I’ve been going through the second draft edits of Black Mask & Pale Rider. And I’ve been placing them in an InDesign file, and exporting each part to a PDF File. For ease of read, here’s the second draft of Black Mask & Pale Rider. To kick things off, here’s the series prologue.
Black Mask & Pale Rider: The Prologue
After a long day at work (a satisfyingly long day at work) it’s good to come home, kick back and relax. Make myself some supper, have a cold one, especially now that the weather has gotten warmer, and do some household chores, watch a movie or even log onto one of the MMO’s I play.
Yeah, I’m a gamer. Not a hardcore gamer, I only play a few games online (three, to be exact). Guild Wars, Neverwinter Nights (that’s 1 not 2), and City of Heroes. Games are something to be relaxed about, take some time and do something creative, join in with a group of other players and escape into the fantasy of the game. But a few times, thanks to one thing or another, the game can become even more frustrating than real life. That really shouldn’t happen.
When a game becomes so frustrating that you start getting mad at your computer/console/whatever, then it’s time to back up, and realize a few things. The first being that perhaps it’s time to put the game aside and read a book. Yes, that age old thing that we did back in the day before we decided it was cooler to go blind while reading off a computer screen.
When you start screaming at others over Ventrillo/TeamSpeak/Skype/whatever, then it’s time to back up, and leave the game for a while. When things escalate to that point, then the game isn’t fun anymore. Too many times I’ve seen, heard, been involved in arguments about one thing or another. Each time, those involved in the argument (even me, I will admit, I’m not completely without fault in some of these situations) did not stop to realize one thing.
IT’S A FUCKING GAME!
Too many times people have gotten into little spats over the dumbest of things. In professional sports there are arguments. Managers argue with umpires in baseball, coaches argue with referees in hockey and football. But in MMO’s there’s the GMs (game managers). And there’s significantly less than on a football field or a hockey rink. They can’t be there right away to diffuse situations. So it’s up to players to diffuse conflict between each other. Usually it often escalates into (or drops down to) name calling. “Douchebag” “dickhead” and “jerk” are some of the more polite terms I’ve heard. When the potty mouth and childish name calling begins, that’s a cue when a person just needs to walk away. Is your petty argument over a digital currency really as important as getting groceries for the week? No, it isn’t, but try arguing that point with those in the game. It’s like running headlong into a brick wall.
If you do walk away from a game for a bit, no matter what the reason, don’t feel obligated to inform others in the game. Your life comes first, and that’s all that matters. I have made some great friendships through social networks, MMO’s and such, and if I suddenly disappear, don’t think that I’ve gone and done something drastic. I’m probably just chillin’ and takin’ a break. Granted, Twitter never frustrates me. The people I follow, and those who follow me, are some pretty cool people indeed, and a lotta times some funny conversations will take place. Such as PB&J M&M’s (Twitterers will remember that one, and yes, we in Canada are hoarding our PB&J M&Ms in a bid to continue taking over the world).
If you’re one of the people who knows someone who walked away from the game, for God’s sake, DON’T PANIC! If you know someone online well enough, then you probably have their email. Zip off an email to them and ask how things are going. Make the question about them, don’t make an email filled with “did I do something wrong” because then it’s no longer about them, it’s about you. People respond better if you show some genuine concern for them, and don’t try to make it into something that turns back onto you.
I’ve had this happen in the past (been on both sides of the fence on this one), and the process was a learning one. I made mistakes, I learned to deal with things, and came out looking at things with a much better perspective. Always treat the game as just a game, the other players as people you enjoy playing with. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to cruise through the MLS listings, because DAAAAMN! there’s a sweet character home in Outlook that I wanna check out.
Until next time…
…keep ’em flyin’!
Zodi Highjack
After reading this, I was so upset that I couldn’t even think about getting back into City of Heroes. People get their panties in a bunch and shit hits the fan at maxium velocity.
As Tim said, It’s a fucking game. Plain and simple, you aren’t paid to play it, you pay to play it. So really if someone is going to get upset because of stupid crap then maybe they should take a break and perhaps look at the bigger picture.
As for the emails, I’m a firm believer in if you piss me off enough, I want nothing more to do with you, even if I can’t remember what the fight was about years later. Sure, I hold grudges, but after a while I let them go. This prevents my hair from turning grey early and getting stressed out over something. If so and so decide they want to make contact with me, then I am usually pretty formal. Sometimes, depending on the severity I’ll let it go and welcome the person back. Other times, I take a look and realize hmmm this has happened more than once, I don’t think I want to be involved with this person any longer. I then move on. I don’t dwell on what I’ve lost since I’ve only got more to gain in the long run.
When Tim and I fight, it’s kinda of funny, we’ll bicker back and forth say mean and nasty things but within twenty minutes I’m calling him and apologizing or I call him to give him a bit more and we end up getting a lot of shit out on the table and discussing it like adults. He and I don’t argue nor do we scream and yell (much) we just have
very heated conversations.
People need to learn to grow up and stop getting their tampon fuses clipped so short they go off like a fire cracker during Canada day/4th of July celebrations. Games are meant to be fun. When people end up upset, angry, bitter, sad, or generally unhappy, then it stops being fun. Really people, if you want to take some hate out, go jump into a halo game and shoot some things. I promise you will feel better after fifteen minutes of a shooter game.
Keep it real and rockin’
❤
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