<p>I played EQ because my (then middle schoolers) made such a fuss when I tried to limit their time on the game to 1hour per day that I got curious and wanted to see what it was all about. They showed me the ropes and within a few sessions I was hooked.</p>
<p>Bottom line - EQ was some of the most fun I have ever had in my life. And I have backpacked thru Alaska, been around the world IRL, gone on cruises, swum in lakes, rivers, and oceans, had babies I love dearly, played golf (ooof), enjoyed fine dining, dancing, great books, and plenty more. But the MMORPG’s are their own kind of incredible - absolutely amazing and there’s nothing else like 'em.</p>
<p>Why EQ so fun?</p>
<p>1) The game is like nothing else in the world. You log on and become yourself in cartoon form and play with folks from across the planet. It’s kind of like playing with other souls, because you are just a cartoon and the real interaction comes simply from the words you type and how you make stuff happen in game. </p>
<p>2) There’s always someone to play with. You don’t have to sign up for a Saturday tee time, or hang around at the court until enough kids show up to play ball, or get in your car to get there. Just a few clicks of your mouse and the gang is there ready to play. There’s always a friend around. And honestly, you can sign on after three months away and someone will text message you in about a minute and say, “Hey so-and-so - how are ya? Wha’ts up? It’s so great to see ya.” This is because the way the games work, you can befriend folks you have enjoyed playing/chatting with and folks check their friends lists at logon to see who’s around to play with.</p>
<p>3) You can have life conversations with folks while playing a silly game.</p>
<p>4) The art work is extraordinary. And you are IN it. YOU are part of the ART. And you walk around in this art. It’s incredible! There are hundreds of “zones,” which are towns or outdoor places you must learn to wander through. They are beautiful places, and your friends help you avoid monsters and pitfalls and find your way. And while you are “in” these beautiful places, you are having the same types of conversations folks have here on CC. Kinda like logging on and finding Carolyn, Xiggi, Taxguy and UCLAri on at the same time and saying, hey guys - let’s go to the Moon together and hang out by the lake and fly over the castle first to see if anything exciting is happening and we can chat while we collect cool stuff off those pretend monsters. </p>
<p>5) You can fly.</p>
<p>6) Did I say you can fly? It feels like you are really flying. You can fall down mountainsides and get hurt, you can get killed by monsters, you can be healed by your friends, you can heal your friends. You can swim. You can disappear and sneak around. </p>
<p>7) You are rewarded almost every time you log on. Imagine if every time you set foot in a class you earned a point or two towards a goal of becoming expert. And imagine if the more you did the more you earned, and you perceived that gain every moment of every class. And everyone else perceived it too, and your friends all shouted out “Congratulations sweetie!” each time you earned a bunch of credit. And you got a cool jacket to wear that signified how much you learned. And it was shiny and made you look great. =0</p>
<p>8) There really is an enormous amount to learn in these games. You must learn map skills, you must learn to work with other (real) people behind the cartoons, you must develop strategy with your guildmates to outwit the monsters. Kids do actual research online, by visiting the many many off game websites people develop, to figure out which pieces of clothing or weapons to work for. </p>
<p>9) There are no commercials. </p>
<p>10) Hmm. The culture. Despite the fact that you are fighting all the time, you are fighting against the game. You are COOPERATING with the actual people who sit at their computers and operate the cartoon characters. The overall culture is one of kindness and cooperation. Ppl are much softer and more caring towards each other than IRL.</p>
<p>Addictive? Very. The best way to get my kids unhooked was for me to play. If mom liked it, it couldn’t be so cool, right? And when dinner was not ready because I was stuck in a “raid” - (10-50 folks after a monster and just like IRL it always takes longer than you expect to organize 50 ppl to do something), they got to see that the game could be uhh, shall we say, an unfortunate distraction.</p>
<p>I laughed when folks asked if we would get EQ2 or WoW. NO WAY! Too addictive!!! But most people burn out or get bored after a couple of years. It is enormous fun at first, but it does become routine in the end, at least for most people. Thank heaven.</p>
<p>P.S. As to the OP - I think it might be good to put a respected name from WOW on that resume. If there is other good stuff, it can’t hurt to see that the applicant also had time and interest to devote to a MMORPG. And you never know who might just recognize that player!</p>