I can’t imagine not having gaming as part of my life. When I just 13 years old I drooled over the pages of the Sears Christmas Catalog a.k.a. The Wishbook just like I had years before. This time however I really, really wanted Pong. Atari created a home version of the game and Sears agreed to sell it under their brand. Oh how I wanted it to be under the tree but alas, no video game for me. It would be years before I owned my own console, in fact it was

In fairness to my Dad, $100 was a lot of money to spend on something he thought was foolish. We didn’t need to spend time in front of the TV he said. We could find plenty of fun outside. He’d roll in his grave if he saw how much kids are attached to their phones and iPads. But inevitably I became a gamer and I love it.

There was a time when I bounced a lot between games because the gaming world was exploding and MMOs were insanely popular. There was a time when my kids’ friends thought they were lucky to have a gamer Mom who actually knew about World of Warcraft. Moms in the gaming world are common these days. With the explosion of the gaming industry, I found myself settling into just a couple games to play regularly. Final Fantasy XIV Online and Destiny 2 are the PC games I play with the hubby and family. And things are rocking in both.

DESTINY 2

Season of the Haunted (Season 17) draws to a close on August 23rd. We both got the obligatory season rank of 100 to earn our loot and we’ve put on a few extra ranks as well. Normally my rank would be in the high 200s but to do that would mean taking time away from Final Fantasy. That’s not happening folks. I don’t spend 5 - 10 hours a day playing video games like I did years ago. There will always be the few weekends where we do nothing but game but even those are split between computer/console/VR gaming and actually getting together with family to play Magic the Gathering.

Nykonis (hubby) and I are digging into some older Triumphs, finishing Exotic weapon quests and getting some weapons prepped for Season 18. I switched from my season Solar 3.0 build back to Void. It’s a lot more defensive and I feel better in the harder difficulty missions and lost sectors that we’re doing now. When the new season hits I’ll most likely try an Arc 3.0 build but running Void has always been my favorite whether I’m playing Titan or Warlock.

FINAL FANTASY XIV

How crazy is it that the two main games we play are dropping new content the same day?? Patch 6.2 goes live on the 23rd and Island Sanctuary is something we both want to dive into when we wander back over to FFXIV. The beauty of this MMOrpg is that we’re never left behind. There are always folks to run older content and Square Enix has been doing a fantastic job of making older duties solo play with NPCs. While pugs are not a bad thing in FFXIV, we tend to enjoy running with folks we know. Unfortunately, we no longer have those connections wince our favorite players are die-hard World of Warcraft addicts. I’m thankful to be living at a time when there are MULTIPLE mmorpg games out there to choose from. Play what you love. We’ll chug along happily in Eorzea.

The FC (guild) home is decorated and we’re leveling up the air and submersible ships we built. It’s one of the things Nyk has always wanted to do in this game. I’m leveling Warrior and enjoying it a lot. Reaper will always be my first love. It’s easier than Ninja only because it has a much lower CPM rating. Ninja killed my hands and made harder content impossible. Reaper gives me the DPS power I want and is much gentler on my arthritic hands. Getting older is fine right up until it screws with your game performance!