Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
For those of you who keep repeating "This is just a game"
duncan_922
Member Posts: 1,670
Please take a moment to read this. This is an example of why this is more than a game to some people and also a great example of the great community this once was. This is only a forum repost and I take no credit whatsoever on writing it or beign a part of this story. Just read it and thought it needed to be shared:
We've all seen them. Perhaps they were running around dath in newbie cloths, going overt with just master marksman because, well, they don't know any better. This is for all the people we've met that maybe didn't understand the game as well as we did, who had never heard of the forums, but would have been too scared to try. For those that never knew what legendary mind poisons were, who skilled up as far as they could running missions without armor and only using newbie weapons, who never begged or asked for help, because they weren't trying to be uber or leet, they just wanted to have fun. This is for the forgettable.
My story begins in theed cantina:
She was definitely forgettable. A hundred people may pass right in front of her, and none would notice. Her cloths so poorly matched that she was almost painful to look at. I still remember that yellow jacket *shudders*. She was an entertainer, working on dancer and musician, although she was not what you would call... entertaining. Silently tooting on her slitherhorn, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. Most would assume she was AFK.
She wasn't.
I sent her a few tells, she never replied, but something was different about this one... so I approached her and greeted her in spatial. At last she responded. I asked her some questions, and it became readily apparent that she was most likely very young. Her words were simple, it seemed if she didn't see your chat bubble, she would miss what you said, perhaps she didn't know to look in the chat box at the bottom. I asked her how long she had played, she replied about a month. I asked her what skills she had, she was almost novice dancer and musician... and she still used the slitherhorn. I quickly got her some more level appropriate instruments and asked her to trade so I could give them to her. She didn't know how. What followed was an hour and a half of walking her through precicely how to use the trade window, making sure I spoke in spatial because that's all she saw, giving her exact steps, making sure she was looking at the exact right thing before telling her to click it. It took quite a few attempts, but she finally got it, and now she could play the proper instrument.
Lermar had learned how to trade.
A few days passed of her being in the cantina and us talking, getting her a few new cloths and such, then one day I came into theed, she was online, but nowhere to be seen... after a few hours of frantic searching she showed back up in theed, quite black bar'd from fighting, I guess she wanted to learn to hunt. So I helped her get a set of hunting gear, including armor, and some better weapons, and traded them to her. Some of you must be thinking "oh great, trading again, that must have taken forEVER" but that was the great thing about Lermar.
She may have been slow, but she wasn't stupid.
I never once had to teach her to do the same thing twice. Sure the first time took forever, but once she got it, she got it. Speaking of taking forever, after the hunting incident I decided to get her to put me on her friends list, so I could /FindFriend her as needed, that took a while, but again, when it came time to add more people to her list later, she did it with ease.
I finally decided it was time she learned how to use tells. I decided some secluded area would be the best place to do this, so people wouldn't see me so simply laying out how to use something like tells and think badly of her and perhaps tease her (we all know people like that were around in far too large a number). In the park in Coronet was where she finally figured out the chat box and tells. Yeah it took a while again, but I was finally able to go out of spatial range, and I could talk to her, and she could respond to me. She also learned how to use group chat and e-mail that day!
Now it was time for lermar to get a house. I bought her a small round naboo and walked her through placing it, by this point she was starting to pickup new ideas more easily, each time it took less time to teach her. I gave her a modest amount of furniture and showed her how to drop things and move them around. At this point she had a supprise for me! She brought me to the other, empty room and began emptying her inventory on the ground. Seems in her hunting expeditions she had learned how to loot, and had quite a bit of it. (for a while she had a bad habbit of attacking "secs" which were the CorSec troopers wandering around c-net. Needless to say at her combat ability this was not the best of ideas, so I quickly introduced her to meatlumps) After she dropped everything on the floor she told me that "the goodie are for u", so there's a new term for you, it's not loot, it's goodies. Sure most of it was junk, but she did have a Glass Top Table Adhesive in there, which I promplty took and... made her a glass top table! From then on she would put whatever goodies she got in her house, send me an e-mail and tell me to come by and pick them up. I'd sort through it, junk the junk, and give back anything usable for her.
Shortly after this, Lermar decided it was time to come clean with me. She asked me to follow her one day, and led me to a quiet part of Theed where she told me a bit more about herself. In the past when we had asked her age, at first she had said 7, then later she told another friend of ours she was 4. She was a 50+ year old mother of 2, living in the suburbs of london, working in a factory that makes lawn care tools. The game was actually one of her sons, whom she was living with. He was at first not overly supportive of her playing the game, likely he thought she couldn't handle it. I never was told what her handicap was, if she had one, but I'm fairly sure she was at least mildly mentally retarded, and from the description she gave of her job, it sounded like one suited for the handicapped.
