Sorority Life

I am not a gamer. I was not into video or arcade games when I was younger either. My favorite arcade game - really the only one I ever played in college - was QBert and the only reason I liked that game was because it made a cool sound. I was never good enough at Pac-Man to be interested in playing it - I got killed on the first level too often. I don't really like games that take speed. I like games that require brains. Crossword puzzles, sudoku, trivia contests - those are up my alley.

But I have become fairly addicted to Sorority Life.

I have several friends who play Mafia Wars. I don't like the idea of that game - I'm not into violence, even made-up violence. So even though I've been invited to participate by a few people, I have declined.

So when another friend invited me to join Sorority Life, I thought what the heck. Here at least was a nonviolent game. I looked at the game, though, and had no idea how to play it. You get energy. You get money. There are these events you are supposed to organize. Very weird. I didn't understand.

I asked my friends who had invited me to join their house how to play. Neither of them really new. They were new to the game too. We decided to try to figure it out together. Margo was the first to figure out how to send accessories to the other sisters in the house. I still haven't figured out how to initiate that, though I have figured out how to respond and send a gift back.

Because that's the other thing you need - you need stuff. Clothes, glasses, shoes, jewelry, cars, etc. Once you have these things, then you can organize more events and earn more of these things and organize more events. There are some games to play too to earn things. One is a room packed full of things. You get a list of things to find in the room in a specific amount of time. The faster you find all the things, the more money you earn and the better accessory you earn. Today, I won Manolo Blahnik shoes. The other day I won Seychelles boots. You have to understand that these are things I would NEVER own in real life. I would never spend that much money on a pair of shoes. I've spent $120 for a pair of boots, and I think that's the most money I have ever spent on footwear. $300 or $400 or $500 for shoes. Don't be absurd.

But I'm having a good time dressing my avatar in the shoes and clothes I would never wear. Right now, I'm wearing the Blahnik shoes and a skimpy "Valentine's Day" outfit that, again, is the kind of thing I would NEVER wear in real life. Of course, I don't have the figure in real life that I do on Sorority Life either. But even if I did, no, you would not find me in a miniskirt and midriff showing shirt.

But the truly ironic thing about Sorority Life and my new obsession with it. I would NEVER have been in a sorority. Now I happen to go to a college where they had been banned in the 70s and hadn't made it back to campus yet (I was in the college in the 80s). But even if there had been that option, I am so not the sorority kind of girl. I am not that hip. Not that cool. Never was. Don't really aspire to be.

So why am I on Level 12 of Sorority Life? Darned if I know. Let's see how long it takes me to get to Level 13. :)