I’m playing Rune Factory Frontier right now and I’m really enjoying it. Or I’m finding it compelling. It’s a very thin line between the two. World of WarCraft was compelling, but eventually it turned into something that felt more like a second job. Not fun. While enjoyment was still to be found playing it, I was finding it harder and harder to have fun playing the game.
Yet it was still compelling. Eventually I knew that I had to just let it go. I beat the final boss (Protip: It’s your credit card!) Then, I just let my account lapse.
I found something interesting about my playing habits with Rune Factory, how I have changed my habits over the years.
It used to be that when I found out something interesting, or exciting about a game I was playing, it really felt like a discovery. That in this game, I did something that’s a singular experience, that event is something that was on the edge of a great frontier. This was before the internet.
Now before I do anything I feel like I have to check for a FAQ or a guide to find out if it’s the “right” decision.
I was considering an expansion for the house in Rune Factory, but then I was presented with a couple of choices. I then went to the forums and looked up pictures of the possible themes. Then I almost posted something to twitter to ask about which one I should go with.
Then I stopped myself after I realized what I was doing.
I decided from that point on, I was just going to forge ahead and make the decisions and live with them. That’s the beauty of Rune Factory. There’s no “wrong” decision to make. If a path gets closed to me, oh well, the game is huge, there are tons of things to do.
I just need to make my peace with that.
I need to make peace with a game about farming, dating, monster fighting, and returning balance to the land.
Oh, and I went with an unseen extension to my house in the game. And it turns out to have been the steampunk styled expansion.
Score.