I spend a lot of time (both in game and out) organizing things. I find it really therapeutic and calming for whatever reason. For example, lets take yesterday. Just last month I did a clean install of windows 8.1 because I bought an SSD (my first one ever). I decided that a clean install was the way to go and while it was a bit of a pain it could have been worse. Yesterday I was getting a message about a chipset driver I needed to install. So I downloaded the app that would let me do that and of course somehow along the way something broke (I blame it on the fact that I had a LOT of updates to do all at once and just sort of crammed them together without closing programs down first etc). I couldn’t restore and I couldn’t get windows to load, so after a bunch of frustration I just decided to do a fresh install again. It was actually very quick, and thanks to a few little things I had previously set up, it wasn’t as painful as it could have been. For example my default documents / pictures folder is not on the same drive as windows. Nor are my games. There was a handful of smaller programs but nothing essential. I was able to install the few items I was missing thanks to the windows.old folder, and then remove that folder.
Instead of being upset and concerned that I had to completely reinstall windows (again), it was nice and relaxing. Now everything is fixed up just as it was before, and I had a “fun” afternoon of cleaning. I get this same feeling when I’m in video games where there’s an organizational component. Minecraft, for example. I spend hours making lawns look good, creating even pieces of land, organizing boxes and inventory, and just “cleaning”. I tend to do the same things in other games just out of habit. In EQ2 there’s always inventory issues especially when there are so many pieces of decor to shift through, so I spend hours making sure everything is in the right place. Odd? Maybe. I could probably be given some sort of closet organization sim game and have a blast with it.
The point is, it doesn’t matter how you spend your time in a game so long as you’re having fun (minus methods that tend to hurt other players, I’m not an advocate of that). Me, I have fun cleaning. It doesn’t happen every day but when it does, I’m glad I have the control and the option to organize things in game.
I’ve been playing a bit of Minecraft lately, along with Wurm Online, World of Warcraft, and WildStar (PTR!) I’m looking forward to giving a round up of what I’ve been up to in more detail tomorrow. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.