there was our old play group, hunting and questing just like we have for over nine years. There have been many improvements and changes to the game, but that is not what calls us back.

I started thinking, “What is it about this game that makes us want to play it?”

 

I asked my friends and other folks I grouped with. At first I got the usual responses. “There is lot’s of content.” “Lot’s of quests.” Etc.

 

While it is true, that Everquest has considerably more content and quests than any other game right now, I don’t think it’s why we go back. I think it is the community of EQ that makes it special. Something about EQ, encourages a closeness that no other game I have played can imitate. You need other players. You want to be with them for safety and camaraderie. The longevity of the game, has led to real friendships forming.

 

SoE added something called fellowships. A mini-guild of sorts, where nine people can chat, and port to one another. It’s a nice touch, but honestly most long time players formed their fellowships years ago. I know that we did. We had a core group of friends. We all laughed, made our own chat channels, grouped together, helped one another.

 

We had real life BBQ’s and events, we shared our births, deaths, marriages, and daily problems. This group of ‘on-line gaming friends’ became friends in real life. We live all around the world, but I am closer to most of them now, than any of my so called real-life friends.

So I guess, the reason I come back to EQ…is it’s like a comfortable old pair of jeans. It is one of my old friends.