I always knew Adam was a little…different. Partially because he used to show up to my house with no shoes (like on several occasions he actually drove all the way to my house, and it wasn’t until I pointed it out that he realized he forgot to put them on before he left and we would have to drive 12 minutes back to his house to get them before we could go out in public). Partially because he loved the smell of skunks (like he rolls the windows all the way down when we smell one). And partially because he doesn’t like to watch sports. At all. Don’t get me wrong – he enjoys playing sports and was actually a really great baseball player in high school. But no matter what the sport it, he has absolutely zero interest in actually watching or following it.

At first I thought this was great. So many of my friends complain about losing their guys every Sunday to football, or how much time is consumed by their Fantasy league. Imagine all the quality time we would gain as a couple! But I quickly realized he had another vice that rivaled and likely far surpassed the amount of time any other guy is spending on watching sports…gaming.

Now these are not the kind of games he plays on his own, can turn on and off as he pleases or plays as a leisurely hobby a couple of times and moves on. And we’re not even talking about XBox or Playstation. Those are for “casuals.” These are “glorious PC master race games.” Games that involve a team. Strategy. And a commitment of hundreds of hours of play time (per game) to achieve an acceptable level of expert status.

I first discovered this hobby was more serious than I realized when we were on our honeymoon. We were in Australia, about 10 days into our blissful 3 weeks away. We were sipping champagne from the private hot tub on our balcony overlooking the Great Barrier Reef, when he looked over at me – a romantic glint in his eyes, those dimples on his cheeks – and said he felt the time was right to talk to me about something important for our future. Now that we’re married, it seemed appropriate to finally bring it up…

(Of course I thought he was about to bring up the topic of starting a family. And I couldn’t believe how sweet it was that on our honeymoon my brand new husband was already thinking of our future children together!)

He continued. There’s something he’s been really looking forward to for us and just felt it was important for us to be married before he could really talk seriously about it. So at last he asked the big question: when we get back to DC…would I consider joining his team on World of Warcraft? They could really use a Shaman and he knew I would be the perfect fit.

Umm. Wow. How to respond to such a…generous offer. I did in fact try it. Along with many other games he would introduce me to. After all, marriage is about compromise, right? For years, with the start of each new season he would eagerly tell me he found the perfect game for us to play! But I just never got into it.

So his love for gaming evolved. From Halo and World of Warcraft in those early days to Modern Warfare, Battlefield, Command and Conquer, Smite, Supreme Commander and many more. And at first it was nothing to write home (or blog) about. Sure there were 8 hour team raids. Tournaments that lasted until 5am. 400 hours in one game. 800 in another. But even that is nothing in comparison to what’s evolved over this past year – and in true Shmadum fashion – the monetary investment that’s now been made to bring his hobby to the next level. Because this is the year he installed three computer screens side-by-side.

And a green screen.

Yes, you read that right. There is an actual green screen that covers the entire back wall of Adam’s office. And two giant size lights that are typically setup for professional photography at weddings. Or ya know, movie productions. And the reason for all this you might ask? So they can stream their games live.

They now have a channel on Twitch with actual subscribers who watch them play in real-time. And this enables it to look like Adam is IN the actual game playing. I’m told their subscriber count is currently around 50, but there is potential for thousands. In fact, I really shouldn’t be so cynical about the whole thing because this is the profession that will likely “retire us one day.” And there is even a “Donate” button for those passerbys who support the cause and want to fund these crazy antics. To entice you, here is a scene from his “talkshow” you may even get to see live one day:

He also had this icon professionally made…but honestly this I just can’t explain.

So this is just some insight into what day-to-day life with Shmadum the gamer is really like. If you’re a fellow wife of a gamer…I feel your pain. But hang in there…one day the hours and hours of their game time may just pay off and retire us all. #shmadum