thoughts on RL and gaming

[Redwolf]

I think that team play ois where the reliablity aspect comes in. And the comparision with soccer applies.

If you partitipate in an event like JasonC's campaign he has to rely on people committing themself to the Sunday games with a pretty high priority, like a real life game.

Games where several players can play one side (like the upcoming TacOps 4) will also require that you apply measurements like if you was in a team "in lreal life" like for socccer. I put the "in real life" in quotes because your gamign has just become something as important and commitment-requiring like the direct tam. Just because you can't see the people doesn't mean they are second class to the soccer guys.

In my opinion, a tournament like the ones that Treeburst does are in-between. I do not agree that they are as loose as normal PBEMs. Even if no deadline has been announced.

[WineCape]

Gentlemen,

As originator of the Titans idea/tourney as well as being the sponsor of said Titans CMBO tourney, I surely hope that Treeburst and Matt Faller can work this issue out so we can get on with matters. Matt as well has Fionn has an open offer to Treeburst and TB alone must decide what he wants to do with these extended hands.

I fully understand Matt's banning decision as well as Fionn's reasons/e-mail(s) received from Mike/Treeburst and various interested parties. I have refrained from making any public comment until I was fully informed of the issues on both sides. This is what I have to say now...

Kind request:

Respect Matt's/BFC's wishes regarding his admin decision and please refrain from directly discussing the issue of Fionn/Treeburst/Matt's decision any further.

Note:

This is in no way any disrespect to the owner of this thread, who might have in all sincerety started this post with the sole intention of discussing just that what is stated in the title hereof.

Kind regards and good gaming gentlemen,

Charl Theron

[ August 05, 2002, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: WineCape ]

[Grisha]

All,

While I can say that it was a single thread in particular that got me to thinking about this (no offense to either Treeburst155 or Fionn, it's not for me to judge - I wasn't a part of it), it was further comments made in other threads regarding the lack of timeliness with opponents that finally prompted me to post my concerns.

The comments I've read so far in this thread are just what I'd hoped for from a community of adult wargamers. I agree that the understanding goes both ways, and while RL should be honored, players should show respect to their opponents by letting them know of any personal circumstances that may adversely impact a game or its schedule. I also agree that players need to decide just how much committment they can put into the game before taking on any game related responsibilities. I used to be greatly involved with a number of WWII online flight sim communities as a CO for an internet squadron, but with my increasing responsibilities in RL, I had to bow out from them. It was a move I didn't want to make, but one that had to be done if I was to show my respect to my squad and the community.

In any case, it really is one of mutual respect like most things in (real) life

Thanks for the responses.

[Madmatt]

Okay, it looks like several different viewpoints have now been expressed so I am going to close this one up but before I do let me just give my viewpoints on this.

To me it's all about obligations. If you agree to participate in something you should make a GOOD FAITH attempt to abide by that obligation. If the real world gets in the way then of course that has to take precidence and you shouldn't give a silly computer game a second thought. When the smoke clears and you can get back to more mundane things then all it should take a simple email to everyone else saying "Hey, sorry guys, had a real life issue, now where were we?".

Much harder to do, but even more important is for everyone else not to get bent outa shape when suddenly the guy they were feverishly swapping PBEM files with suddenly doesn't return emails anymore. Just be patient and ASSUME that something more important came up and TRUST that the other party will let you know when they can resume. Extend a little faith in your opponent and expect the same from them if something in your life comes up.

It is real life people, relatives get sick and die, jobs get lost, families pick up and move, internet service provides flake out, email addresses books get corrupt, computer systems go down, all of these can cause a prolonged outage and when they do we need to all be understanding that whatever did make the other guy dissapear was more than likely a hell of a lot more important than a game!

I can't fathom how bent out of shape people can get on this issue or most issues brought up here. People have posted about how angry they get when their opponents won't send in a surrender file. So what?!? Its a game, and if its so obvious that you won just be satisfied that you smacked the other guy silly and find someone else to play. See that last word there? PLAY...Its a game, something to divert our attention from the real world for a while. It is supposed to be fun and hopefully entertaining and if we did our jobs right possibly even slightly enlightning.

I am continually amazed at some of the personallities that post here in that they can be such fans of the game and yet get some angry about the most trivial things the next moment. Its like they get up and say "Oh god I LOVE this game, but everyone else around me can GO TO HELL if they don't see my viewpoint EXACTLY like I do!" Of course those that do share the same viewpoint are often called sychophants or zombies or whatever other slang word of the day they are using on uselessnet.

But I digress. Interaction with fellow game players is meant to be a fun, if not rather silly way to spend some time blowing the hell outa one anothers simulated game pieces. Just try and keep that in perspective.

Thanks, now go out and get some sun!

Madmatt