I don't have many life changing choices, but I do have Changes.
It seems as if I’ve been arguing with others since I could speak. (The majority of my argument back then consisted of a grumpy “No!”) As far back as I remember, I’ve always been debating with everyone I know, much to the exasperation of my parents, who are almost as stubborn as I am.
While my parents may have sparked my love for debate, what really fueled it was the internet.
When I was 10, I started playing a game called Runescape. I liked it a lot, but I found the conversations I had with the people in it a little bland. I decided I should try joining a forum to talk to people more freely. Considering my age at the time, my reason for looking for a forum was probably regarding something less studious, but that’s how I’d like to remember it.
This was when I found, via a Google search, a site called Free Games Forums, my launching point into online chatting. I stuck with the gossamer forum and it’s inhabitants for about 7 years.
Initially, I stumbled through online chat, bright and bleary eyed. I fell constantly, my posts lacked proper spelling and grammar, sometimes rendering myself incomprehensible. Worse yet, I was very easily set into a rage. I graduated that forum the day I beat an esteemed intellectual TazG in an argument, although he probably wouldn’t admit it. It was lovely, because several days later I was banned from the forum altogether, for being indignant to the same admin. I was so proud of me.
Because of my ban, my chatting was able to fully migrate a second time into the open pastures of online games, this time with World of Warcraft. Here, I was introduced to Ventrillo and, more importantly, live chat.
I found difficulty in live chat at the beginning, as I am not an extremely fast typist, so anyone, given the skill, could potentially rack on insults to easily to deface my arguments. Regardless, I had many a winning bout in that circle, the victor usually being decided by who gets ignored first. Once I convinced a person that they were a textbook psychopath (Mind, he really DID act like a psychopath, I went through the checklist and everything.) I found it invigorating.
One fateful day, I was browsing through Penny Arcade, and found a post regarding Dwarf Fortress in Tycho’s newsletter, eager to try out this new, needlessly complicated freeware; I jumped right into the fray, and failed initially, totally confused by the ascii graphics. However, after downloading a texture pack and reading a good tutorial on the subject, I was ready to take another shot at the game. I was successful, but still, dwarf fortress being dwarf fortress, and I found many questions that needed answering. That’s when I found this forum, filled with intellectuals, all but devoid of trolls, and frequented regularly. I hope my experiences here last a good while.
So, I just made a TL;DR about changes in my life rather than choices and I currently have a metaphysical unworn glove in my hand that I'm willing to throw down at the first nilly that says I shouldn't have, as is my life.
Engarde~!