 |
|
 |
 |
Today I would like to talk about online etiquette. Though I have no concrete proof, it is my theory that etiquette evolved to prevent people from battering each other to death in restaurants. Shortly after God created our race, or almost immediately after we evolved into a chef-like state (whichever floats your Ark), people began gathering in public places to have sit down meals together. After a time of brutal trial and error, people learned which was their salad spear, and which was their raw bloody giblet spear. An age of politeness and general well-being followed, during which there was a sheepskin napkin on every lap at dinner, and everyone excused themselves when they got up to leave the firepit.
Fast forward to today. Somewhere along the line many of our social graces have been discarded as either cumbersome or just downright silly. But in the new electronic age rules of etiquette are evolving daily, right beneath our noses. Last night as I was trekking through a dungeon with a band of cut-throat adventurers, I discovered a few of these rules. In order to give the non-gamers in the audience a little background, when you are out adventuring with a group in World of Warcraft and a rare item pops up, eveyone is forced to roll a die to see who the item goes to. I thought that was it, item pops up, I roll, if I win it, I win it, if not, better luck next time. I was so very wrong...
Here are the additional rules I discovered:
1. If the item that pops up to be rolled on isn't really useful to your class, you should probably pass on rolling on it. This will make your team-mates more inclined to let you have that shiny new axe you have been hoping to find when it comes up.
2. If everyone passes on the item, it isn't just "up for grabs". Apparently everyone else types /roll into the chat window and the person with the highest roll gets the item.
3. If you come across a chest, everyone does a /roll to see who gets that, too. Apparently it doesn't just go to whoever is the fastest or sneakiest... =)
I was fortunate enough to meet a great group last night who taught me all these rules, and who even abided by them. It was terrific, not only were we a highly effecient dungeon sweeping machine, but every member of the group was polite and willing to give up the treasure that the others wanted. It was in that moment that I finally saw the appeal of MMORPG's. Five players, working together, joking, and acting as one, in that dungeon I learned what makes these games so addictive, the feeling that everything you are doing is right. So for that I would like to thank Prior, Taamas, Unfred, and Sholeke. If anyone wants to see the screenshots from last night, I posted them at www.egoant.com/wow.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Last week I got up at my usual time, dropped my fiancee off at work, and since I had an extra hour before I was supposed to start work, I zipped over to the local Future Shop to see the PSP launch. I expected to see line-ups, news crews, and plenty of salivating gamers. My experience was much like the ones experienced all over North America... I got there and there were about six or seven people there, there was one guy from a local radio station, and all in all it was a pretty laid back affair. There were paper signs tacked up around the outside of the store that said, "Wrist band holders line up here", but nobody was bothering to issue wrist bands. I waited until they opened and made my way up to the display. I picked out a game and went to the counter to grab one of the machines, and then I stopped.
The numbers spun through my mind like a slot machine. Whirrrrrr...... Clunk. $299 for the device. Whirrrrr........ Clunk. $100 for to games. Whirrrrrr..... Clunk. Another $100 for a decent memory card, so I can use the media capabilities.
I stopped by the store today, less than a week later, and they still have some in stock, and now that the initial frenzy has passed there's just no way I can justify paying $500. Sanity, unfortunately, has prevailed. Sounds to me like the release has been poorly received all over.
Oh, and as a bit of comedy I noticed the other day that Everquest 2 has an interesting promotion going on with Pizza Hut. Apparently if you type /pizza in game you can order pizza without ever having to leave the game! The only problem, of course, is that you still have to get up to answer the door. Maybe I should start a specialized nursing service for people who have lost the use of their limbs because of Everquest. The nurses could tend to these Everquest Social Amputees, answering the door and feeding them when the pizza arrives, and changing their depends every so often.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
