Just last week, my life was taken over by a most unexpected evil called EverQuest II.

It is most unexpected because I never like revisiting an MMORPG after quitting. Picking up where you left off is tedious. I prefer to play new games all the time.

And EverQuest II is most evil because it lured me back not just once but twice.

I first started the game in Feb 2005. Quit after a year due to excessive guild politics.

Returned in Dec 2006 because they introduced Faes, which are too cute to resist. Quit after a few months, can’t remember why.

Now, in Mar 2010, all my friends have suddenly gone back into the game one by one. These are the very friends I first met in the same game in 2005, who have become my best friends over the years as we moved together from activity to activity.

I was very reluctant to restart the game, especially after three years of absence. Too many changes would have happened to the game, which would throw me off. Plus I didn’t want to get addicted to an MMORPG again.

But then, EQ2 started to dominate conversations in Plurk and gatherings (dinners and stuff) with my friends, so I had two choices: Return to EQ2 or be hopelessly clueless.

I saw returning to EQ2 as being the lesser of two evils, despite EQ2 already being the evil incarnate.

So, after three years of being a lost soul, I am an MMORPG player once again. (I say lost soul because although I really appreciated being not addicted to a game, I always felt incomplete without one.)

I logged into the game last week and was completely useless. I’d forgotten how to do everything. After spending an hour staring at the screen dumbly, wondering where to start, I decided to create yet another new character to learn the game from scratch again.

I made an evil Fae (known as Arasai) this time, but in the same colour combination as my first because I still think blue and white looks best.

Sheyli the Arasai:

Sheyla the Fae:

The evil infiltrated my soul very quickly. The first night I logged in, I played overnight until 8:30 in the morning.

It has been a downhill battle since. EQ2 is really the ultimate MMORPG for me. I enjoyed WOW but was never so entranced. Maybe it helps that all my friends are in the game with me and it’s like we have come full circle and reliving all fun we had a long time ago.

And it’s fun to talk about EQ2 when we meet in real life.

So, while EQ2 has hold of my life, everything takes a back seat. Which is really bad, but I’m trying very hard to at least complete my most important tasks daily, one of which is to blog. Which is what I’m doing now. =P

Even as I’m blogging, I have EQ2 open on my other monitor so I can drive myself crazy.

Also, this week, I’m getting some outside air every evening attending a voice masterclass workshop with renowned voice coach Bill Pepper, who coached Russell Crowe and Sam Worthington, among other celebs. Have gone for two sessions so far and it’s been cool!

So that kinda balances my life a bit, keeping me away from total addiction.

But now I’m thinking of getting a laptop so I can play EQ2 if I happen to be stuck outside with time to kill.

YES IT’S THAT BAD.

And it’s not just me. Everyone in Club Morte is addicted. =P