Every contact you have over your life has an effect on you. Be the contact long or short, fast fleeting moment or a long term relationship, everything matters. Of course it depends on you yourself how much these contacts will affect you.
What will read in your characters' or blog's obituary? How will you be remembered?
To conclude this weeks theme of playing the social game, there is one aspect left unexplored.
How will you, your character or your personality be remembered by those you play with?
The longer the contact, the deeper the effect. That's quite reasonable to understand. But in a case of a negative encounter - say, someone ganking you unexpectedly - the effect of that player may well be the straw that broke the camel's back. Short, sharp shock with long term effect.
During the age of anonymity and everything goes, the clear faulty of the virtual world design is exactly the anonymity. You are not accountable for what you do in a MMO, really, because you can ditch that toon, change name, gender, class, role and race by paying some money. Or by just creating a new one.
It doesn't matter what you do to the other player characters in any way.
As it seems to be customary, there is no need to commit to anything anymore. It's the same in real life relationships as in virtual worlds: there is no commitment to the better and for worse. There is commitment to the instant gratification, my own personal pleasure and enjoyment, and everything contra that is to be removed from the experience.
However, the best experiences in life and MMOs come out of the long term effort. Long term effort which pushes you through the mud, rain, slick and sleet, which refine your persona and build your character. The prizes through effort have that sweet taste of victory, which cannot be taken away from you.
A player who has left a strong mark on me said once, that in the internet the only thing with any value is your name. I have taken it so far that for me the only thing with any value in any MMO I play is the name and conduct of my character. Even my own personality is a bit on the sidelines there due to my strong RP background. The character takes charge from time to time, Gnomore being an excellent example of that.
But currently there is no such commitment nor such high regard on personal integrity in the MMOs. Nor in blogosphere, if you think of it. People change the names of the blogs out of whim, switch their characters just for the heck of it and do stupid things on characters which are not their main.
As we all have an effect on the other players we are in contact with, are we ever really thinking how we really affect the people around us?
Have you ever thought what kind of character your character - and in a way yourself - will be remembered?
And bloggers, have you ever thought how you are going to be remembered after you shut the lights and close the door?
What will read in your characters' or blog's obituary? How will you be remembered?
.
.
