The big problem with being a strategy gamer is that so many of them take a lot of time. I’m still slowly working my way through the Command & Conquer 4 campaign. I want to put more time into Distant Worlds. I want to get to the RUSE beta before it expires – maybe later today. I never really mastered anything in the Starcraft 2 beta beyond getting my ass kicked. And now we have Scourge of War: Gettysburg (coming soon to a podcast near you.) Still haven’t acquired Settlers 7 or the Majesty 2 expansion.

And I have to write about them because that’s why I have the blog. Of the games listed above, I can say that only C&C4 is a game that I am actively avoiding – which is bad since Bill Abner wants that review. I just can’t bring myself to play it. No, it will not be getting a positive review.

Since there is so little regular strategy game coverage anywhere, I feel a special responsibility to try almost everything out there. This means that when I do get around to a game, it is not a headline title any more. This turns out to be one of the great blessings of the genre. Strategy gaming has a long tail, either because the games are constantly being patched and updated or because the community is more likely to stick with some of them since they never were flavor of the week stuff. No one is playing Majesty 2: Kingmaker because it is the hot new thing to play. So my bloggy thoughts on it can wait a little.

The consequence of course is that I end up writing another “Sorry for not blogging more” post. I’ve recently agreed to write a strategy game themed column for another site, so that, too, will take more content off Flash of Steel, especially the meaty think-piece posts that I wrote many, many more of when I had a lot more to say about strategy games.

And it’s not like this is all I do, either. I have another feature story in the works for Gamespy (not strategy related), I am working on another column pitch, I am planning other articles for other venues, I am wasting spending time chatting collaborating with friends online. Oh, and I have a household to run. Or run into the ground.

According to Bruce Shelley, a good game plugs into that sense of flow – you become one with the system and tasks seem easier. When you have to make time to play five or six different strategy games a month – some of which are quite elaborate – it’s hard to get into that flow mindset. I get emails from readers and listeners asking what I think of Arsenal of Democracy or Gratuitous Space Battles and all I can say is “I started playing” or “Don’t have it yet”. No iPhone, either, so ask Tom or Julian about those, please.

Now, I’m not complaining. OK, I am, but not in a major way. The depth of strategy games is what pulls me to them and if I was getting paid to play all of them I would be very deep into them all. (The column will certainly help in that regards. More news on that later.) The mastery of the system and trying to understand how a designer interprets the past or the future are big things for me.

It’s spring. Baseball season. A time of new beginnings. Here’s hoping I can find the time. Because this is shaping up to be one very busy year. I hope when Civ 5 comes out that I won’t still be avoiding C&C 4.