1871: Imminent Departure

In a few short hours, I’m catching a flight to Dublin… and then on to Boston, Massachusetts (or however you spell it) to attend video game expo and general nerd convention PAX East.

I’m really looking forward to it. Last time I attended, as I’ve mentioned previously on here, was back in 2010, when I was going through a bit of a shitty time in my life. Once again, it seems, my trip to the States has coincided with a somewhat shitty time in my life, albeit for different (and slightly less horrible, though not by a huge amount) reasons than last time around. Once again, I am looking to the trip to take my mind off things for a few days and to remind myself that yes, I do have friends, not everything in life is terrible and that sometimes, occasionally, it is possible to have a good time and be happy.

I’m not sure what I’m going to see at PAX. In some ways, I’m not even sure I care too much; I’m going more for the overall experience, to have the opportunity to see some things I might not normally have the opportunity to see, and to hang out with friends who have become an important part of my life. It’s not the first time I’ve met a group of “Internet friends” and made their real-life acquaintance, but it is the first time I’ve done so with a single game we all play together as a basis.

I ended up having a somewhat heartfelt discussion with my Free Company-mates in Final Fantasy XIV the other night, and I admitted that the game had been something of a “lifeline” for me through some difficult times. I was unsurprised to discover that I was far from the only person who felt that way; the frequency with which I see my virtual comrades online makes it abundantly clear how important the experience is to them, for various reasons — be it the opportunity to hang out with virtual friends, to go on virtual adventures, to try and be the best at a challenging game or any other reason people might have to log in day after day.

The “friends” part is important, though. We’ve all “known” one another for a good proportion of time now; some of us have been playing the game since beta, which means we’ve been playing for coming up on two full years. Others joined more recently but integrated themselves into the overall group without too much trouble; other people left and went their own way; others took a break and came back, hopefully to stay. Being a cooperative game, it’s a game that is, at least in part, about trust: everyone has a role to play. People trust the tanks to keep the rest of the party from being punched in the face. People trust the healers to keep them alive. People trust the damage-dealers to kill things as quickly and effectively as possible. Together, it’s a wonderfully satisfying feeling, and the more we’ve played together — because most of us will partner up with one another rather than strangers by preference — the more we’ve come to know each other, trust one another and have fun together.

This is why I’m looking forward to PAX. It’s an opportunity to hang out in the flesh with these people I’ve come to regard as real friends. Even if very few of us are as pretty (or, indeed, as female!) as our in-game characters. 🙂

Updates may be sporadic over the next few days as I’ll be reliant on public/hotel Internet, but expect something from me… hopefully! If not, I’ll write stuff anyway and publish in a big splurge when I get back. 🙂