What do you do when you've beaten all the built-in challenges, but still don't want to leave?
Designers of virtual worlds take that question very seriously. In fact, the smart ones create their worlds in such a way as to accommodate those players, to keep them playing (and paying). Richard Bartle calls this the elder game: the content that occupies players in advanced states of immersion. I've experienced it myself in various virtual worlds -- and NaNoWriMo.
My own personal elder game took the form of volunteering, first as an online mentor, then as a Municipal Liaison, and finally as a forum moderator. The pinnacle came in 2007 when I mentored half a dozen rookies, hosted events in two different towns, moderated the chaotic Newbies Forum, and set a personal goal of 100k words for my novel.
Things changed after that crazy success. I moved 2,700 miles from my rural village in Western New York to the urban sophistication of Portland, ending my brief stint as a Municipal Liaison. I moderated the Newbies Forum for another year, but felt so burnt-out by the experience that I stepped down on December 1st.
Now here I am on Day One of NaNoWriMo 2009. It's my sixth event -- but the first since 2005 that comes without the added motivation of the elder game. I like my novel idea, its themes and premises, its characters and conflicts. But even as my desire to write it remains unflagging, my enthusiasm for NaNoWriMo itself begins to wane. The question I asked year after year -- can I succeed? -- has now become do I want to succeed?
So far I don't have an answer.
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I worry about this happening to me. Every year I take on a little bit more and NaNo eats a little more of my life. I'm doing my best not to burn out, but it's a worry. I'm helping this year by not writing serious work. The goal of 100k comes with no strings attached. Lesbian Zombie Hunters. What could be more fun?
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