It is important to take your Zen moments, those ahh relaxation moments where you can. When you can.
During the height of the lockdowns and the existential panic of Spring and Summer 2020, I revived an old past time. Along with this blog it kept me sane. And continues to keep me sane. Nothing like coming home from a long day/evening at the hospital and booting up the computer to kill things. In an online first-person shooter of course.
First-person refers to the type of video game where the player (me) controls the character and guides the destruction and the shooting. Not necessarily guns. Can be a bow and arrow. Or magic missiles. Or magic, period.
I’ve been playing Diablo for years. We played Diablo I on a console back when we were young in our marriage, and I was new to nursing. I was a CNA back then. I played through nursing school. And Diablo II came out for PC in 2000. I played less then because I was actively in nursing school, and we only had 1 computer and my husband was busy making an interstellar empire on Eve. I don’t believe I had my first computer until 2005. And I played Diablo II then. And worked in the operating room.
In late 2005, we moved cross country; the lot of us, to North Carolina. And I worked as a nurse. And I played Diablo more sporadically. After the game is beat, where is the fun?
in 2012, Diablo III came out for PC and consoles. Again, my husband and I played together or separately. Over the internet; in the same room. And there were more characters to explore, new dungeons to conquer. I beat the game, several times. And I put it away.
Until…
The pressures of working like mad life, coupled with the MSN program began to weigh on me. And I rebooted Diabo on my new computer and played again. Nothing like slaughtering the evil undead to put the mind at ease. Every month of so I would play a bit, beat the game, put it away again.
Until…
I noticed that Diablo had expanded. There was a patch that gave the gaming community a new area to explore- Westmarch. This was 2015. New big bad. New rewards. Of course I played that.
Diablo added seasons to their game in 2014. No idea why that slipped past me. Except that I was deep into my workaholic self and had picked up shared governance in the hospital. What’s a season? A short playing time to accomplish certain tasks. Same game, same characters, same big bad. Different rewards. And a pause, and another season starts.
I started playing Diablo seasons at Season 19. And I am currently playing Season 27. My husband asks me how I can keep playing Diablo 3 after all this time. I assure him that the game is different every time. And, no, I don’t need to explore more of the player classes. I’ve played the necromancer and the crusader in previous seasons. The demon hunter is my favorite, and my current character that I am playing. Yes, husband, again! Diablo 3 allows me to rest my brain a bit. And let out a little aggression at the same time. Win-Win. I don’t play long; a half an hour at most. But I play consistently. Especially since the pandemic began.
The reason this is Monday’s Musings post is because all of my game play has not gone unnoticed. I don’t play cooperatively, although you can, with anyone except the husband. I don’t engage much with the online community or chat. I just play. And I got invited to participate in the Diablo IV End Game Beta.
Diablo IV has been on the horizon for a while now. It was going to be released in fall of 2020. The pandemic kiboshed that. And then fall of 2022. Same. All along the game makers have been fine tuning it. And putting different beta test times together. A beta test is a pre-release game test for gamers. To play and give feedback on. I’ve played a few beta test times in the past.
I am going to participate in this beta. Sometime over December, I think. Perfect. Just in time for end of semester break.
Because a nurse has to have their mind breaks, or they will break. And it looks different for every nurse. For this introverted nurse, killing the undead is perfect.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 