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". :)"