About a year ago, I was on Facebook playing the social games that keep me diverted when I need a little downtime and noticed a sidebar ad for a game called MilMo. Normally I ignore Facebook advertisements because they are frankly annoying by always wanting me to pursue another degree, take care of my unwanted body fat, or encouraging me to "like" some processed food product. Now, I cannot say why I even noticed the ad for this game proclaiming itself to be "the first 3D game on Facebook!" but what I do know is that when I navigated to another Facebook link there was that ad again. And as my crops were still growing, the food was still cooking on the stoves, and I had addressed all my friend requests...I thought, "hmmm, maybe I will check this out."
As we say in my chosen profession, the rest was history. At the time I was on winter break from work and had some free time, and it a good thing it was because I might have had to "contract" some illness that would justify my calling into work the next day. In other words, I was completely hooked. Despite the genuine enjoyment I got out of the game, I think what made me become as involved with the game was the in-game friends I made almost immediately. Those friendships developed primarily as a result of an innocent post I made in the game forum asking about some aspect of game play. Almost immediately players responded to my post with helpful information and when I was back in the game I had players coming up to me asking "are you the Alianore from the forum?" I was no longer an anonymous newbie, but now a player that others could identify and who sought me out to help me along. With that kind of player community, why wouldn't you continue playing the game?
Although there have been months this past year that I did not have the free time I would have liked so I could play a little here and there, MilMo was still there waiting for me. So, these last few months I have been able to play more regularly and many of those long-ago friends are still around (although others are not and are sorely missed) ready to welcome me back into the fold.
Most recently, it has been with my great pleasure and honor that the talented and generous game administrator/developer/fix-it-all-superwoman Sara asked if I would like to try my hand at being a game GM (Game Master/Moderator). In many ways, being asked to be a GM (current status is "Junior GM," but I like to think of it as "GM in-training") was was a greater achievement than some of those game medals that are still a little beyond my reach. I have never spammed the game or the forum with any "I LOVE MILMO" messages, so being asked for such a great responsibility was as if my contributions to the game--that were fueled by that love--must have been subliminally sending out the message.
Now, what is my purpose here? Largely I am intending this blog to be a forum in which I can discuss the game, the things myself and my friends do in-game, and where I can expound on game topics that are too unwieldy for the game forum. My good friend Sobe and I have several running jokes...one is about our comparative elderly status and the other is about my writing. As it is fairly obvious here, I am long-winded and when I feel strongly about a game subject there is much I can and do write about. Whereas Sobe reminds me to be more simple in forum responses (the game is populated from players around the globe that do not use English as their first language), my inner author seems fundamentally incapable of expressing my thought in a simple manner. Hence....this blog!
Hope you enjoy your stay and come back soon!
WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO At last...... a blog for English speaking Milmonauts. Well done on your blog Alianore =D
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