I haven't been logging in very much and I haven't been participating in any thoughtful, meaningful way on the forums, so I have dropped to 3-stars, down from 5. Oh, well. It's not like I was getting paid a rate that depended on the number of stars I had under my name. It's not like I was getting paid at all.
MMORPGs have become a sore subject in our household here. I am still interested in what's going on out there, but my husband doesn't want to talk about it at all. I can't tell if this is because he's jonesing hardcore for EQ or if he's one of those people who quits playing online games and then gets bitter about having played at all. I've tried to figure out which he is, but he REALLY doesn't want to talk about it.
He does have a bit of a pride thing going-- he got voted out of the guild he'd joined and he said he was quitting for good, and he hasn't played since then at all. He said at one point that he felt good about that. This doesn't mean that he doesn't want to play though, does it? He might be in conflict between his desire to play and his desire to not be that guy. You know that guy-- the one that goes storming off and says he won't be back, but then you see him online a couple of months later, being all sheepish about the earlier events or pretending that nothing ever happened at all.
Don't be that guy. Noone wants to be that guy.
I don't have those hard feelings. I am a little frustrated about my RL right now, and that may be bleeding over into my OL... er... online life... but I don't really harbor any bad feelings in my heart toward any game or any of my online gaming brothers and sisters.
Ok, you guys aren't really my brothers and sisters as such... But you could be, if we were all members of the same MMORPG church. Then we could have a preacher who would stand up and pound the pulpit, exhorting us to give to needy newbies and warning us of the Great Permanent Banning that awaits those who commit grave sins. We'd have services on Tuesday or Wednesday night, carefully timed to avoid conflict with as many raids as possible. Those folks in 7-night-a-week raiding guilds could be ministered to by missionaries and traveling preachers who bring the good word to those who only log off when the power goes out.
Of course, there might be different faiths and flavors of MMORPGism. Perhaps I should found a convent for female players playing female characters. We'll be The Neschrianic Order of Sisters of Everything Holy And Indisputably Right... Or N.O.S.E.H.A.I.R. for short. (Don't ask where that came from... I was originally going to go with "Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Lag". )
I'd better quit this line of thinking before someone gets their panties in a wad. I am not anti-religious, and I am certainly not advocating that anyone leave their real faith for MMORPGism. It just seemed like a funny, silly thing to suggest that anyone would start a religion based in or on MMORPGs. Why should I even have to say this? Shouldn't I give some people some credit for knowing what's real and what's not? I'd sure like to think people were smarter than all that... but then I go read comments on YouTube and lose all faith and hope I might have held for humanity.
[EDIT: Making the title shorter and more descriptive... I think... I did like "...and the potential for a tent revival service in the Desert of Ro", but that was a WAY long title... Anyway, if we go out in the desert, we might spend the next 40 years looking for the zone line.]
Good stuff! I especially liked the part about hubby not wanting to be "that guy." I've never been "that guy" in the strictest sense. I tend to fade out on my MMOGs, just stop logging in, and since I mainly solo, there's not much conversation on how sad it will be for me to go, nor any threat of being voted out of a guild. I HAVE written off a few online people before, because of petty BS, or just because they became too preoccupied with other things to pay me much mind. That's always been fine with me, because there are plenty of other people out there, and eventually I'm bound to run into another nice one, or even a nice guild. I've basically quit CoX and moved onto LoTRO now, and it's a tough transition. I love so much about what CoX has done, but I'm just completely bored with my options, with the missions, with pretty much everything except the travel powers. It still remains my favorite online game, however, and only time will tell if LoTRO can unseat it, but at this point it's highly unlikely (not as instance driven, which is what I really loved about CoX (and AO, for that matter). However, I digress. It's always sad when you quit a game because of the people, because there's so much more to enjoy in a MMOG than just the other people running around in it.
Mon Aug 06 2007 9:23PMHaha, I must admit that I find your sense of humor most apt. It is so true about the "that guy" syndrome. But when all is said and done, I need to remember that this is a "game" and that if I ever became "that girl" I'd make sure to stick around simply to taunt those who found it necessary to ban me from my guild. Keep up the blogging!
Tue Aug 07 2007 7:37AMI am in the same boat at this point, which I believe the blog post may be discussing...
The need to play, but do you really want to? I think I have more along the lines of fallen "out" of mmorpgs for now.
I really want to play, as I like that play style, but sometimes I find myself going "Do I really want to log in to get that XP?"
As well, I feel I should log in to help my guild (various games also ..still active in Guild Wars, LOTRO)...but a lot of times I do not want their demands put upon me..
This is a tough subject, and what is worse is my wife is the same way...we love these types of games, and want to play...maybe it just needs to be fresh and new again, just like the first time...
Thanks for your great post
Tue Aug 07 2007 9:07AMI am glad you guys enjoyed this entry. I love hearing other people's thoughts and experiences. I have to admit that I was "that girl" at least once in the past, but then I got a little wiser and chilled out across the board. I certainly wouldn't want to do that again. These days, I generally leave games because they don't hold my interest, rather than personal issues in the game, and I tend to go the way of logging in less and less until it is time to renew my subscription, and then, if it isn't worth $15 a month anymore, I just cancel and move on.
Tue Aug 07 2007 11:11AMthat's the spirit!!! well, not really, but at least u're not trying to hold on on ENTERTAINING thing more than u want to convincing yourself that it's just a phase u'll get over...
If u really like MMos, u'll keep experimenting with em, and it's just utopia-like kind of thinking when u believe that this one is a perfect one.
in short - KEEP MOVING
Tue Aug 07 2007 12:07PMLet's just say I am waiting for our move to finally be over. I put in my 2 weeks notice today, closing is in less than 2 weeks and we are moving! Then I'll make a decision on what I am going to do. If anything.
Mon Aug 20 2007 10:24PMMMORPG.com writes:
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