Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
As I'm sure most of our readers already know first-hand, online environments are a great place to meet new friends and socialize, but they're also excellent incubators for conflict. Monster-infested online first-person shooters are no exception.
Zombie survival simulator DayZ started its life as a user-created mod for ARMA 2, but its popularity lead to it becoming its own fully-fledged standalone game, and within that game you can find the best and worst of humanity. All the highs and lows of social interaction, both online and offline, are amplified in when resources are scarce and enemies are abundant. That's what makes hey are you cool, a Tumblr logging one player's social exchanges in DayZ, so novel and so horrifying all at once.
Take one of my favorite entries, for example:
In Berezino, I meet a guy named Christopher. He has no mic, but asks me in chat if I know where there’s a water pump. I show him, and he thanks me and offers to share his beans with me. We swap a couple items, and eventually part ways.
An hour later, I run into a warehouse and find two zombies standing over Christopher’s body. I know it was him: same green shirt and purple hat. After killing the zombies with my axe, I try to help Christopher, but he’s dead.
The blog is written by a games writer I admire tremendously, Christopher Livingston -- no relation to green-shirt Christopher mentioned above. That name may ring a few bells if you followed The Elder Strolls (his attempt to survive in Skyrim in as mundane a manner as possible) or Sim-plicity (his experiences through a variety of work simulation games). Livingston's at his best when he's poking fun at the pathetic and the absurd side of gaming, which hey are you cool has in spades. Though it's not fit for the faint of heart, be sure to check it out for yourself here.
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I took a look at the blog. And I thought the game and the player behavior it encourages extremely disturbing.
Frankly I'm sick of anti-civilization games. I'm tired of catering to the egos of griefers and Ayn Rand nonsense.
Posted by: melponeme_k | Tuesday, February 04, 2014 at 12:46 PM
@melponeme_k (quote)' I'm tired of catering to the egos of griefers and Ayn Rand nonsense.
Really people are able to debate different views,
Without the need to marginalize those who do not share the same views as 'griefers' by doing this we are able to learn more from one another,
Then we leave the debate further enriched by our ability to grow this gives us the ability to appreciate our fellow man further and gives way to a further lifetime of learning, not only of the mind but the soul of who we are so if we are to judge then our first act of judgment must be focused inwards, then that Judgment must be held to the standard of full honesty combined with selfish ambition to the motives of truth..Smiles
Posted by: Jess | Tuesday, February 04, 2014 at 01:15 PM