Profile of a Hard-Core Gamer

brettlbecker writes "The NYTimes is running a story on Richard L. Stenlund, or, as players of MMORPG Anarchy Online undoubtedly know him, Thedeacon. Quote from the article: "Thedeacon is a celebrity. Mr. Stenlund, meanwhile, feels trapped - trapped in a town too far from big cities where big things happen, trapped in a hand-to-mouth existence, trapped in a mean little culture of cheap thrills and fast-food television." Infamy, perversion, bankruptcy, virtual protests, online counseling. How much do *you* accomplish in 7 hours a day?"

Comments

who's to say?

[sweeney37]

How are we to make a distinction between a hardcore gamer, and an addict? It seems to be a pretty fine line.

Mike

(ps, the nytimes link is the google link)

Re:who's to say?

[Surak]

"Puritanical"?

Me thinks someone has some resentment for people daring to judge others...

I was merely speaking factually. The U.S. was founded -- in large part -- by Puritans who left England to be free to practice their way of life, which was largely in conflict with the Anglican church.

The values of these Puritans -- which are describe to be "Puritanical" -- had a large impact on the culture of the United States. There were taboos about sex and modesty which are largely nonexistant in most European countries. In Europe it is commonplace to find nudity and even sex on what they refer to as the 'telly'. Here, however, nudity on TV, particularly during certain hours of the day, is considered a violation of FCC rules. This stems from our cultural taboos about sex, which were largely inherited from those early Puritans.

Hard work, on the other hand, is largely revered for the same reason. One main concept of Puritan philosophy is that 'idle hands (or idle mind) are the playground of the Devil.' One was to work all day, and rest only for short periods to avoid being tempted by Satan. This attitude also had a large influence on our culture in the U.S. and is largely responsible for our capitalistic society which reveres hard work, and shuns those who avoid it.

It has nothing to do with resentment of any kind.

Re:who's to say?

[mark2003]

The puritans were teetotal.

The reason the people involved in the revolution (that you hear about) drank was because they generally were proper, boozy Brits who just happened to want to pay less tax, not your religious puritan wusses.

I always find it ironic that the puritans left England fleeing religious persecution when the reason they were so disliked by everyone was because they spent their whole time criticising everyone else for not being religious enough. If they had had any power they would have burnt everyone in England as witches - rather like their wonderfully enlightened behaviour in Salem etc. It's rather like the Taleban fleeing the religious persecution of a secular state.

Re:who's to say?

[aminorex]

That's a very astute comparison. The taliban
were mostly pakistani seminary students who fled
an autocratic military regime (pakistan) to form
a society based on conscience and shared values
in a wilderness (afghanistan). The puritans were
mostly english religious protestants who fled an
autocratic military regime (england) to form a
society based on conscience and shared values
in a wildnerness (new england).

Support

[darthtuttle]

I always wondered why the game creators don't support people like this more often. I don't imagine that they would have to pay him a lot. Him and others obviously help keep people interested in the game, and he'd have more time to devote to it. Give him responsibility within his profession or class and some duties to perform, the goal of which would be to keep people playing. People like him obviously play an important part in the game.

You can't move with no money and debt

[CrazyJim0]

I have no money, and I have debt. I have enough gas in my car to drive 20 miles.

My college isn't doing shit for me, I'm asking for help, but no one wants to talk to me.

It sucks too because I'm an awesome computer application programmer, and I have designed many things other people developed and became successful with.

Re:A lvl 200 character...

[kin_korn_karn]

So-called "educators" are the ones that make education into an authority game. There are a lot of professors out there that just don't give a shit, or they got into teaching because they had no power in other areas of their life (to that end I'm thinking of high school teachers)

Personally, I love to learn. I also understand the need to learn things that I may not enjoy inherently or be able to immediately apply. What I don't like is being told how to learn, and being expected to learn under anyone else's style but my own. Many teachers feel the need to force their methods of learning down your throat.

I also don't like arbitrary limits on my personal freedom. I had professors in college (well, for one class before I ran to admissions and changed) that would flunk you for taking bathroom breaks. I'm an adult and a taxpayer and when I was in college I paid tuition - I'll go to the bathroom whenever the hell I want. It's to my benefit to go to class, so there's no need to force me to attend. Attempting to is nothing more than satisfying your own weaknesses.

Yeah...

[nanojath]

"The more you deal with people, the more you hate people," he said. "It just feels that everybody is so asleep in this world."

Yeah, I have a tough time taking this kind of sentiment from a person spending nearly half their waking life immersed in an artificial personality in an artificial world (I find the idea that because you can act out whatever the hell impulse you want in an online environment, it is somehow more "real" than the hard-copy world, stupid and offensive).