If you've read this far, you're likely wondering why the heck I did all this. I had nothing to gain, all she did was cost me money and a LOT of time teaching her the simplest of things. The reason I did all this was because when you saw her play, when you saw her finally figure something out and get it, while she may have been 50, it was kinda like watching a child learn to walk. She had an enthusiasm about her and about the game that you just don't see every day. Yeah the game was hard for her, but she put in the effort she had to in order to have fun with it. And she truely did have fun, she told me quite often.
When I met her she did not have JTL, and I had decided against recommending it, as I thought it would be a bit complex for her.
She got it anyway.
One day I log on and there she is, asking me to show her how to fly. Now you'd think with all the other troubles she had, that JTL would be even more. You'd be wrong. This girl was born to fly. After I showed her how to take off and land, and where to go to get her pilot missions, she was off! Her house started having less and less land goodies, and more and more space goodies. One day she logged on and took off into space. While she was flying around up there, she sent me an e-mail that was something like: "i love to fly in my ship -lermar". A few minutes later I saw her go offline... I knew something had happened. She logged on a few minutes later, at which point I recieved this: "my ship is broke, it won't go, plz help" and I knew what had happened, she had lost connection while dog fighting, and her ship had been destroyed, and by the time she came back, the game had auto landed her, she didn't have a chance to repair in space. I tried walking her through using repair kits, no good, since her skill had gone up quite a bit, she was ready for a new ship anyway, so I went out and got her a new chassis and parts to make a new ship, but she just couldn't figure out how to get them loaded. Finally she logged off in frustration, and came back the next day, where I continued trying to show her how to load. I was trying to show her how to load her booster, walking her thru step by step, I told her "tell me if you get it loaded" then for minutes... silence. I asked her "is everything ok lermar?" then all of a sudden she wasn't there any more, her location: Naboo Space Sector. Seems in her excitement in figuring it out, she forgot to tell me she got it. Once again she was flying around in hog heaven up there, her new ship so much better than her old one, she was loving life again.
Lermar kept on going and learning. She experienced a lot of things. She got a pet gurrcat, she got a few droids, combat and entertainer, she learned how to use them all. She got a bigger house and decorated it quite intricately, she learned how to move things around and up and rotate them slightly using the /move and /rotate commands. She had candles on her tables, posters on her walls, I'm being honest when I say, if you saw her house, you'd be impressed at the detail. Eventually her house got too full to keep her goodies there, so she got a second house, Lermar's goodie, where she would store stuff for me when I wasn't around. She would farm ship parts for me, which I'd go sell for her and give her 80% of the money, and keep 20% for me. I'd have given her 100%, but I knew she appreciated that now she could help me in return for all the help I gave her.
Lermar loved the game, but unfortunately, the game did not love her... You see, Lermar was pre-CU, and when the CU hit, she didn't take it too well...
They claimed that the CU was supposed to be easier to use, more "accessable". They never bothered to ask Lermar what she thought. A 50 year old handicapped woman thought that the original SWG was great, but the first time she logged on after the CU was the last... I tried to show her how to respec, unfortunately this was a hurdle she could not overcome....
I don't know what she did, maybe she was on the skill screen, maybe she pushed a wrong button, I don't know, but I do know I watched her "level" drop from 14 to 1 before I could say "STOP!"
And so many months of hard work were gone. Lermar stood there, skillless and broken hearted. She logged off. I petitioned the CSR's on her behalf to restore her skills to what they were before the upgrade, so she could try again, and supprisingly enough, they said they would. I say they said they would, not they did, because I never got a chance to find out. A few days later I noticed her houses were gone, I checked my guild roster, there was no Lermar, and I never got a member left guild message. Only one thing doesn't give you the member left guild message... deletion.
Lermar is gone.
I must say I do miss her sometimes. Yeah she could be a pain, and there were a few times I'd see her log on and cringe, but her whole hearted enthusasm about the game, hearing her tell me how much she enjoyed it, watching her do things that we both probably thought she'd never do gave a fresh outlook on things that you just can't find every day. I can honestly say I believe that when she played, she tried harder than any of us that will be reading these words. It was difficult for her, she had to give herself 100% to playing because she likely didn't have everything going for her that those of us here can claim. She was a true joy to watch grow and develop.
I miss you Lermar...
Some of you may think that I'm writing this as a form of brag, to say "look what I did, see how great I am!" and if you think that, you're totally missing the point. For over 6 months I've kept this to myself, and I only write this now because of one thing... What was that old saying? Oh yeah...
