I have been gaming since I was the tender age of four, when my father somehow convinced my techincally minded mother that video games would be educational to me. *hint hint* Of course, my mother being a computer nerd even then and also desirous to always have the next big thing in electronics agreed and next thing I knew, I was playing Pitfall, Pac-Man, Space Invaders... and.. *sighs* Hangman (lame).
Eventually, we upgraded and upgraded and upgraded. Made computer games GALORE in school and enjoyed it immensely. Mom finally brought home a PC where she taught us Lotus, creations of various documents and some sort of arts and crafts type program. As soon as she left the room, I was sneaking around playing Leisure Suit Larry (had to memorize all the security questions.. back then I thought "who the hell is Tracy Lords?").
I divided my time between console and PC games, each equally entertaining. Then about ten years ago, a boyfriend pointed out a game in the store to me. "Oh ya, so, like Rob plays this game." I look at it. "Mhmm." He proceeds to tell me more even though I had half way tuned him out. "So like, you play on the internet and you can play with other people." Right, right. I wave my hand off to him and give him a shrug and purchase my next PC game.
Two months later, for Xmas, I get a gift from said BF. It's the game he had been telling me about previously that I had conveniently forgotten about. (I know that boy never listened to me anyway about gifts so it was no surprise he gave me something I showed no interest in to begin with.) Anyway, it's December 25th. The game: Ultima Online. He says "You like that medieval crap and you like to game so I kinda figured you'd like this.. besides, it's supposed to be really cool." Like you would know, ya non-gamer.
I thanked him of course and smiled like I usually did. He went on his merry little way and I stared at the box. Ultima Online. I read all the instructions and the box. "Free internet play" Wait, I have to pay? I read on. "Enjoy a young player status for 12 hours or until a skill reaches 40 points." Greek.
I pry the thing open, load it into my computer and stare at the map that came with it. I was impressed. Looked like a story book actually. So I decided, what the hey.. I'll try it out. Give it two hours, then I'll be done.
"Customize your own character!" Yeah, right.. you'll make me play a dude like every other game. Maybe I'll wear a red helm this time instead of the white one.
It was not kidding. I log into it and I'm smacked with oodles of options (for the time) in the ways to create my character; from name to skin color even to the style of my hair. The classes were enormous it seemed and I spent at least a half hour deciding what I wanted to be. Sorceress: basically, a warrior with the ability to craft potions-like bombs! Hoo yeah! I was in.
I played and played and played. Now, it's not uncommon for me to spend upwards of 8 hours on one video game given that I like it alot. This one, however, I exceeded my all time high and spent 15 hours on it. It was then, that I realized there was no going back.
Ten years and a slew of online games later, I still enjoy online gaming and have come to especially love roleplaying. I currently play World of Warcraft, alternating my RP time with game time. I have come to enjoy the fact that I play at my leisure with no rules, no aggressiveness and look for a happy gaming experience.