Mr. Stenlund, meanwhile, feels trapped - trapped in a town too far from big cities where big things happen... Madison WI may not be Las Vegas but it is one of the 100 largest cities in the USA, and although I haven't lived there myself it seems like a pretty good place as far as mid-sized cities go. A quick search of past accolades netted, among others:

Ranked #1 of Small-size Cities for Creativity by The Washington Monthly, #2 among "America's Best Places to Live and Work" by Employment Review Magazine, UW-Madison Ranked 35th in the World of Top Executive Eduation Providers by the London-based Financial Times, The Most Wired City in the Country by The Media Audit and International Demographics, One of Top Five Cities for Entrepreneurial Business Growth by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship, One of America's Most Environmentally Friendly Cities by ENN.com, #3 City for Business Owners by Business Development Outlook Magazine, Best City For Quality of Life by Business Development Outlook Magazine, Top 10 Cities to Have It All by A & E Network, September, 1999, #1 Best Places to Live in America, Money magazine, 10 Most Livable Places in America The Advocate, #5 America's 10 Most Enlightened Towns, Utne Reader, #3 Safest of Nation's 100 Largest Cities Morgan Quinto Press, Best Mid-Sized City Travel Getaway Midwest Living magazine

Sounds like opportunity exists there.

Though articulate and clearly intelligent, he skipped college because he believed that school stifled creativity.

And pardon me for being an elitist, but that's a thin excuse for not getting the credentials and connections, and the attendent opportunities, that go along with getting an advanced education. The only thing that can stifle a person's creativity is that person. There are well-worn paths of least resistance in all walks of life.

I think a lot of people could get caught up in something like this, particularly at at time when the track they've chosen suddenly veers south. But at the same time, this sounds like a profile of a person who likes shortcuts and is too quick to blame his environment for what are fundamentally personal problems. Online world's are what they are because they lack or simplify the real consequences, and many of the real difficulties and complexities, of the physical world. "Success" in that context is a third-class substitute for seeking the prosperity, relationships and recognition you need in the real world.

thedeacon's response on AO forums...

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me tell you something. The article about me written by Seth Schiesel, AKA Amis (his ingame name) is such a roving pack of lies slandering the person I really am in real life that I'm flat out disgusted by the whole thing.

right now I'm too stunned and upset at the amount of lies, miscontext, misquotes and outright slander posted on the article to even log in.

I'll be filing a lawsuit against the New York Times for slander, as many of the things put in that article about my real life (and even ingame) are so horribly untrue or twisted and the truth stretched to paint me in a much much different light than the person I really am.

He paints me as a shy, akward, socially inept reclusive nerd which is such a contrast to the person I really am. I make racy jokes, but he paints me as a virtual rapist. I'm broke in RL, but he paints me as a suicidal, emotionally unstable man that lives in the slums (I live in a good neighborhood) and can't afford to buy food. This article is absolutely ruinous to myself, my business, my future. It's the lowest form of slander imaginable.

Even the pictures used were horrible. The first is dark and brooding and in the second picture I was about to bust out laughing, which also looks a hell of alot like crying and is just a flat out BAD pic.

Please keep any jokes off this thread as I feel serious about this. I can see some pretty horrid real life repercussions as a result of this article.

So much of what I said to him in the four days that he was here was taken FAR out of context and quotes that I had supposedly said were either entirely made up or the wording was changed to change the focus of what I was saying.

Sound familiar? Well about a month ago, another NY Times reporter by the name of Jayson Blair did the exact same thing. I just never had any idea something like this would happen to me. He told me that he was doing a general article about the community of AO through my eyes. Instead, a pack of lies gets slammed on the world's largest newspaper about me. The entire focus of the article was misrepresented.

The writer, Seth Schiesel is a reporter for the NY Times and his ingame character is named "Amis", a high level Omni MP. The article was so vicious and untrue at some points that it seems to have been written with malice in mind.

I'm so humiliated at some of the things said in that article. it shocks and amazes me how someone can so callously and deliberately say such untruths. I'm painted as a socially inept reject that never leaves his home, which is the opposite of who I really am.

It's one thing to flame someone ingame, but this goes way beyond that and extends into my personal life.....worst of all, 80% of what he says is an outright lie. The other 20% is an exaggeration or was taken out of context.

While it may not seem bad to many of you, if you knew me in real life, you'd know why I was so upset right now.

thanks alot Amis (his ingame name). Never figured to be stabbed in back like this.

__________________
Thedeacon, lvl 200 MP
Thedeacon1 lvl140ish enforcer
Xcelsius lvl 167 MA

These are my only characters atm .

Nanomage: The OTHER other white meat

Corinthians: "Thedeacon = 1900+ posts, 98% of them pure troll goodness."

Please do not send me random tells asking me to fly out and buff you. It's disruptive and inconsiderate to what I'm doing. I am not a walking, talking buff terminal and really do have better things to do than fly out to buff you or wait for you to fly to me. if you see me, I'll happily buff you. if you contact me because you don't feel like finding an mp in your zone, I'll /ignore you. I also don't give away money, I give knowledge, which in the end is far mor valuable. BUT I'M STILL A NICE GUY. REALLY I AM

VOTE THEDEACON FOR CLAN PRESIDENT!! OMG!

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