It takes two to tango
You see for however hard I worked, Lermar worked 10 times harder. At least. She was the one who made everything of herself, I just pointed her in the right direction. If anybody deserves praise it is her.
Every toon has thier story, thier own face behind the character. Even the forgettables...
SOE knows what you like... You don't!
And don't forget... I am forcing you to read this!
Comments
I think any gamer that has played for some time and been willing to help others has had a similar story to this. Anyhow, I am failing to see your point with your title. For the most part, the people on these boards getting offended by the "just a game" quotes do not fall within the 1 in 10,000 gamers where the game is truely more than a form of entertainment. Thanks for sharing though.
PS. This post felt like it should be attached to some sort of SWG chain letter spam I receive in my email.
Well it is "Just a game"
Anyways atm its unplayable, shit happens
---------------------------------------------
Don't click here...no2
If its not a game, then what is it? a moose?
People who play the "it's just a game" card are being offensively patronizing in the extreme. They're taking a "superior" position to those upset about "the game," in this case SWG. They assume those upset about the changes to SWG are investing too much of themselves into something that's trivial and unimportant in the greater scheme of things, and that they--those who know it IS just a game, and who of course have rich and involving personal lives outside of online gaming--are above the game and those who enjoy it, and that this entitles them to give us advice: "take it easy, man. It's just a game." They're playing Yoda to our padawans, if you like.
What a load of patronizing, self important crap.
Let's take a look at the assumptions behind this put down one at a time:
(1) The person claiming it's just a game assumes that those upset about what's happened to SWG are spending too much of their time complaining about it. First of all, I can assure such people that I can post a message about SWG on a board like this and keep functioning just fine in my personal life. I'm really quite competent, you see--I can type messages on my lunch break, in between spells of work, etc. So it's not as though I'm laboring over this activity for a big part of my day. Second, even if I am taking a lot of my time posting, what business is it of yours, you self righteous, officious twit? Fuck off. My time is mine to do with as I please. If you don't want to read what I'm writing, don't read it. Problem solved for both of us.
(2) The person claiming it's just a game assumes that games are objects unworthy of concern or emotional investment. Try telling that to a passionate football fan. To a person who has a deep interest in chess, and who is genuinely good at it. Life is composed of many passions--for the people you love, for your career, yes. But also for hobbies, for games, for other forms of recreation. When one of those outlets is stolen from you, as SWG was from many of its most passionate vets, it hurts, and hurts damn hard. We've got every right in the world to bitch about it, to warn others about the bastards who did this to us, to our game. If you don't care about it, fine, but don't assume that your lack of concern is the appropriate reaction to what's happened. Our anger is just as defensible, even if you can't wrap your limited mind around it. It's true that the loss of a game is not as wounding as the loss of a loved one, but it is a loss, and grieving over it, and feeling anger about it, are perfectly natural. If you think we're overdoing it, again, there's a solution--piss off. Imagine how you'd feel if stranger came into the funeral of a loved one and started telling you all to get over it: the person who died was just some dude. The degree of grief in each situation--loss of game, loss of loved one--is going to be less in one situation and more in the other, of course. But the basic reaction in each situation is the same, and so you should be able to see why telling us "it's just a game" is so outrageously insulting.
(3) The person claiming it's just a game assumes he or she is superior in terms of emotional development, life experience, wisdom, etc., to the people who don't know it's just a game, and that this superiority entitles him or her to offer advice to those poor, deluded fools who are getting so bent out of shape over a triviality. This is the worst assumption of all. In almost every case, you know nothing about those you're so santimoniously wagging your finger at. You don't know what their lives are like, what their passions are, or how they compare to your own. So get off your high horse. And even if you are superior, realize that it's patronizing and insulting in the extreme to offer your wisdom to those who don't know you from Adam. If I need help getting over an addiction or obsession, I sure as hell won't want it from someone I met on a bulletin board. I'll get it from friends, family, a professional. Your garage sale psychoanalysis is neither wanted nor appreciated. So don't offer it.
So think about it before you make this claim in future--"it's only a game." You're saying a lot of things in that comment that are deeply insulting to those you direct it at.
a duck
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
a duck
Nope... an Albatross.
And that damn fool $OE KILLED IT.
Shayde - SWG (dead)
Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled
I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
I'm sorry Chastity, but you really deserve this:
Take it easy, it's only a forum post.
Props Duncan.
It was a good forum post and, for the "it's just a game" crew, well I guess they'll never get it.
