5 lessons learned

I wondered how far along the newest ponzi scheme would progress before I got tagged. The longer, the more likely you are that yours are something someone else already said. I’m low on the chain and tempted to make this a linkfest – you know, “what he/she said”… On the other hand, I need to get back in the habit. So, with mixed thanks to Kestrel for tagging me, let’s see if I can’t get five lessons that aren’t repeats.

1) Don’t try to convert those who do not care. Great, you like/love/live and breath the game. A lot of other people don’t. Do not become so monomaniacal that nobody wants to be around you.

2) Set a solid end time. In WoW – heck, in a lot of “fun” things – it’s quite possible to do “one more thing” till, well, I always liked the tag to Larry Miller‘s routine: Let’s be honest, if you’re 19 and you stay up all night, it’s like a victory like you’ve beat the night, but if you’re over 30, then that sun is like God’s flashlight. We all say the same prayer then, “I swear, I will never do this again (how long?) as long as I live!” And some of us have that little addition, “and this time, I mean it!”

3) There is no right way to play. There is a way that is right for the player. When helping other players, don’t try to help them be like you, help them be better at being themselves.

4) Avoid artificial separations. “WoW > RL” is what I’m thinking of, but really… if you spend 10 or more hours a week doing ANYTHING, then for you it’s part of your real life. It’s part of what makes you what you are. You may never meet the friend you make online face-to-face, but that makes them no less your friend. ok, I knew I couldn’t get away without a digression or two, here’s the first. There is a great deal of panic about “false friends on the internet.” That is, people pretending to be something so that you’ll trust them and eventually give them something – in game, or more worrisome out of game. The panic is overstated. Not because those people aren’t out there, but because knowing them face-to-face is worthless. Oh, at least you can (usually) tell their gender, and get a better idea of age, but unless you happen to work at the same place or they’re in a public position you have no clue of employment. And you have no clue about whether they’re embezzlers or forgers or con-men or ephebophiles / pedophiles . Face to face makes it EASIER to check, but the reality is that most of us DO NOT KNOW. Welcome to life. Coming back out of the digression… I’ve a friend I’ve never met face to face. We have given each other moral support (both shoulder to lean on and kick in the pants as applicable) and physical support (Mailed goods and transferred funds. Both ways.) Online friends can be true friends – never doubt it. Just… just like real life, keep a salt shaker around, ok?

5) This, too, will pass. WoW as we know it won’t exist in a decade. Oh, WoW may still be around, but it SURE won’t be what we play now (though you may see the roots, as you can see the roots of WoW in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, released in 1994. (gads, I got that as a Christmas present, and played it, and…) You can see the similarities – the roots – but it’s DIFFERENT. Heck, it may die off (I’m not going to list examples, you can find some yourself.) The point is, don’t be afraid of change, it’s going to happen. And if what comes is something you don’t like, don’t regret what you did enjoy, just move on. I know a number of EQ players who didn’t like EQII and moved to WoW. And ex-WoW players who are now doing something else. That Is OK. When exercising the part of your life that falls into ‘recreation’, rule one has to be that it’s fun. Yes, you may have to do some un-fun to get MORE fun later, but overall – if it’s not fun, do something else. And eventually, for most of us, WoW will quit being fun. It will pass, and that’s ok. Remember fondly and move on.

=== added later ===

Oh, yeah, forgot to ‘tag’ five more people with this chain letter/ponzi scheme. Kind of hard given how late we are in the cycle, but…

A priest, of course: The Squeekie One at Musings of a Holy Hybrid hasn’t written on it yet.

A rogue I delight in reading: Doomilias

and a player with a few alts: Dagashai (with Mabd and Majeure)

hmmm, let’s add an interesting druid who deserves more exposure: Fiordhraoi at Balance of Power

And to finish it off, one of the hunters I think is beginning to get the notice she deserves: Breana (aka Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick)

Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t start this chain… (grin)

~ by Kirk on December 4, 2007.