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In game ethics, morals, and friendships.
thej6m
Member Posts: 38
I was just listening to this week's podcast and the story of a young man who played Everquest and its possible link to his suicide was discussed. The hosts also spoke on how "forum trolls" attacked his mother for whatever reason. I've also seen videos of raid parties in WOW "ganking" an in game funeral. My question to the MMO community is; do modern ethics and morals apply in an MMO? Are guilds made up of just a bunch of selfish jerks attempting to get for themselves the best ingame loot or are they a tool for making real friendships? I hate to admit it but I've seen and heard FAR more stories about instances of ingame hatred, bigitry, and cruelness then stories of goodwill and compasion. Should we as online gamers attempt to do a better job of treating our new in game friends better?
Comments
I think the problem is, people dont care about other peoples feelings and go on an MMO just to bring hate because in real life they have small penis's. Er I mean they have no way to vent there immaturity and are picked on at school... or somthing..
Anyways, I really feel that alot of people take game communities too personal. I think its great if someone is able to have a friendly game relationship with someone, even talk to them online for a long time. But in the end, its still just a game.
Well, the mother totally blamed a video game for her son's death, conviently leaving out the bad parenting involved.
So yeah, she took some well deserved heat for her spin.
If it's a RP Funeral from an invented Char, oh well...the Gankers were Jerks, but that's (I-Net-)Life.
If it's a Funeral for the RL Guy who commited suicide...errr, then that must be a bunch of weirdos...
And the Guy who killed himself because his mother was being insulted in a Forum? I mean...what the hell, get a life o_O
Seriously, I tend to only stay in Guilds where it's Members are nice towards each other, if not, I just leave the Guild...
It's a GAME...noone forces you to stay with a bunch of jerks...
So no, I don't think RL Ethics should be applied in Games...but well, that's me, and I think RL Ethics shouldn't even apply to RL...
After all, we all are nothing more than a Bunch of Molecules and a Brain, that creates the illusion that we can actually decide what we want to do next...guess what, we can't.
You will find every personality type present in an MMO.
If you are looking for suicidal depressives, or you want to attend online Funerals in PvP zones (and then make a big self righteous ass of yourself when someone PvP's you), you will find those kind of people to play with.
Likewise you will find hardcore players who's primary social focus is to find the most skilled players with which to hunt loot and you will also find players who just want to lark about and crack jokes.
I'm more attracted to the kinky talking girlies myself. Each to his own and all departments catered for.
When I am in a game I do my best to be helpful and nice. Today I helped someone in Dungeon Runners by giving them a crossbow and helping them with info in the game. I will probably help more tonight, it makes you feel better and it makes the person feel better. If I play any MMORPG you can bet that I will be helping people and not hating on people.
BTW if anyone would like to join me in Dungeon Runners message Grumbelly and he will run to you with his fat belly. I just can't decide to jump into Everquest 2 or wait for Age of Conan. =/
If I could become a Guide in Everquest 2 I would go there in a heart beat. I have always wanted to be a guide cause as you can tell I am always trying to help. I am rambling, and now I have made myself want to find out more about guide programs. I am off to find out more on the internet!!
Be cool to people, and try and stay cool that way you never have to regret making someone feel bad. Don't take what ya got granted because some people never get to feel happy. We get to play these great MMOs and surf a good site. Be thankful for what ya got and next time ya feel down imagine a fat sea otter waddling with a pillow and a night cap. Bam! smiles!
I tend to laugh at the whole forum rants that go on; personally, it's a sign that someone's taking a game way too seriously.
As for in-game antics, I think players are free to do as they will as long as they adhere to game mechanics and rules. I've had a number of 'evil' characters, where I had no problem ganking or stealing from fellow players. Granted I don't do it excessively, and never with any animosity.
I'd hope that any player who begins to feel any real negativity in a game would either take a break or seek out another community. Unfortunately, every game has it's share of smacktards (I was just joking in the LoTR forum about this). If you're going to play MMOs, players need to be prepared for those that are out to grief.
The best revenge anyone can give in life is to live well. So ... in this case the best revenge is the enjoy the game and spread the joy. : )
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
Plenty of good deeds about just they aren't made such a big deal as bad events. Also yeah there is a bit of downfall with mmorpgs in that people either don't take them and the people in it seriously(aka the funeral) or its taken too seriously. (aka loot) But you can find people who are maturer and calmer ingame
Who in their right minds takes an online funeral in a PvP zone seriously.
Can you imagine that happening in a Battlefield server? "Don't shoot we're having a funeral", Lmao.
If only they had thought to hold their online funeral in an online graveyard. Maybe they will hold the next one under a raid boss. (And then sue Blizzard when it eats them). No matter where you go in life there will always be monkeys.
bleh, this is 1 of the few things i hate about MMORPG, people take it wayy too far
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
It is unfortunate but how can we expect to see anything else when devs design such level grinding games where the only reward is to deck your character out for uberness? The only out-dated social constructs of the game are guilds, but even these have little else to do but organize for the mass grinds that most games design for now. This doesn't make any sense to me. The ture potential of MMOs imho is to let players interact in a dynamic world that they can affect and change for better or worse. Sure we will still see some of the 'worse' but when players are given the freedom and power to try and change the world for the better, I think we will see people banding together far more often for this purpose.
Right now there are no such possibilities in most designs. Banding together in large groups is simply a reaction to arbitrary content designed for 40 plus players with the same end goal of getting uber loot which now has to be bickered about before alloted to one player. Instead why not let those 40 players build up a town through cooperation and team-work and then when an uber boss dragon comes to destroy it they come together and step up to save what they have earned through their cooperative interaction and even if that dragon doesn't drop anything of value, the players have saved something of far more worth, the community that THEY have built together.
IronOre - Forging the Future
One of the chaps I used to play WoW with is a 16 year old wheelchair bound lad. He was permanently online.
He wasn't however the kind of obsessive that allowed himself to bite people or complain about loots or fall out with people about in-game antics of others.
Understanding why other people are behaving anti-socially is not the same as volunteering to put up with it. Basic good manners and social skills, including tolerance of others is every bit as relevant in an MMO as anywhere else.
Perhaps even more so.
The friends you live with or meet daily; in school or down the pub or at work will still be there after you fall out with them. Your inability to completely divorce yourself from them provides you with the opportunity to make things up or re-establish the relationship on a different footing at a later stage.
Online, if you fall out with your guildmaster or questing buddy, /ignore or a change of game/server instantly ends that relationship forever. On the internet you need to be a little more sensetive and tolerant. It's also not smart in my opinion to place too much faith in any relationship based on bonds this weak. All it takes is one wrong comment. One hissy fit. One, seemingly little, selfish decision and whammo. No more friend.
Falling out with your online gaming buddy has got to be one of the more frequent reasons for people giving up on a game. It's all too easy to place your self in a position where this kind of event can be rather hurtful in the "heartbreak" style of hurt. I think it's best to maintain a sense of humor, anytime my obsession gets so strong as this goes out the window....... and I find myself snappy or annoyedby other players, I like to take a little sanity break. A holiday from the game to re-adjust my perspective, to find a little slice of life offline.
Maintain your safety nets. Don't put your eggs all in one basket. Internet friendships are the most fragile kind of all.