Accept them for what they are, let the anger move through you and move on to better things.
If you think it's more than a game then your abit sad tbh :
Internet friends are just for people who are too ugly to get laid
---------------------------------------------
Don't click here...no2
I met my wife through the internet. I know a lot of people that have done so too, including a few that post here. If you cannot see that the internet is another medium of interaction, you're the pathetic one.
And to be honest, people that play MMORPGs and post on forums aren't exactly the Coolest of Dudes! Guess what that makes you?!
SOE knows what you like... You don't!
And don't forget... I am forcing you to read this!
Nice post.
My wife and I play DAoC most nights (she's over 50); she's never played any computer game but is really hooked. It taken awhile to get her competent and she never quite gets the finer details.
But we have fun and met some nice people - what more do you need in a game?
Its just a game, games are ment to be enjoyed. If you dont enjoy it then move on. Find a new game, or a hobby, join your local gym or something. Its been three months since the NGE hit and youre still here, how long are you lot going to cry about this anyway? It should be evident by now that the NGE is here to stay.
If the NGE had such a huge impact on your life then.. ugh, im glad im not you.
_____________________
I am the flipside of the coin on which the troll and the fanboy are but one side.
a duck
Nope... an Albatross.
And that damn fool $OE KILLED IT.
heh - they have done the impossible, guess that makes SOE mighty.
Hello Duncan_922,
Welcome to MMORPG.com (
)
Ignore those who do not get the point of your post. There are those of us who DO get your post, and enjoyed it! I am very glad you posted it!
There are tons of stories simular to yours. The end result is SWG, LA, and SOE, have gotten rid of the vets, the quality SWG community, the longtime hardcore fans. They did this without any effort at any forthought. And after it happened, they ignore it, refuse to see it, etc....
Here is one of the most famous MMORPG stories which relates to the main title of your thread - that mmorpgs re MORE than "just a game." Real life lives ARE influenced in MMORPGs. Forever influenced.
"A Story About A Tree"
A story about why online games are not just games. This essay has been widely reprinted.
http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/comments.shtml
IMHO not only was that lady's life influenced - so was yours. Her's was influenced in a good way, and so was yours. No stand alone game has the chance of giving both you and her the unique experiences you both had - that interaction only possible in MMORPGs. Which does indeed make it more than "just a game."
---------------------------
BTW, there is some intresting history unique to SWG that every SWG vet knows about. More tons of weight supporting the FACT that mmorpgs are more than "just a game". In the old SWG forums, there was a very, very, famous poster. He was very well known by the entire SWG community. He even role played having a concession stand, and giving out virtual T-Shirts to SWG fans. I even did some programming work for him.
This was back in late 1999, and on through out the year 2000. Back then every SWG forum poster littterally knew every poster. Back then the SWG game DEVs would play against the fans in other online games (like Cosimic Rift ) He got to play early SWG alpha, and beta 1. He later died in a car crash. Every single one of the hundreds, thousands, of posters in the old SWG forums, as well as every single SWG game DEV was in shock. The link to the newspaper story was posted. His real life family and friends posted. The lead DEV, Holocron aka Raph Koster, later announced an in game monument, and tribute, would be made to him.
So yes, all MMORPGs are more than just a game! Ignore those who fail to see this, refuse to see this, and/or even pretend to not see this. You keep on doing what you do, play the way you do, have the fun you do. And same goes for everyone else too!!
-Personal Website (A Work still in progress):
http://www.geocities.com/xplororor/index.html
-AC, AC2, AO, EQ, Freelancer, SWG:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor
-More SWG:
http://community.webshots.com/user/captain_sica_xol
-More EQ, Dungeon Siege, *UXO*, Diablo II:Lords of Destruction:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01
-EverQuest II, Horizons:
http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_eq2archives01
-EVE Online !!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/sica_xol_archives01
-DAoC
http://community.webshots.com/user/sica_xol_archives02
-Coming sooner or later... CoH, WoW, MXO, UO, GW, As3, RS
I think there's a fundamental difference in perception here which is unlikely to be bridged. I am quite capable of understanding the arguments put forward by those of you who are determined to believe that MMOs are more than "just games", I just disagree with them. The story printed on Koster's site is interesting. As I read it I was strongly reminded of a book I read on the subject of "Conspicuous Compassion" - a relatively recent phenomenon where throngs of "mourners" will throw themselves into fits of "grief" over the deaths of people they have never met before but who they believe they know through the media. What is really interesting is what such outpourings may tell us about ourselves and the fragmented societies we live in, but that's another discussion entirely and I'm not going to reproduce the arguments here.
