Gaming is a traditional passtime of computer geeks. Most geeks get into gaming to avoid their sad little lives. They want to be somewhere where they're strong and where people admire their accomplishments. What terrible reasons to play a game.

Gaming offers me a way to get the competition I need, without having to stoop to team sports, which I loathe. I used to play mostly role-playing games, but since '97 I've had no real interest in them. It's board gaming that I've been focusing on mostly as of late.

Most of the games I like are real person versus person games, with little or no chance. Rather your intelligence and your people skills decide who wins. Unfortunately, a large portion of the gaming hobby is made up of annoying people. Playing games with annoying people is no good at all. Fortunately, I've met enough gamers that I've collected a small batch with whom I can play games and not feel the need to drive my pencil into them.

I used to attend conventions a few times a year, but the annoying person count is just too high. Lately, I have been gaming at home and friends' places more than anywhere else.