I'm with stupid

Okay, back to a more (or less) regular blog posting schedule. This time with a twist.

I usually change my avatar and then post a poll relating to what I'm wearing. This time I think my avatar says it all. If I could go to the marketplace and buy a t-shirt that said "I'm with stupid" I would. And I'll tell you why.

I'm always excited when a friend of mine picks up a game I really like. Finally someone to talk to about going "all in", stealing castles, or defending crystals from ever increasing waves of tougher enemies. When I saw Quality Jim Beam playing Crystal Defenders I was thrilled.

I had been working on that game for months trying to beat a map and bask in that glow of victory. I couldn't wait to give advice to QJB and to commiserate when things didn't go as planned. What I got instead was someone who was able to get farther than me in their very first play time with that game.

Instead of me giving advice, I was the one asking for advice. For months I toiled away and barely made it past level 19 on the first map when QJB was lamenting about getting stuck at wave 25 his first time. What was I missing that seemed so obvious to him? And why doesn't the advice he gave me make any sense and translate to surviving higher waves?

I don't think QJB even played that game for a month before he had it all beaten (yet he's still a "Crystal D" addict where we might have to stage an intervention). Me? I've been playing the game off and on for 6 months or more and still couldn't accomplish anything. I eventually had to find a walk-through that stated exactly what you're suppose to do each level . . . and provided a map of where to place my characters. Than, and only then (after 2 play throughs) could I beat the game for that first map. QJB did it in about a week. And don't get started on eating tacos, who finished a map on the first play through.

So where is my "I'm with stupid" t-shirt?

With shooter games that rely on your sight and reflexes I'm never going to be as good as some of my other friends. My eyes just don't work that well. If it takes me longer to see something, then it'll will take me longer to react to it. Which is why I die . . . a lot. But games like Crystal Defenders which is not based on sight and reflexes I should be able to do better at, right?

If one game play fails, I should be able to analyze what went wrong and improve on that the next time. And I thought I was. Unfortunately after hearing about QJB and taco's earlier success and reading some walk-throughs online I realized I just don't get the game at all.

It's kind of like Chess for me. I love playing Chess. I love the challenge. The strategy. The planning. Unfortunately I'm not very good about planning too far in advance with my own moves, let alone have to plan in advance for my enemies moves. I know this, but I still love the challenge of the game. Crystal Defends is like that. I love the challenge of the game but when someone can come in and just blow through the game with ease while I struggle with it makes me feel stupid.

Eventually I'll finish all the maps and finish the achievements in the game (even through I feel dirty for getting step by step instructions to "win" 2 achievements). I'm just stubborn that way. But I want to know why games like this and Civilization Revolution are so easy for other players to learn and master and so difficult for me to do so?

I'm really an RPG gal at heart, but even that style of gaming is changing too much for me (but more on that in another blog post). But RPGs are not the only type of game I like to play. But with my eyes and stupidity that might be the only type of game I have any success with. So if anyone sees a "I'm with stupid" t-shirt available on the avatar marketplace, let me know. Just make sure the arrow puts up.

My new addiction

So I've found my new addiction. It use to be Jewel Quest. It got so bad that I'd have to play one board in the morning before I left for work instead of having breakfast or I couldn't think straight the rest of the day. Or, after a long night playing Gears of War I would need a game to help me unwind all that pent up emotion I had so I'd start up Jewel Quest and ease my way into a restful (but very abbreviated) night's sleep. It hasn't gotten that bad yet, but it might.

My new addiction is Peggle. It's such a simple game. It's like pinball, but once the ball goes out of play all the pegs and blocks you've hit go out of play. The object is to get rid of all the orange colored pegs and blocks scattered throughout a bunch of blue ones. Simple and addicting. No matter how carefully you plan your shot and where you think the ball will bounce it will take a different hop and end up somewhere else.

There's lots of different levels and characters to play with. And a different special attack with each one. If you want to use the flippers you pick that character. A fireball? Choose that other character. And there's multiplayer action too.

Every so often I find a game that I just love to play and waste hours doing so. It's usually an arcade game because they're so easy to get in and play really quick without having to worry about save points and such. If it hadn't have been Peggle it would probably be Crystal Defenders. That game is a little harder to describe. But for now, it's Peggle. Simple. Addicting. And just a lot of good fun. And when you find out big, tough, burly men are falling in love with a game filled with rainbows, unicorns, and symphonic music from Beethoven you know it's addicting. But I'm not complaining.