Vacation, moving, and (now) unpacking have dropped me out of MMOGs for almost a full month now. I’m left with very mixed feelings. On the one hand I can’t say that it’s been a wasted month. My wife and I had a great time in California, we’re in a much nicer place, and we’re almost out of the weeds when it comes to boxes.

On the other hand, as I sit in the public chat channels for World of Warcraft or Everquest II, I’m left a little dazed. What’s a C’thun? What do all these buttons do? What quest was I working on again? I’m also somewhat saddened by my reaction to most of my regular MMOGs. I have a definite sense of ’sigh’ when working my way through the Eastern Plaguelands, or while turning in a quest to ‘a Misshapen Halfing’.

Part of my sigh stems from a very real sense of weariness. I’ve been playing both of these games for nigh onto two years now. I’ve got a level 60 character in WoW, with another one in spitting distance from 50. EQII … I try so very hard to like you. Another part is rooted in the fact that I’m missing a lot of what makes MMOGs fun: community. Everyone that I played EQII and WoW with has moved on because I’m such a terrible spaz when it comes to longterm play. My RL friends are ever patient with me, but I know that I’m frustrating them as well with my ‘in a month, out a month’ patterns.

For the time being I’m focusing my energies on a new experience. Eve Online has always made me pine for the smell of ship propellant and spaceport funk, but I’ve never given it a serious go. Especially in the early days of you career, it seems like a great game to multitask on, and is perfect for my currently busy life. As of a few days ago, another Caldari freighter pilot is plying the spaceways. I’m not sure how long this will last, but I’m ever hopeful.

My fix under control at the moment, I still haven’t addressed the issue at the heart of my frustration: the horizon. With a few lackluster exceptions, the recent terrain of the MMOG Nation has been barren. The new places to explore and things to kill that were introduced at the end of 2004 are still some of the most interesting features of the virtual landscape we share. LOTR, Conan, and Darkfall all have an element here or there that smacks of fresh experiences, but there really isn’t anything out there I’m just breathless to try out.

I’m going to devote time then, here on the site, to making sure what does interest me gets attention. I’m going to make sure that the cool things(tm) about Conan and the rest get air time and consideration. I’ve spoken with a person or two who does the MMOG blogging thing about an idea I have to get our voices out there, and I’m going to pursue that more diligently. I’m going to make sure that this little corner of the cyberinterwebosphere receives the head patting and postage it deserves.

Mostly, I’m going to try and figure out what it is I want to say here. I have a soap box and I must speak.