Have avoided the news the last two days, but I found a playmate... and we meet at dungeon hour... ooooo

So did THAT wake you up?

It's harmless. The online game I've been playing so as not to be bored out of my numb skull... Pretty cool so far. So yesterday, someone asked me to be on their friend list... like facebook, sort of, and wanted some help. Well, I'm at level 28 and he or she is at 22. We were in the BEST room in the dungeon of a ruined temple, with very difficult skeleton monsters in it... armed. Well, in the game, about every three hours, if you happen to be in a dungeon, you get 50% more points for everything foul you slay. And there are certain quests you have to fulfill while there if you can.

He or she opened up a small chat window, but it got monosylabic. When you're fighting in there, it's like: 'Quick, grab the Mana box and use it, you need it.' And asked me to help so their figure could level up, so I joined forces, and we split everything 50-50... more or less. I could care about the gold, am already a millionaire three times over already. I need the FP points to level up on skills. That will sound crazy, butcha had to be there. And me a millionaire... hee-hee, chuckle, guffaw.... only on-line, there is nothing worth buying.

So he or she met me again at three p.m. I said, hey, wanna kick some skeleton warriors arses? 'Yeah!'. And off we went. I finally got the knack of keeping that knight's back. Would rush over and sneak attack his adversary when it got rough.

It was sort of fun to work as a team on the game, and we both benefited from it. With a casual, 'Oh, yay, that was coool...' And then a quick 'thanks' when I 'saved the figure on screen with my 'awesome' shield stunning number. Hell, it was just fun to interact.

Two people joining forces to help one another level up. It makes it far more fun than just playing it alone. And optically, it's a hoot.

So where does this paragon live? 'Germany'... Uh-huh, got that, and it has to be Berlin, where the game is run from, because only they will greet you with 'moin' in the afternoon. It's dialect for 'Morgen!' as in good morning... So I have to dreg up the bits I learned in the weeks I spent there. 'I'm losing my life force, can you spare any bottles?' 'Yup, tell he how'... and a window appears and transferred what I could spare. 'Can I give you anything, what do you need?' 'Nee, is' schon gut.' No, I'm fine.' Not 'Nein'... Nee.. (pronounced 'nay'.) Or 'look out for the Kleenen, they are pesky as flies on a hot summer's day.' (few points) The word would be 'klein'.... small in high German.

There is a tiny chat window down below the screen, and I SWEAR I don't understand half of what is going on there. Pure dialect.

So that is fun on many levels... I guess I have a date tomorrow. We can hack away at monsters. It takes it to a new dimension of playing a game, and whoever it is is pleasant enough, and polite.

And I DO realise, it is probably a teenaged kid, but at least he or she has manners. It was just a new facet that made the entire thing more interesting... The graphics are spectacular, there are five realms to explore, although I'm hating the desert one. That drove me nuts. HUGE spiders. Eeeew. My figure already died there twice, which loses me 5 percentage points every time. Creepy.

So will keep playing in the dungeon to get my Sir Arrogant Numbskull up to speed so he can take on more dangerous tasks. But it is fun to have someone to play it with.