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Gaming Site Reviews.. Real Life?
jbp8 writes: "There's an article on GameSpot reviewing the ultimate MMOG - real life!" The article gives real life an Editor's Choice award, focusing on issues such as leveling up ("Typically, a character will learn of the numerous viable career paths available by undergoing schooling. This can be a long and tedious process, equivalent to the sort of 'level treadmill' monotony that characterizes almost all MMORPGs") and player death ("..a serious issue in real life, and cause for continued debate among players, who often direct unanswerable questions on the subject to the game's developers.")
Real life is about hard work, its about survival, its about solving problems, its about paying your bills on time, taking care of responsiblities, doing things you dont want to do because they must be done.
That is real life, it certain isnt a game,and its not fun. If I had a choice I'd choose to live in some of these game worlds over this one.
Oh, and you only get one chance, so real life is stressful as hell. Failure is not an option.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
For many players of games (my roommate included), online gaming is pretty much their entire life. I recently calculated that my roommate has played Everquest for 5 hours a day (on average) for the past two years.
Since he has virtually no social life, never has people over, and doesn't belong to any organization outside of work, one could assume that he is incredibly lonely, yet he doesn't seem so.
To what extent can an online game substitute for real human interaction? To borrow an idea from the Sims, can an almost entirely online social experience fill up the Social Meter?
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Sounds like this game reviewer hasn't explored this game enough.
<a href="http://www.joblessjimmy.com">Work is dumb and so is Jobless Jimmy.</a>
Seriously, as a maried parent (yes, I still game occasionally), I like this part of 'real life' the best. My five year old son just wandered in and asked me what 'random' meant. I'll make a gamer out of him yet... But at any rate, it does have chores associated with it. Time to stop posting AC on slashdot and go read the kids a story...
A cool thing about Real Life that's unlike other MMORPGs is that often times they'll accept in-game currency to resolve problems like that.
And the weird part is how much I feel like I'm living in a business simulation. I invest in some things (equipment, advertising), make some profits, which I can allocate to whatever I want, including more adversiting, equipment, etc.
Abstracting life like a game can actually be helpful, since trying to distill the "rules" and come up with ways to cheat them, circumvent them or efficiently obey them can be a fun and rewarding challenge.
"To what extent can an online game substitute for real human interaction?"
The majority of the time you are interacting with real human beings. What else would we be interacting with: dogs, apes, squirrels?
When people come accross someone who can find enjoyment in life without the hassles of looks, body weight, body fluids, the horrible effects of aging, they are jealous.
These are all things that normal people worry about, and when they don't understand how a gamer can be so happy in life and not worry about these things, they have to find something wrong with that person; they have to call them a gimp or a failure, a freak and a loser.
Online human interaction can be more fulfilling than "real world" human interaction, if it is done in a structured environment with interesting tasks and many solutions.
And no, it isn't only more fulfilling for those who are "socially inept". It is more fulfilling for anyone; where what matters is your intellect and your creativity.
When you say that a gamer is "socially inept", what you are saying is that they are poor at playing the game you want them to play; they may not even want to play it. Yet, you taunt and jeer them because you can not understand why they are so happy.
What are they so happy? They have every reason to be very very happy, and these are good reasons. They are successful at what they want to do. They have many aquaintences who they go on grand adventures with. Now only this, but they are able to give so greatly to others. You can make someone's day -- a real human being -- by your "in game" actions. You can make them smile; you can make them feel loved; love in the sense of brothers and sisters; the love of a companion: male or female does not matter.
And it is not a false sense of love. It is love that is as real as the love of your mother and your father for you, and you for your brother and your sister and your fellow man and fellow woman. It is love between real people, and it really matters. It is real.
Yes, if a gamer has obligations to a spouse or children, or to paying the bills, then it is wrong for the gamer to ignore these obligations, or to treat them with disdain. These are obligations, the results of choices you have made, and you must live with them.
But for those of us who are not yet so obligated, there is no reason why we should bind ourselves to this dying and decrepit world. There is no reason why we should be what society wants us to be, or what the people who are hip and fashionable and popular want us to be.
When we can interact with real human beings and when we care about others as brothers and sisters, and treat them with the love and respect that they are due simply in virtue of being persons, we do a great thing.
No one can take this away from us. No one can tell us that what we do does not matter, or is not real.
No, we may not be helping to eliminate hunger in Africa by playing this game, but what the fuck have you done to eliminate hunger in Africa? You haven't done a damned thing.
I can make someone's day. I treat others with the utmost respect. I can make them happy. I can make them laugh. I can make them feel loved. I can make them feel worthwhile. I can comfort them when they are down. I can help them up when they are in bad times. And they do these things for me.
This is what matters; helping real people, and helping them in tangible, real ways.
Yes, criticize me for not giving money to staving children in Africa, but first, tell me, just tell me, is what you have done in this world so much greater than what I have done? Have you comforted and inspired so many people? Have you loved them as human beings? What the fuck have you done for Africa? You do what you do for yourself.
It is as real as anything else in this world; the perceptions are as real; the emotions are as real. The people are real.
Why won't you let us be happy? We give you our bodies for 40 hours a week. What won't you let us live?
For the love of God, why won't you let us LIVE?
and mostly just affect appearances and your standing with certain factions
Obviously the reviewer knows of the negative social effects of race, that's what "standing with certain factions" refers to.
By gameplay, he means the game mechanics; how the game works excluding social interactions. And race has little bearing on those. Differences are there, but most of the time they aren't very noticeable.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
- fresh fruit all year (all sorts, yum yum)
- central heating / air conditioning
- cold drinks (refrigeration)
- effective medecine
- expect my children to survive to adulthood
- music all the time (kings did have live muscians)
- Movies, videos
- lots of books
- cruise ships
- jets planes
- public transportation
- cars
- radio (TV sucks - cancel your cable and spend the time playing more real life)
Even with a crappy job you have it good. Is anyone actively trying to kill you? Are you in danger of starving to death? If not, stop whinning and get out and do something!Life is as intersting as you care to make it. Get off your butt and do something.
A few things I do, to make life more interesting:
Most people have to work, but that still leaves lots of time to pursue many intersting real life intersts.
Anarchists never rule
Racism falls under "your standing with certain factions," which the article clearly references. It is saying that your race does not affect your characters abilities, but it will affect other people's attitudes towards you. Which sounds like a pretty apt, non-trolly, non-racist viewpoint.
"Try being more subtle"? I think he was already too subtle for you...
I've always hated Gamespot for their biased reviews, but this is just... beyond words. Transcendant, almost. Someone give me a good, hard kick if I ever visit that site again.