Gerty: Hello, Sam.
Sam, is everything OK? Sam: Yeah!Yeah, we had a fight. Me and the other guy, the other...
He's very angry, you know?<Moon>
You know what he did?
He flipped my entire model over!
You know how much work I put into that thing?
Gerty: 938 hours.
Sam: 938 hours. Yeah, exactly.
938 hours... really?
Sometimes similarities between 'life' and 'mmo' are impressed upon me. More often I consider the differences.
Anyone can be a success in an mmo. It just requires time, a little common sense, and an immunity to numbing grinds, to time sinks.
You will make a success of yourself, however you measure it, in an online game. They're designed this way. That's why you keep coming back. The ultimate feel good society, everyone can sit on top. No one feels they're supporting the lifestyles of those above them.
The NPCs are the only true working classes. Dependent, like us, on acts of God to grant them immunity from the horrible realities of their daily lives.
This digital success, free to all (or at a reasonable pay-to-play price plan), is not achievement in 'the real world'. The real world is where we must succeed within the framework constructed for us. That much society is very clear on.
All gamers feel that lance, comprised of the condensed social judgements of non-gamers against gamers, pierce their heart. Maybe they've indulged in a marathon gaming session or opted to game instead of complete another essential task.
Shortly afterwards, that individual will feel like they've short changed themselves. They'll think, 'enough is enough'.
"Think of all the things I could be doing..."
Few games document how much time you've spent 'within' them. Net. Total. Those that do let you see the guilty tips of sinful icebergs. They hint at hours, days, months wasted within false worlds.
"200 days played over all characters?! I could be an astronaut, a physicist, I could learn to play the Banjolaylay - hell ALL OF THOSE THINGS - in that amount of time!"
Study the gamer now, as he meets this crisis of the soul. It's a re-emergence of the greatest gift to mankind - the curse that plagues us alone - 'hope'. Hope that with just enough hours, with time, anything is possible. Dreams will be realised. The game has shown him just how much 'idle' time he has at his disposal. Now he'll use this reservoir for (his own) good!
I don't share this hope. You might say I've always gamed so much because I don't value the lost time. I don't honestly believe there's anything I or anyone else can do to truly change their lot in lives with that spare time alone. I'm not a hopeless pessimist but I put my faith in other things.
That spare time would be transferred. You'd either be drinking and socialising on additional occasions, watching TV or DVDs more or doing something else to let off steam more. Another 'hobby' (by which we mean a casual pursuit - nothing important, like say, a job) to while away the precious free hours you have between work shifts and regenerating sleep.
'But!' I hear you cry, 'I could use those copious hours to learn something. Something useful. Anything that benefits me beyond my computer screen'.
You could! But watch out - this 'useful activity that gives you a material benefit' could become a second job. Society will love you then.
Trying to find a new flowchart for this process we call 'living', trying to find an approach that puts you at the centre, is like struggling to stay afloat in the ocean.
You know there must be a better way if you just try; a different stroke; a way to hold yourself; better technique. Problem is you have to focus all your energy in just the next stroke that works because otherwise you'll go under.
'Mr. Einhorn, I was thinking, what if I worked on a horse instead of the chair today. I'd get more done and cut down on time looking around as I'd be so high I'd command a good viewpoint of the office. I'd be happier, I'd probably need less breaks and-', 'Shut up Avary! I need those reports by 2pm!!'
Even that example contains more excitement than usual.
What about testing and stretching the possibilities of life with a model? Yeah! Every animal does this. When a young animal practices or experiments it's called 'play'. If you read a book you're testing the veracity of the alternate reality, a model of ours, presented by the storyteller.
And here is where my faith lies. The power of story.
Our ancestors fought, uphill, to land us in a world where there is such a thing as 'free time'. Stories were and still are the main filler in this free time.
Increasingly we experience daily stories through play. We play with more complex models and with ages that advance onward and onward. Ask any late 20's gentleman for his most amusing gaming story from the past week and he'll quickly oblige.
The world is your oyster but no one will tell you how to open it. Not directly.
And lo, circular in fashion, games return. Games as stories. Not just games but all art; all media; all methods by which we grind our free time into segments for easier consumption; all these tools that the powers that be permit for us to forget that we're mere pawns, point toward other, sneaky ways. Ways to open that oyster. Wisdom is passed on, hidden and immortal, in never-ending story form.
The philosophers; the writers; the film makers; the songwriters; the singers; our bards, are not removed from us. They are us. They encapsulate their truth in their works and some (the lesser) sell it to us, they mean no harm, they must fund their place in society just like us.
Some (the greater) give it away when they can. They have 'risen' and think nothing of giving their greatest discoveries away for free for sheer love for humanity. Sadly these are the people who meet with 'unfortunate accidents', who are 'discredited', who die before their time, impoverished and appreciated later.
Little lessons surround us in story form and sometimes it takes them a long time to sink in. When they do it's worth it. Enjoy whatever you do in the moment. Don't think about time as an investment. Experience stories, tall tales and adventure. Play and allow yourself to laugh a bit like you did once, before you got all srs bsns on us.
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