I feel like now of all times should be a time of being grateful for the games we play and for the communities the video gaming industry has allowed us to be in. I’m talking about the communities that are welcoming and good. The ones that help us feel safe and well when we are, in physicality, alone.
The state of gaming qualitatively is always fluctuating, but the people we love, the characters we’ve bonded with, and the adventures we’ve had are usually good ones. And more so the shared experience we’ve had as gamers and as friends are pretty much always good. Most hobby communities have fallen under or have struggled, but during these times, video gamers can be strengthened. We have more opportunities to uplift each other through video games. This is the medium that we proclaim to be such a great purveyor of happiness to us.
Digital downloads and streaming systems have allowed us safety from the outside world during a tumultuous time. I don’t think it is the norm, at least where I am, to play video games for long periods of time each day. Conservatively, video games are an extra activity that males tend to do. Usually a Call of Duty here or there. Maybe some Grand Theft Auto. From my local community they tend not to be gaming every day anyway.
But any of you who would like to call yourselves gamers, and in almost all cases you are the judge of that, we have our sanctuary. The video game industry and world has driven us to the point of such relative safety and I am extremely grateful for that. Of course the industry has also brought along its own faults, but what industry has not done that? In a strange way the growth of the industry is like a relationship that is tarnished and rebuilt over and over again by the developers and the audience. I think at all points, both sides have contributed both positively and negatively to it.
We’re still here though, and I would like to express my appreciation for the fact that we have survived this long as an industry and audience that we can ask a friend if they want to play some Borderlands, and that we can chat using programs like Discord. The current disasters of the world, although of still great concern, do not touch our bubbles of comfort. That is what makes this current state of gaming so great. I would that we could all pitch in for the troubled state of the world, and also have a place of safety to return to when we are weary and are in need of recharging.
We DO have a place to return to that is unharmed, and that is a blessing to which I say,
“Thank you.”
I’ll see you soon.
– Elise
Game Praisers 