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(Knee) Jerk!
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Doesn't it seem like
everybody just shouts at each other nowadays?
I think it is because conflict is drama, drama is entertaining, and
entertainment is marketable.
Finding consensus and common ground is dull! Nobody wants to watch a
civilized discussion that acknowledges ambiguity and complexity. We
want to see fireworks!
We want the sense of solidarity and identity that comes from having our
interests narrowed and exploited by like-minded zealots!
Talk show hosts. Political candidates, news programs, special interest
groups...They all become successful by reducing debates to the level of
shouted rage. Nothing gets solved, but we're all entertained.
-Calvin to Hobbes (Watterson,
1996)
For a young child, Calvin is really on to something there.
Our society has conditioned us so that our knee-jerk response is to be
a jerk! When we play Vanguard,
we expect every group that rolls into our area to try to steal a mob or
a resource. We're conditioned to look for the drama.
I mean, which story gets you more attention and sympathy in /gu?
A. "This group just came into my dungeon and stole the mob I've been
camping for 3 hours."
B. "This group just came into my dungeon looking for the same mob I've
been camping for 3 hours. We talked about it and decided to team up to
kill it. They helped me, and now I am going to stay here with them and
help them."
Dalmarus has started a conversation over in
our forums. He wants to know if etiquette on contested mobs is a
thing of the past. Check Saoraid's
response for a glimpse of the golden days of 5-7 years ago. Illusive
says it still happens on Seradon. What about your experiences? Feel
free to join the conversation. You can bet Darmus will feature this
thread in the Weekly Hot Topics later this week.
Speaking of this week, I have an idea. Remember the craze of niceness
that swept the nation for a month or so after Pay It Forward hit the theaters?
Let's try to recreate that this week in Vanguard. Just one week is all I am
asking. Let's ask questions first. "Are you harvesting here?" "Are you
waiting on mob x?" Let's eschew drama for just one week and see if our
playing experience are any less stressful.
Try it for one week. If you don't like the results, you can always go
back to a "survival of the fittest" mentality. I Told
You So.
References
Watterson, Bill. It's A Magical World.
Kansas City: Universal Press Syndicate, 1996.
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