Peter Pan is not dead, but he’s had to curtail his fun. I still got into a belching contest this afternoon. I still go party with my friends. My eyes light up when I see elephants and monkeys. But I just can’t give up a week of my free time to play Civ.

When Civ2 came out, I played for most of a semester. Civ3 ate an entire month. I could survive with only a weekend for Civ4…but I can’t find that weekend. And what’s worse, I don’t want to. My video game values have changed.

Back then, my goal was to be challenged intellectually. To build something from nothing (inductive logic and creation common to  developers and entrepreneurs). I liked the expansive but masterable rules environment for strategic decisions…a precursor to enjoying computer science and business school.

But now my driving value is social. I have enough fun challenges in my life. When I have free time, I spend it with friends or family, with fiancee, with classmates. Maybe I take care of an errand or two, so I can spend more time with people later.
When I travel, I relish the stories and experiences I can bring back to my friends. Bottom line: the games I play need to bring me together with other people.

Without realizing it, I think I’ve morphed into a traditional console player. I’m looking for games which are easy to pick up, but allow me to compete against friends sitting on my couch. Simpler controllers offer less complicated gameplay. I don’t think I’d even want a networked aspect…it’s more fun to grab a beer for Josh between games than to play an extra few rounds because we’re more comfortable at our own desks.

A real-time strategy game like Warcraft3, Starcraft, Myth still works for my purposes, as my friends can bring over their laptops. But the games are tough to learn, so we end up playing these older games rather than learning the new ones.

So farewell, Civ franchise. This year presents 8 weddings including my own, a bar mitzvah, two international trips, and
my ongoing education. So unless I happen to land a consulting internship this summer, a possiblity looking increasingly unlikely…Civ, I’ll see you in 2007. Maybe.