IMO and from experience, it's a little of both.  But, we can discuss this further in-game whispers, TS, or GroupMe, which I might add, is awesome!

Eharmony - she moved up to Birmingham from Naples, FL

Common Core isn't horrible ... baddy teachers that needed a scapegoat for all their problems during an election year are horrible.

How did you and Melissa meet?  Was it in WoW?  Did one of you have to relocate to date?

Ugh, don't even get me started on Common Core...

You mentioned Nintendo: You're not one of those Pokemon Go go gadget hunters are you?

I encourage you and Avellyn to join our GroupMe chats!  They are full of fun and comedy and I'd love to pick your brain on public education  I've had some bad/ confusing/ silly/ stupid experiences with certain educators and the new universal curriculum in my life.

You can call me Fud, or Mark; whichever you fancy.

Bio

I'll turn 35 in August, but ever since Melissa (Avellyn) and I started celebrating our childrens' birthdays, that seems way less significant.  Will turns 8 in a couple weeks, and Claire turns 2 in October.  We married in 2008, and are still living in Chelsea, AL.  This fall marks my 11th year as a public educator: 8 years teaching 5th grade, and 2 with 6th graders under my belt.

If anyone has school-aged children and needs help understanding anything related to Common Core, just ask ... love dispelling all the boogey-man stories about "new math"

Gaming Bio

I grew up a Nintendo kid.  Mario, Contra, Crystalis, Super mario, FF3, Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Goldeneye, Smash Bros, Star Fox, Zelda: Ocarina of Time ... all classic memories. 

Then a little computer game called Diablo came out.  I loved playing a character that I created, even if the choices were limited.  Itemizing gear and attribute points were so sweet.  But, that got raised to an entirely different level with Everquest ... good god, an entire world to explore!  As a teenager, I didn't really grasp how important the social aspect of an MMO was.  So, I ended up soloing a LOT.  That was brutal, but I didn't know any different.  I was able to progress with a strong guild, but the game was all about gear.  It wasn't until later in life I figured out how much more joy there was connecting with people rather than upping my gear score.

I stayed with EQ into college until WoW was released.  Warriors can solo!?  Sign me up!  It was a very refreshing experience, and drew mass appeal from my EQ buddies because SOE had been releasing content without proper playtesting ... they later admitted one of the EQ expansions was overtuned (meant for lvl 70 characters while the server max was 65).  But, that admission was too late: we were already vested in WoW.

Melissa and I met just before BC was released, and we spent a lot of quality time killing internet monsters.  While we've dabbled in other MMO's, SWTOR is the only game we conected with.  Since we've heard a lot of good things about recent changes, we'd like to explore the galaxy again.

If you see a Fud online, just holla and we can go kill internet monsters ... or pwn nubs in Overwatch if you're looking for a pro Junkrat.