Cartoon Friends
In MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, you can really develop some cool online friendships. One example is my character, Lightguard and a Warrior named Redriver. We first met and teamed up in the game when we were barely beginning at level 15 or so. We played together and conquered challenges through the mid 20's. We became pretty good online friends, but he disappeared after a number of months and I just went about my business. Then, after 8-10 months, here he is again asking for my help with some end-game content.
He talked to his guild-mates about me like an old friend, and it was really nice knowing that he remembered me as a good player and an honest person....meaning I won't steal things.
Online gaming has gone into the mainstream and it is giving our already-interesting culture another layer of complexity, especially on the issue of trust. How far should online friendships go? What do you reveal about yourself in conversation? How much should you share? The rules are already taking shape, and i will post my thoughts as they develop.
posted by Mike Sassman at
1:06 AM
1 Comments:
In this last midterm election, I really tried to pay attention and get some cold facts out of all of the silly rhetoric. I have come to some very different conclusions than Mike Sassman.
1) Americans are fickle. They only see what they want to see today, and they have very little memory when it comes to history. This is best exemplified by the economy issue. Do you remember how you felt in the 1990s? I was very happy! My wages were increasing, the stock market was at record highs, and the federal debt was DECREASING. As the years passed, so many Americans have forgotten about what happened. Some people even start developing theories that actually blame Bill Clinton for our problems in the ’00 Bush years. Why are we this way?
2) Americans feel invincible (sort of but not really). We have such lukewarm support for this war because Bush lied to us about the reasons behind it. Remember weapons of mass destruction? Our president told us right after the 9/11 attack (that Iraq had nothing to do with) that we should go about our daily lives and not live in fear. Then a mere three years later he (by the narrowest reelection margin ever) won reelection by telling us to FEAR a U.S. run by John Kerry.
3) Americans really don't care about the rest of the world. Unless it has something to do with our daily routine, we generally don't care about it. You can’t blame us, however, when we follow the lead of our President. President Bush has removed us from negotiated treaties, called some of our longest term allies names when they didn’t support his views, and plain and simply said in that insulting Texan drawl, “You are either with us or against us.” Maybe someday we will wake up and again be global citizens . . . our maybe we DID wake up—on November 7, 2006!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home