As far as I am concerned, MMOs are (by any reasonably objective description) just games. If you choose to attach any greater importance to them then that is your business as are your reasons for doing so. I have a brother who follows a football (soccer) team religously. I can see that it gives him a lot of enjoyment and also a sense of belonging to a community of fans who share his passion. However, he invests so much of himself in it that it can dictate his emotional state. If his team wins, he his ecstatic. If they lose, he can be miserable for days. Personally, I think that the negatives outweigh the positives and that it's unhealthy to attach too much importance to things that have no real significance and over which you do not have any control. That is just my own opinion and I'm not attempting to be "offensive" "patronizing" or "superior" to any whose opinions differ.
Mandolin, thanks for posting here and I am glad you did. Out of the people with the point of view that this is a game, you were basically the only one that was able to approach it with maturity. You make some excellent points, and like you say, this is highly subjective. Some people "get it" or "feel it" while others don't.
I've always find people like your brother silly, because they're so into a "game" that they are not even participating in, just spectating! But that's what he likes and he should be respected. The way I see it, we're all allowed to have a little vice. Your brother's is soccer, mine was SWG, etc. Our vices, as long as they are not harmful to anyone (including ourselves) should be respected.
Although I don't want to get into a religious debate, the same could be said, for example, about religion. A church is just a building, a priest is just a man. So really, it all depends on the person, but they should all be respected.
SOE knows what you like... You don't!
And don't forget... I am forcing you to read this!
My 2 cents on this is to point out that some believe (such as myself) that negative things or aspects always yield positive results if you know how to look at it or find them and also realize sometimes you may not see them but it doesnt mean the positive result isnt there. I would also not deem it unhealthy to attach emotions to sports, games, cars, religion, pets, computers, a childs artsy schoolwork, etc since we are creatures of emotions and these are things that make human culture vibrant with influence and diversity, its who and what we are.
This negativity that surrounds this game will yield positive results in many related areas IMHO as people are speaking up about it and stating what makes them unhappy rather than detaching themselves from it and shutting up. If everyone was to suddenly detach themselves from everything they consider non significant progress as we know it would severely diminish as things of real significance often are different to each individual and that just might mean no soccer for one to be a fan of or care about to any degree as well as MMOs and a great many other things that make up our cultures.
PIRATE LORDS
Yes yes.. its still just a game. Something you enjoy after a few hours of work or when you have some spare time in the evening. Its not rocket science people, if you dont enjoy it then go to www.mmorpg.com or pc.ign.com and find another game. Good luck to you.
_____________________
I am the flipside of the coin on which the troll and the fanboy are but one side.
I used to think this way too my friend. In fact, that last week or so I had a raging debate with Kai on this very forum arguing back and forth about the very fact, and it's very hard to argue against me especially when it comes down to semantics. I said it was just a game and Kai said it was more. I think I won the argument.
Well I was wrong. I had an extreme change of heart, due to a post by duncan, but the point was really driven home by a post on the Vanguard official forums. A post by Brad McQuaid, someone I really look up to, about the passing of beloved fantasy artist and close personal friend of his Keith Parkinson, art director for the upcoming Vanguard.
http://vanguardsoh.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26622
There's a link to the thread. It is a very moving post which got me very choked up, probably due, in part, to my Dad passing away this past christmas.
The fact is, these are far more than just games. These are places created by amazingly talented people, who in most if not all cases, are very passionate about what they do. These places mean a lot to us, if only on a subconscious level. The people who make these games pour themselves out, toiling in anonymity so that we might get to spread our wings and be the people we want to be for a time and forget our sometimes grim realities just by pressing "play".
Sure they are games, but dig a little deeper than the surface and they are infinitely much more to us as people.
Going to get personal here ;
In beta we had a buddy that passed on it affected many members of the community then so much in fact that soe representatives passed condolences on to their family and made a flag for them outside bestine
I had surgery during beta told a few of my pals and got some flowers at the hospital from them, that super touched me
Then latter on i had another major surgery which took time to recover from, i started getting calls daily from guild members and cards from them as well that kept me cheered up and kept me going during the really bad times
We had a friend in the guild have an accident, we as a guild pitched in for their account and expences for a wee bit till he got back on his feet
After our hurricane experance, there were shortages, guild members drove from out of town to bring us bags of food, which helped us till stores re opened and things became re supplied
We became more then just voice chat folks that we played with after work school etc but more like an extended online family that grew to care for one another
When many of them moved on to another game i eventualy went with them and see the same neat stuff they did in swg continue else where
For me it was the people that made the place very special and kept me playing long time after the game lost it's shine