Why do you play DDO?

There may be as many reasons for playing DDO as there are DDO players, but I bet most can be traced back to something simpler like entertainment.  So, why I am doing this forum post this evening?  Well, lets delve into a few things.

I began playing DDO over 6 years ago and while the surrounding reasons have varied over the years, the ultimate reason is entertainment.  Originally, my wife seen a copy of DDO in Best Buy and knowing my love of Fantasy books she pointed out to me.  She may never forgive herself for that one (kidding, she played a while herself and knows with my propensity for obsession, it is as cheap a hobby as I can have).

I used to play 6-8 hours every night after I got home from work and 16-18 hours Saturday and Sunday.  This was at it's height when my wife first got seriously sick as DDO became my escape from life and the horror of it all.  For any that may have played with me back then, I was not the nicest player on the server as I let life get to me and it often came out in outburst for those less than good DDO players.

Now-a-days, I may play 3-4 hours a night at most and 8-10 on the weekend days.  Seems like a lot still, but for me, it is like being a casual player.  Today I still play for entertainment and escape.  So what do I escape now, well life and it's aggravations.  Work is not what it used to be.  Many changes over the last 6 months and it is not as good a place to work as it used to be.  So that is a serious annoyance to escape from.  Lately, some things have aggravated me in game, so I choose to avoid those best way I know how, SOLO.

Let me clarify before anybody gets any wrong impressions.  Many know I have been on the TR train with Samius over the last many many months.  Samius is far from my aggravation, so please don't think that is it.  I call him a friend, and believe it or not, that is part of the reason I am soloing.  I know that when I get aggravated that I can become a bear to group with, so I have pulled back to my soloing ways.  Will I join back up with Samius on future TR trains, I hope so, but it may be awhile until I get things adjusted and I am in a better mood.

I read the DDO forums and they make me chuckle.  The fights over this change or that bug is humorous now.  I used to be one of those that would rail over every little change I felt was a NERF.  Complain about every bug that caused me grief in playing.  Maybe I have grown, maybe other things are more important to me now, but as I said above, they make me chuckle now.  DDO is a great game and has helped me through many things over the years and is why I still enjoy playing this great game.

So, next time you are frustrated in DDO, sit back and think, Why do I play DDO.  You may find humor in things after that.