#baththoughts

I am sitting in an Epsom salt bath in my bathroom. There is a nasty storm outside, and if I must take shelter I’m doing it in the most comfortable way possible.

In here, as the water begins to lose temperature and my knees get cold (I’ve decided to submerge as much as possible instead of pulling the 90° bend at the waist - I’m not the Undertaker) my mind flows to the potential Hearthstone videos I could be watching. I can’t help but be drawn to watching it with its methodical, slow-paced, thoughtful gameplay. In a world where most sports have commentary teams that take on an identity separate from the competitors themselves, centralizing all of the commentary with the emotional state of the player is attractive. Everyone talks about watching League of Legends - it’s so exciting, it’s so tactical - but I’d rather watch one player think and feel. In doing so I am along for the ride, although the stakes for me are completely synthetic. This one-sided relationship (let’s be a bit coy and call it what it really is in parenthesis: voyeuristic) let’s me feel on the surface as though I have some sort of relationship with the player. Looking deeper, it allows me watch another operate; it lets me learn by observing another mind at work.

The water is edging toward cold, I’d like to make myself a Rob Roy but I don’t keep my liquor in the bathroom (maybe I should), and the storm still rages. On we go.

In this way I would compare Hearthstone to games like Chess. I also think the same attraction to that style of game drives (ha) my young interest in Formula 1 racing. It’s more about an individual’s story than it is about the team’s. But I worry about the long-term with Hearthstone as a playable entity. Games like Go and Chess are not tied to any individual (corporation). They are (now) worldwide cultural objects, although I still am like a toddler constantly falling while learning to walk when I play Go. You can sell me a Chess board and pieces but you cannot sell me Chess the idea. That’s already ours. It’s the same with many sports (F1 excluded here obviously, although at its base perhaps not): you can sell me the ball but not the game. And while some new games function this way (the base Cards Against Humanity card set existing under the Creative Commons License is one) most are locked away. Hearthstone is free but could be gone tomorrow. But I suppose everything could be, huh?

I’ve realized that it is now freezing in this tub, the salt bag said only 20 minutes but it’s been longer and I don’t know what will happen, but I cannot pull the water plug without getting my hands wet. My phone is in my hands. Problem. Dream solution: I will become the salty, pruned version of Daredevil. Real solution: I will rap this up.

I like watching video games being played with an emphasis on competition. I wish that we could be sure of those games we enjoy existing as long as we do. I’d rather YouTube not become the tomb for our past video game loves.

I’m going to pull the plug now.

I’m going to put my phone down and pull the plug now.

*Time passes, but only a bit*

There is a bit more. I understand that games need to make money considering their expense to produce. At the same time we are on the heels of Surf by Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment being dropped, for free for all (with an Apple account, but let’s be real it’s free). And while they have an alternate means of supporting themselves - mainly touring I assume - I can’t help but wish games could find a way to exist in this same way. Perhaps it is merely an unavoidable problem with digital objects, but still, a guy can hope for something better for everyone, yeah?