One underreported difficulty of long-distance relationships is finding things to do together. My fiancée and I talk every night, but sometimes you want a change of pace. Watching movies is passive and doesn’t feel like being “together,” and adding commentary is tougher when your voice is sharing speakers with the film. We’re both long-time gamers, and I’ve been trying to find a game we can play together online, but our tastes don’t always align. (I’m more Dark Souls, she’s more Silent Hill.)
Enter Overwatch. I’ve been playing regularly since sometime last summer, but it didn’t seem like her kind of game. However, she bought a fast new computer just before the mega-popular shooter had a free-to-play weekend recently, so I suggested she check it out just in case. The next day, we played for about 10 hours. She bought it the next day after. We’ve been playing most evenings, and it’s been great — no more choosing whether to talk to her or play the game (though let’s be honest, talking always won out), instead we’re teaming up online. It’s something engaging that we’re directly interacting with, and more importantly, we’re together — even if it’s only in a digital world.
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.
