Fallingleafe
05-19-2013, 04:57 AM
“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.” ~ Albert Einstein
Below relates to DDO and is my way of explaining what the point I wish to describe in terms I am familiar. Feel free to skip below to THE MAIN POINT, if you are not in a particularly reading mood.
With current technological advances, we have knowledge at our fingertips. We, as a human species, with our vast power of technology fueled by a myriad of geniuses across the globe, have the capacity to enable each and every last human being to have a place to call "home", healthcare, education and food.
But yet, this is not the case.
The greatest tragedy of Man is that he is just as likely to raise his hand to strike down his brother than he is to extend his hand to help him.
We live in a world dominated by ideals of selfishness, self-empowering and the now seemingly holy idea of "getting ahead". In a world where intelligent or cultured conversation is almost considered taboo to many a youth; where our self image and social status is more important than how we treat each other; where decent men and women resign themselves to accepting "what is", the immoral and unjust will continue to happen.
Now how does this relate to DDO? It relates to DDO as it does to all games and indeed to all parts of life.
This is because there exists two great fallacies of thought in the modern era, those being:
1) That life is a race, a contest, with each and every human being pitted against each other for supremacy - or in DDO terms, that every player is pitted against each other, as if DDO is a pure PVP game.
2) "If my life is good and I see no wrong, then there is no wrong". If you are happy, if you enjoy luxuries and are content with life, then nothing is wrong, right? The system works, life is good, everything is hunky dory.
The society that we are forced to live and grow up in pounds these ideals into us, thus appropriately we carry these same ideas with us everywhere, including into DDO.
THE MAIN POINT
---
DDO is a game. A way for many to enjoy their free time and momentarily escape the confines of reality. Yet, real people are behind those characters in game that you fight alongside. Real people are the ones who sit down after a long day, with their own troubles and problems, worries and doubts, and then receive an ear full of hateful rage from an elitist player who is completely unforgiving of any shred of weakness or - to their absolute horror - "wasting their time".
No, I have not recently had an elitist player shout at me and am venting onto the forums because of it. But I do indeed see it happen often to many other players, hear of it often, and it has become the norm. How many of you are familiar with the following examples?
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello share please
*Player A has been dismissed from the party.
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello what house?
*Player A has been dismissed from the party.
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello, buffing and omw
*Player A has been dismissed from the party*
(Player B says): ??? Why?
(Player C says): we are about to start and buffing takes too long and if you need to buff for this quest you are a noob anyway
---
In DDO, as in life, many of us have the tendency to treat anyone who begins to remotely differ in opinion, skill level or talent to us as below us, with undeserved hostility. We have become so engrossed with our own image, with "me", with "my time" and "my happiness" that we forget that human beings are social animals, and we work infinitely better as a united collective than a mass of single entities under the delusion of hyper individualism - not in the form of personality, but in the form of acting on ones own, separate from all others.
And this is where the "action in DDO" part comes into it.
DDO - like life - is not a PVP game.
We are not pitted against each other.
It takes no genius to understand that there is something terribly wrong with how we live, how we treat others and what we view as "right". Indeed, many people may agree to the fact that society, poverty, war, greed on a colossal scale, the way minorities and those "different" are treated but simply say "yes, it is wrong, but what can we do about it?"
Even if it does nothing but make you and the person you are helping feel better about themselves, you can start by improving the general atmosphere in DDO.
These are real people you are playing with. A small praising comment, an act of generosity, kind words and understanding are all things grotesquely undervalued in today's world.
People I personally have given advice to, helped with quests or favour grinding, with passing very rare items in chests or just gave them something that they needed, are often astounded at this, as if generosity is a crime.
DDO is a game in which we must work together to accomplish tasks, to complete raids and quests. Think about that before you roll on an item that you do not really need, but that wizard in your party is desperately seeking.
This pattern of being surprised at friendly advice and help, at being afraid to ask for directions or to seek knowledge has been on the increase since I started playing DDO some years ago. And not only in DDO, as it seems to be commonly accepted that forgiveness, understanding, an open mind, that "the right thing" is simply "uncool".
And this way of thinking is nothing but destructive and needs to end.
Unsure as to how you can help improve the general atmosphere in DDO for all players, or why it even matters?
Being extremely negative and hostile to new players drives them away. New players are far less likely to keep playing a game if the gaming community is hostile and aggressive towards them in their first experiences. Everybody can easily see where that road will lead to for DDO, the game that you play.
Know the latest coupon code in the DDO store? Share it with friends, strangers, your raid group.
Bored and have nothing to run? Why not be that elite opener that the level 7 ranger in the lfg has been politely hoping to get for thirty minutes.
Host a PUG learning quest or raid. Give away items. Sell things on the AH for a pittance. And you can do all this with a smile, not just because you are helping someone, but because you will be helping those who need help, to the chagrin of those elitists who will scream at you for ruining their "economy", at those who hoard items - such as large devil scales - and sell them on the AH for extortionate prices when supply gets low, just so that they can further their own wealth and "get ahead" by exploiting their fellow Man.
Be generous. Perform random acts of kindness. Offer praise. It is not "uncool", it is not taboo. It does not make you weak.
It is the right thing to do.
Changing DDO, changing life, how we feel about each other and ourselves starts with ourselves and how we act.
Open up to newer players, do not be so harsh and quick on judgement - both in DDO and in life - and remember that we all had to start at the beginning and we all end at the same place. No race, no eternal winners.
If you actually read this then I both thank and congratulate you for taking the time to do so.
