Peace of mind

ArcAngel3

I thought I'd share how I've found some peace of mind in the aftermath of the events surrounding Star Wars Galaxies and the NGE.  This isn't really advice, more of a shared experience I guess.  I was pretty disappointed and angry with all the "stuff" that happened in SWG, and now I find myself largely in a better place.

If others have found a way to cope with these events and move ahead, I'd love to hear about it

One thing that's helped me for sure is that many of the friends I met in my SWG guild set up their own forum site.  We keep in touch regularly, and so have been able to maintain the sense of friendship and community that we first discovered in Galaxies.  We also try out different games and share our adventures with each other either by joining the game, or by posting about our new discoveries.  Many of us play CoH and CoV together and have a Supergroup (guild) there. 

On our forum we have a section for talking about new games, another section for SWG discussions, and a general forum just to shoot the breeze and keep up with each other's lives.  I found that this really helped us to not lose so much when our SWG world unraveled.  Community was one of the big pluses in SWG, and we found a way to maintain that .

Also, I was mainly a Master Doc when I played SWG and really got hooked on team combat and mass chaos .  The game that I've moved to really does a fantastic job when it comes to team interdependence, and exciting large scale battles.  I get the same thrill out of this new game that I used to get in SWG.   Some aspects of SWG aren't present in the new environment though, so I do grieve those losses.

I think grief is the best way to describe my feelings about some of my SWG losses.  The loss of virtual identity and accomplishment are two big ones for me.  There was a loss of trust in others for a while too I suppose in that I felt let down and misled by SOE/LA in ways.  Grief for me is a mixture of sadness, shock and anger I think.

The shock wore off some time ago, so I don't find I need to "do" much with that.  The sadness well, I try to acknowledge it I guess and find a healthy outlet for it.  Then I remember and am thankful for the fun experiences I had in Galaxies and all the excellent friends I met.  Then I reinvest my emotional energy into those friendships, and new ones in my new online adventures .  And ya I do stuff with friends and family in the real world also lol

The anger part of it I suppose has been the trickiest.  I think it helps that I pray both to be forgiven for things, and to be forgiving.  It also helps that a site like MMORPG allows me and others to actually talk about most of our thoughts and feelings with people who have been through similar experiences.  I'm really quite thankful for that.  Half the stuff I've posted on this site (probably more) would have been locked or deleted if I posted in on the SOE boards I'm sure.

I've also communicated directly via email and forum posts with people from SOE that I felt had something to do with the losses I felt.  Some of them have responded in ways that I found helpful, acknowledging my loss, acknowledging mistakes were made, owning their part in that and saying that they wish they hadn't done it, and won't do it again.  That doesn't make everything magically better, but it does help with the grief and anger I find.  It also helps to see some people at SOE trying to restore some of what was taken away within the parameters they're given.  I'm glad for example that friends who still play SWG will get to interact with pets again, that they've been given camping back, that healers can heal again effectively, and that entertainers are getting some buffs back to make them more relevant.  I've had to work hard to see that although everything isn't being restored the way I think it should be, some people are trying to compromise within limits that have apparently been imposed on them.  When I look at it that way, it feels better.

Some people I'm sure read posts like this and wonder, "jeez this is just a game, what's the big deal?"  Well I can understand that, and I"m sure for a lot of people that's all SWG was and is.  To some of us though, it was a chance to live out our childhood dreams.  That was a very powerful emotional experience.  When things were taken away, it kind of felt like someone messed with our childhood dreams, not "just a video game."  Also, I began playing just after surgery that left me unable to walk for quite some time.  So in a way, I was using my Galaxies experience to help me cope with that situation.  Others I know have very stressful jobs and the like and would log in to SWG to have a momentary break from the stress of real life.  When their refuge from stress became a source of stress, I think it was a bitter pill to swallow.  For me for example, I have been in law enforcement and counselling.  I was on an assignment for the last 5 years locating missing children, laying charges in relation to those cases, and facilitating or providing trauma counselling for children and their families. 

Anyways, that's my "journey" so to speak.  A lot of stuff has helped me deal with my grief and get to a better place.  If any of that's helpful to anyone else, well that'd be cool.  If anyone else wants to share what's been helpful to them, I'd love to hear about it

Peace,

Arc

 

AfroPuff

Hi, my name is Fou, and I'm a SWGaholic .  *

I think its healthy to move on.  Like most here I don't like what happened, don't think of it as excusable in any way, and I still miss the original game, but I also don't feel wounded in quite the same way - at least not any longer. Why?

• I've got new hobbies, and rediscovered old ones.
• I spend more time with friends and family  - (thanks NGE!) 
• The realization that  60% of what kept was hope for the game's potential; however, it's now clear that this project was never going to manifest that potential, even from day one, it was doomed. It was broken even at launch. Broken in a way that I liked, but broken nonetheless.
• I am well comforted by the fact that for nearly two years, I did have a wonderful time in a Star Wars world.  Nothing they do now can take those memories away.
• Eventually, my Jedi did what any Jedi during this time should have done - die. It's not bad RP when you look at it that way.

I loved it, I'll miss it.  But letting go is fine by me.  I hang around now just to gape at the wreckage.

 

 

 

*not intended to make light of anyone's situation, whether RL, or SWG related, or poke fun at anyone's expense by this joke.

 

ArcAngel3

Originally posted by AfroPuff


Hi, my name is Fou, and I'm a SWGaholic .  *
I think its healthy to move on.  Like most here I don't like what happened, don't think of it as excusable in any way, and I still miss the original game, but I also don't feel wounded in quite the same way - at least not any longer. Why?

I've got new hobbies, and rediscovered old ones.
I spend more time with friends and family  - (thanks NGE!) 
The realization that  60% of what kept was hope for the game's potential; however, it's now clear that this project was never going to manifest that potential, even from day one, it was doomed. It was broken even at launch. Broken in a way that I liked, but broken nonetheless.
I am well comforted by the fact that for nearly two years, I did have a wonderful time in a Star Wars world.  Nothing they do now can take those memories away.
Eventually, my Jedi did what any Jedi during this time should have done - die. It's not bad RP when you look at it that way.

I loved it, I'll miss it.  But letting go is fine by me.  I hang around now just to gape at the wreckage.
 
 
 
*not intended to make light of anyone's situation, whether RL, or SWG related, or poke fun at anyone's expense by this joke.
 

Sounds good bro .  Btw the first time I saw the train wreck pic, I laughed myself silly lol.  Thanks for that.

Arc

LovrNoFightr

I think a lot of people can relate to the feeling that SWG pre cu was "more than a game".
What I'd like to know is do the NGE players feel the same?
I, for one don't think so.

hoz69

I haven't really found any way to cope.  Not that I am in any pain, but I can't honestly say there is a day that goes by without me wanting to log in.  I understand it can never be how it was, and I don't honestly think they can give it back if they reverted back to pre-NGE.  It would be tainted.