Of games, and of gamers Part II

Ever since I stopped gaming, I've become quite preachy about gaming. When I used to play, I used to go by the quote "Everything I know in life I learned through playing Ragnarok Online." Now, I'm advising my friends to control their gaming impulses and do something productive instead. Double standards, you may cry, and perhaps you are even justified in saying that. There is a reason for this change. Read on.

This blog post was actually triggered by a RO text file I have on PC, in which I've copy pasted a few lines from some random guy's signature in some forum I visited long ago:

"Those who accuse us for being mindless gamer freaks are nothing but naive human beings. They think they know us, and they judge us, but in reality, they know nothing about our world. They are not aware that we are mathematicians; we compute to manage our financial assets and create the greatest character build throughout the whole Midgard. They are not aware of the flawless hand-eye coordination that we possess and use in order to battle against enemies that lurk around us. They are not aware of the relationships that we bridge, and that we mix trust, honesty, loyalty, and camaraderie (friendship) into it. They are not aware that we are artists and poets who bring creativity to brighten up our own little community. They are not aware that we are tacticians who are the best in developing strategies for wars against our foes. They are not aware that we do live to the fullest, just not in the way they, the society, think we should. We should not let them bring us down. This is a campaign to keep our passion burning despite what others might say! ROK on guys!"

All in all, this is something every gamer can identify and agree with. Here's where I deviate: A virtual world which has all the good aspects of a real world one can expect in a game, is still a virtual world.

If you say your reality (you, me, the Universe) actually exists and is not in itself an illusion- let us not get into that now by the way- then, does it not make more sense for you to enter one world fully (reality) than have a leg each on two different worlds (reality and fantasy).

For the sake of argument, let us assume that we cannot explore either world to our heart's desire in this life. So, choosing between a game and reality is akin to choosing between a 10% progress bar in two games and a 25% progress bar in one. This one game has to be played whether you want to or not, it is the game called life. So why not stick to just one reality than fragment your time with multiple worlds.

I can find an obvious counter point to my own argument: Your reality does not encourage your unique creativity, humour, computational skills and the friendships you formed. A fantasy game which brings all these collectively to the table as well as entertains, is an enriching real-life experience which will stand you in good stead as you develop as a human being.

True. I've been lucky enough to have had this experience too. That's why I don't denounce gaming or subscribe to any of the social stigmas concerning gaming. My approach (the reason I stopped playing) was from an economic perspective. If, instead of playing, I use that time to build my career, I'll have a more fulfilling real life. Once I gain financial independence, my whole life is in my hands. I can probably enjoy much better games too, after retirement. That made sense to me.

Instead of advancing two progress bars side by side, I'm advancing just one, a bit faster. That's just my choice. As Robert Frost says-

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. "
(The Road Not Taken)

UPDATE: Just got this comment from the person I took the quote from:
"Hello, I am the writer of the passage you quoted. Isn't it funny, I randomly remembered that I wrote this a while back, so I tried looking for it, but I couldn't find it on my hard drive. I took my chance and googled a few lines I could remember, then I stumbled upon your blog. Huh. LOL. Just a few words from me: Kudos to you for choosing to advance only one progress bar! :) Yay! I sooooo wanted to do that before, to quit, and just quit, but I really couldn't. So hats off to you! I guess my life is so just so intertwined with the game that it's virtually impossible. Heck, I even met my future husband in that game. (Seriously.) So this is what I decided to pursue: BALANCE. I admit, I wrote that passage a while back when I was less mature. However, I am happy to report that even though I am still playing the game, I am also pursuing a very successful real life career (which pays for my car, my lattes, and my stilettos! lol!). Anyway, enough of my babbling. To sum it up, glad you found your happy ground. :) -tari saralonde P.S. No, I'm not a random "guy", I'm a random "girl". :)"

Deepavali

The grandest festival celebrated in India: Deepavali. Fondly referred to as the festival of lights. Unfortunately, the grandeur associated with this festival is falling short in cities. City slickers are far removed from the roots of their religion and hence view it with disfavour. To office goers, all deepavali means is a two day holiday. People don't seem to appreciate this festival as much as they should.

Here are the main reasons people give to not celebrate deepavali:
1. Bursting crackers causes pollution.
2. I don't believe in festivals.

I'll address point no. 2 first. All humans celebrate festivals. For instance, did you know that Olympics was originally a festival of the Greeks? Now it is celebrated the world over. By watching the sporting events, you are celebrating a festival. All sports started as festivals. The icing on the cake is, if you're into sports, you are celebrating someone else's festival while scorning your own. And you probably do not know how Deepavali originated.

Deepavali is our festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. To many, it now symbolizes the triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana, but there are other roots for the festival too. If Deepavali was westernized, it would be the celebration of the end of WWII and all that it symbolized: triumph of the Allies against the Axis of Evil, a victory for democracy over fascism and nazism. And the ones you see mocking our religion now would probably celebrate such a festival, blindly imitating the west.

Anyway, if you really do not believe in any festival, why don't you work during festival days. Decline your company's holidays and go to work. If you don't believe in festivals, why act like you do and waste productive time mocking those who do.

Some say bursting crackers causes pollution and therefore we should not indulge in it. Fine. Your electricity usage causes pollution too, so how about living in a hut with no lights, fan or AC? (Electricity is produced by thermal power plants which burn coal as a fuel. This releases black smoke which settles over the surrounding area and also pollutes the land).

There is, however, a rational argument against bursting crackers which I concede. You say it is unnecessary pollution which can be avoided. I'll accept this viewpoint, but also show you why I differ.

Firstly, there is no such thing as 'necessary pollution'. Pollution for economic development is a westernized idea, which we have blindly accepted without question. You don't really need to go to shopping malls to shop, or buy products wrapped in fancy plastics. Those things pollute, but you accept it saying it as a part of development. You can argue over this, but that sparks an entirely different debate so I'll present another idea to support my view.

The per capita pollution of the developed nations is the highest in the world. Here's a simple equation to put that in perspective.

More money= more purchasing power
More purchasing power=more consumption
Consumption=Pollution

Also, if you look at pollution statistics, you can see that basically every activity pollutes, directly or indirectly. A Google search releases as much as 7g of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And there are millions of Google searches being made every day. Now THAT is pollution.

Volcanic eruptions cause massive pollution and they occur very frequently (if you count the ones which occur underwater too). Plus, factor in the pollution caused by all the wars going on in the world now.

Now, think over this: Does all this pollution caused all over the world make you happy? No. Will enjoying a spectacular fireworks display with your family to celebrate an auspicious occasion symbolizing the triumph of good over evil make you happy? You answer the question.

Don't be fooled into giving up your happiness for the sake of the environment.

Have a happy (and safe) Deepavali :)

Update: The air pollution levels were down in Chennai this time. Also, the noise pollution levels were down. The change was apparently due to the preference for aerial fireworks as opposed to the 'vedis'. These were splendorous, comparatively environment-friendly, more interesting to watch: a win-win scenario in all.