Below relates to DDO and is my way of explaining what the point I wish to describe in terms I am familiar. Feel free to skip below to THE MAIN POINT, if you are not in a particularly reading mood.
With current technological advances, we have knowledge at our fingertips. We, as a human species, with our vast power of technology fueled by a myriad of geniuses across the globe, have the capacity to enable each and every last human being to have a place to call "home", healthcare, education and food.
But yet, this is not the case.
The greatest tragedy of Man is that he is just as likely to raise his hand to strike down his brother than he is to extend his hand to help him.
We live in a world dominated by ideals of selfishness, self-empowering and the now seemingly holy idea of "getting ahead". In a world where intelligent or cultured conversation is almost considered taboo to many a youth; where our self image and social status is more important than how we treat each other; where decent men and women resign themselves to accepting "what is", the immoral and unjust will continue to happen.
Now how does this relate to DDO? It relates to DDO as it does to all games and indeed to all parts of life.
This is because there exists two great fallacies of thought in the modern era, those being:
1) That life is a race, a contest, with each and every human being pitted against each other for supremacy - or in DDO terms, that every player is pitted against each other, as if DDO is a pure PVP game.
2) "If my life is good and I see no wrong, then there is no wrong". If you are happy, if you enjoy luxuries and are content with life, then nothing is wrong, right? The system works, life is good, everything is hunky dory.
The society that we are forced to live and grow up in pounds these ideals into us, thus appropriately we carry these same ideas with us everywhere, including into DDO.
THE MAIN POINT
---
DDO is a game. A way for many to enjoy their free time and momentarily escape the confines of reality. Yet, real people are behind those characters in game that you fight alongside. Real people are the ones who sit down after a long day, with their own troubles and problems, worries and doubts, and then receive an ear full of hateful rage from an elitist player who is completely unforgiving of any shred of weakness or - to their absolute horror - "wasting their time".
No, I have not recently had an elitist player shout at me and am venting onto the forums because of it. But I do indeed see it happen often to many other players, hear of it often, and it has become the norm. How many of you are familiar with the following examples?
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello share please
*Player A has been dismissed from the party.
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello what house?
*Player A has been dismissed from the party.
*Player A has joined the party*
(Player A says): Hello, buffing and omw
*Player A has been dismissed from the party*
(Player B says): ??? Why?
(Player C says): we are about to start and buffing takes too long and if you need to buff for this quest you are a noob anyway
---
In DDO, as in life, many of us have the tendency to treat anyone who begins to remotely differ in opinion, skill level or talent to us as below us, with undeserved hostility. We have become so engrossed with our own image, with "me", with "my time" and "my happiness" that we forget that human beings are social animals, and we work infinitely better as a united collective than a mass of single entities under the delusion of hyper individualism - not in the form of personality, but in the form of acting on ones own, separate from all others.
And this is where the "action in DDO" part comes into it.
DDO - like life - is not a PVP game.
We are not pitted against each other.
It takes no genius to understand that there is something terribly wrong with how we live, how we treat others and what we view as "right". Indeed, many people may agree to the fact that society, poverty, war, greed on a colossal scale, the way minorities and those "different" are treated but simply say "yes, it is wrong, but what can we do about it?"
Even if it does nothing but make you and the person you are helping feel better about themselves, you can start by improving the general atmosphere in DDO.
These are real people you are playing with. A small praising comment, an act of generosity, kind words and understanding are all things grotesquely undervalued in today's world.
People I personally have given advice to, helped with quests or favour grinding, with passing very rare items in chests or just gave them something that they needed, are often astounded at this, as if generosity is a crime.
DDO is a game in which we must work together to accomplish tasks, to complete raids and quests. Think about that before you roll on an item that you do not really need, but that wizard in your party is desperately seeking.
This pattern of being surprised at friendly advice and help, at being afraid to ask for directions or to seek knowledge has been on the increase since I started playing DDO some years ago. And not only in DDO, as it seems to be commonly accepted that forgiveness, understanding, an open mind, that "the right thing" is simply "uncool".
And this way of thinking is nothing but destructive and needs to end.
Unsure as to how you can help improve the general atmosphere in DDO for all players, or why it even matters?
Being extremely negative and hostile to new players drives them away. New players are far less likely to keep playing a game if the gaming community is hostile and aggressive towards them in their first experiences. Everybody can easily see where that road will lead to for DDO, the game that you play.
Know the latest coupon code in the DDO store? Share it with friends, strangers, your raid group.
Bored and have nothing to run? Why not be that elite opener that the level 7 ranger in the lfg has been politely hoping to get for thirty minutes.
Host a PUG learning quest or raid. Give away items. Sell things on the AH for a pittance. And you can do all this with a smile, not just because you are helping someone, but because you will be helping those who need help, to the chagrin of those elitists who will scream at you for ruining their "economy", at those who hoard items - such as large devil scales - and sell them on the AH for extortionate prices when supply gets low, just so that they can further their own wealth and "get ahead" by exploiting their fellow Man.
Be generous. Perform random acts of kindness. Offer praise. It is not "uncool", it is not taboo. It does not make you weak.
It is the right thing to do.
Changing DDO, changing life, how we feel about each other and ourselves starts with ourselves and how we act.
Open up to newer players, do not be so harsh and quick on judgement - both in DDO and in life - and remember that we all had to start at the beginning and we all end at the same place. No race, no eternal winners.
If you actually read this then I both thank and congratulate you for taking the time to do so.