King Athelstan

Now then, seeing as there's no football on this won't go on to rant about football, but rather the aspects of life without it. Like many an addiction the abstinence can hit you quite hard, but then slowly gets better. As for myself, I'm keeping busy with procrastinating studying for my exam next week. Normally I would have done that by watching football, but luckily there's a plethora of other things you can do to have your mind focused on something unproductive. I mean I know I really should start worrying and preparing myself, but I'll do that tomorrow. Which is what I've told myself for the past two months or so

Ah well, to illustrate how low I was on my lowest point, I'll tell you a short story. It was a dark and rainy night, and I had huddled up in front of the computer with a nice glass of water to keep myself hydrated. And then, I saw it. I had Origin open for some reason or the other, and that's when it happened. There was a sale, so of course I had to check it out. And what did I see? FIFA 20, for 60% off.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Bar playing at friends houses over the years the closest thing I had was FIFA 10, on the Nintendo DS. My scrolling stopped there, and I pondered for a long time. My hand pushed the mouse ever closer to the "add to cart" button, and for what felt like an eternity it hovered over. Should I do this? Could I? Would this be the best way to relive the thrill? I had never played Football Manager and dared not delve into its complicated system, so perhaps Fifa was the solution? Perhaps it would give me the relief I sought? Perhaps it would make things better? I pictured all the glorious goals I could score, the triumph I would find in victory, and the feeling of accomplishment as I beat any opponent I faced. Maybe West Ham could actually win something for once? Maybe I could live out a fantasy I knew would never come through? I clicked "add to basket", absentmindedly and scrolled on, before minimizing the picture to go do something productive.

And so, we skip to three hours later.

I had forgotten everything about it when I had clicked away from Origin and gone to try to do something productive and subsequently failed. I revisited it and noticed it was still in the basket. Like Frodo tempted by the ring I yearned for relief, for the bittersweet touch of the ring, like Anakin to feel the Dark side, like Rand to feel saidin. I moved to checkout, and pulled out my card.

Then a series of images flashed through my mind. Lootboxes, card packs, child gambling, pay 2 win, EA bad EA BAD, all as if part of a movie where the camera spins around the main character while he looks around in confusion. I felt I was going to go crazy, I was pulled in two directions. Then I finally came to my senses, and closed Origin.

That was the story of how I almost bought Fifa. If I ever come so near again, I swear you might as well revoke my internet license.