Morning folks,
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First off, let me apologize for not getting a musing out yesterday. I was home sick and had a wicked head ache. Sometimes I find looking at a computer screen can be quite painful over an extended period of time. Yesterday was brutal (more so than usual) as I wasn''t even able to sit at the thing more than an hour or so. Even last night when I was feeling a bit better, I left all the monitors off so they wouldn''t penetrate my brain. That high pitched ping of a monitor just makes me bleed on the inside.
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Secondly, this musing will be fairly short as the time I usually spend writing is almost exhausted because I had to catch up on some stuff I forgot to finish up last week and yesterday. In fact, I have been finding it harder every day to write and I may just let this drop for good.
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Before you all freak out, let me try to explain what I''m talking about. I have been writing to you all now 56 times. That is just under 2 months worth of musings if you count by the day. Of course I wouldn''t only write on work days, so that equates into approx just over 3 months of musings. I enjoy writing these musings and I enjoy spending time every day writing and expressing myself. However, there are mornings (like every morning this month) where I just don''t:
a) have the time to write due to work constraints and time limitations
or
b) don''t have anything to write about and end up mind puking on the page.
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Don''t get me wrong folks, I do like doing this. Lately with the way things have been here at work, I am finding it more difficult to talk about anything funny or interesting. I usually start my musings off with "Work sucks" or "My Work blows". These are not ways to start off someone else''s day. I''ve been a bitter betty these last few weeks and I shouldn''t be spreading that to my friends and family through a daily email.
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So what''s next? I have no idea. I want to continue with the musings but feel I''m causing more ill will than good. Without naming any names or calling anyone out, there was a little bit of drama in WoW. I won''t get into the details or anything as it is all water under the bridge now. I will, however, make a quick comment on why I''m bringing this up. I was sitting on the couch watching TV and I heard over my son''s TS about Drama and how people though they left this BS behind them in the other game. I understand the need to have fun and play a game. However, I''ve done a lot of thinking about this over the weekend. The game we are playing is not really a ''Game'' anymore. Game is defined as: An activity providing entertainment or amusement. I''m sure WoW provides us with a certian level of entertainment and/or amusement. However, let me take a look at WoW from a different angle. I don''t think anyone who has ever played an MMOG could deny there is a ''Social'' aspect of the game. Real people all playing the same game interacting with each other on a social level. If I require enchantment A put on Weapon C I need to talk (through text) to person B. Person B is a real person sitting at a computer somewhere in the world. The dictionary describes Society as: An organization or association of persons engaged in a common profession, activity, or interest.
What are we left with? Well, if splice the two definitions together you get something like: An organization or association of person engaged in common entertainement or amusement. Sounds simple right? Let me throw a twist at you then. Player A and Player B are out playing one night. Player A has had a bad day at school and is having some issues at home with their parents. Player B, had an awesome day at their job and is looking forward to a great night of gaming and having fun. Player A, who is already not having a good time is only playing half the time and is distracted by other things (TV, parents, phone calls, etc). This will directly impact player B who is 100% into the game and is trying to accomplish a set task or quest. This is assuming player A and player B are grouped with together or with other players. What do you think will happen with Player B? It could go two ways really. Player B could walk away from the group with Player A and find another group to play with. This solution isn''t always good because you may not be able to complete a given task or quest if nobody else is doing it. If player B was to leave and find another group, things may turn out just fine. However, if Player B leaves and doesn''t accomplish their task, there is a sense of being robbed out of fun due to Player A''s actions/mood. Player B will blame Player A for a shitty night of gaming and log off with a bitter attitude.
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Now tell me, which of the two players above have exercised the definition of ''Social Gaming''? That''s right, they BOTH did. Folks, it matters not whether you''ve had a good day or bad day. Truth is, when you login to an MMOG you will be interacting with other people who have either had good or bad days as well. Sometimes you could login after having a bad day and meeting some great people who will turn that bad day into a good day. Other times you will have a good day and meet people who will turn it bad. Like real life, we take a chance when we interact with others and other people can make or break a day for us. I think it would be safe to say that most of us who play MMOGs interact with more people in the evenings than we do during the day at our jobs/school. This is because the first to Ms in MMOG stand for Massive Multiplayer. We interact with several thousand people on any given night of game play. Whether we talk to these people or not, we are still interacting together.
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Getting back to the whole Drama thing which was talked about. Yes, there was some drama and yes people have good days and bad days. There is one major difference between Real Life and in-game life. That difference is communcation. When I talk to someone in real life they can sense my tone of voice and sometimes see the expressions on my face. If you talk to someone in-game, you just text and emoticons. Let me give you a quick example before I drop this subject.
Player A: You Suck!
Player B: You Suck! :)
See the difference? Player A seems to be talking seriously while player B seems to be talking in jest. A simple colon and right bracket and make a HUGE difference in how your statement is perceived. I try to use emoticons whenever possible to reflect my mood when I talk in-game. We need to remember this may not be second nature to some people and we could EASILY take things the wrong way.
Enough of that stuff, I have already gone WAY over my time limit for today''s musing. :) Keep these things in mind whenever you go online. Emails are another great example of text conversations. You could follow the same basic principles above in making sure you are sending across the proper message (and mood) to your reader. Miscommunication and Misunderstandings are not the first to Ms in MMOG.
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Ahh, another day another dollar and now I must go so I can earn that extra 50 cents for coffee tomorrow. Remember gang, there is no ''I'' in TEAM.
Cheers,
Al
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