The internet is stupid

I have a thing with message boards. The entire time I've had access to the internet I've been posting on them. Primarily video game message boards, especially during my adolescence. I still visit and post on message boards, but I try to stay away from video game specific boards now. The reason? People are idiots. Console fanboys are what did it mostly. I thought I had escaped... but sometimes the internet will follow you places.

Enter (the) Dragon Age 2. I loved Dragon Age: Origins and apparently so did a lot of people on the internet. I played it on PC. Apparently so did they, because they hate how DA2 is "consolefied" or whatever. They made this judgement before the game was released, mind you, and somehow managed to get their user reviews on Metacritic before the game was released. They must have industry connections! Truly they are superstar video game critics!

I played and finished DA2. It's superior to DAO in virtually every way. I have a fondness for the original, don't get me wrong, but DA2 is simply more fun and tells a more memorable story in my opinion. It's shorter, less expansive, flawed... but DAO was just as flawed in many similar ways. And it's still damn long. I'm a bit of a slowpoke/completionist and DA2 took me 50 hours as opposed to DAO's 80 hours. 30 hours is a pretty big difference, but I was far more familiar with the gameplay this time and 50 hours is nothing to sneeze at.

The big complaints seem to be that you can no longer select your race, you can no longer zoom the camera all the way out, and you have less diverse environments to explore. All valid complaints I suppose, but if these people actually played the damn game I'm sure they'd enjoy it and give it more than a 0 on Metacritic. Dragon Age 2 addiction is the reason nobody has updated this blog in 3 weeks. I personally think it could have benefited a lot form an extra 6 months or so of development, but I played the hell out of it regardless so I'm satisfied.

Collections

So for a while now – basically since I’ve been making my own income – I’ve been collecting things. It did originate when I was a kid, however. I collected Barbies (I am female so I get a pass on this…), and not “Teacher Barbie” or “Gymnast Barbie”. I collected the ones that cost between $50 and $100, the rare ones. I got them as gifts, I had to be patient and wait until Christmas or birthdays for them, but by the time I left home I had what could be called a collection. Even before this, when I was a really small child I collected stuffed animals… again, I am a girl – there are some things I just can’t fight.

Since this habit began I’ve been collecting books, movies, games, comics and statues/action figures (I still collect stuffed animals…). While I don’t think any particular collection could be considered among the more substantial collections out there, when I put them all together, my “Nerd Collection” takes up a whole wall – or if I chose to do so – the den in my apartment. The only things stopping me from going all out and nabbing every item I want is my lack of space and insufficient income.

Yet still, I will now go out and buy the books, games, comics and toys that I really want, the day they come out, and for full price if I want them that badly. It’s a combination of OCD and ADHD… if that’s even possible… I can’t focus my obsession on key area, but I feel the need to get these things as soon as possible and promptly put them on display in my living room. Some of my more prized items include my Big Daddy statue from the Bioshock collector’s edition, my Thor bobble head, my Domo Kun plushie, my Misdreavus pokemon plushie that I got from the Pokecentre in Japan, and just my comic collection in general.

When it comes to books, I read about sixteen at a time – mostly sci-fi or fantasy, with some classic literature, books on D-Day and history thrown in for good measure. It takes me much longer to finish them sometimes but I can’t restrict myself to one story at a time. There are probably more than sixteen books that I have on the go, but I stopped trying to keep track when I was fifteen. The list just got too unmanageable. When I find an author, who’s written one or two books that I liked I will get as many of their books as I can get my hands on. I don’t always read or even like all of them, but I must have them.

As for comics, I don’t bother looking to the old classics. I catch up on the events of the past to get a better understanding of what made my favourite heroes who they are today, but I’m far too poor to spend the money on collector’s items of the past. Plus there are plenty of contemporary comic story arcs, writers, artists and characters that are extremely good that I don’t really mind if I’m missing out on the vintage stuff. I actually have my mom to thank for my obsession with comics. If she hadn’t gotten myself and my brother and sister into watching the old 80’s X-men cartoon I don’t think I’d love comics as much as I do today. Fables, The Walking Dead, Batman, Justice League, X-Force, X-Men, X-Factor, Thor, Captain America, The Eternals, Deadpool, Cable, Dorohedoro and more are all part of my comic collection.

I’m also currently amassing a collection of Collector’s Editions of games. From Assassin’s Creed to Halo, Final Fantasy to Dead Space, if there are cool enough statues, artwork, toys, or in-game items I will try to get the Collector’s Editions of games. I have some of the boxes still because they looked cool (this may or may not be verging hoarder behaviour but for now I’ll give myself the benefit of the doubt, I can still move through my apartment without tripping of piles of shit).

I love my collection, as random and chaotic as it is. It’s not just a collection of things created out of a need to have everything related to one thing – they are things I really love which happen to all be related in the fact that they could all be considered nerdy. These things are stories, characters, and experiences I’ve had. They’ve connected me to new people, helped me discover new worlds and new experiences, and eaten a great big hole into my bank account… but that’s beside the point. This collection has grown so big, it’s a part of who I am, and I hope I never stop.

*As a side note… as I’m writing this I’m also watching an episode of Criminal Minds about a crazy woman who COLLECTS women and turns them into living dolls by paralyzing them, dressing them up like dolls until they die and she finds a replacement. Suuuuuper creepy…..