Gaming mentality:
Hello! Unbeknownst to most of you I'd like to ask that you please pay attention to what I wish to talk about, rudely skipping a lengthy introduction other than that I'm not the more known 'Emperor Shin,' though it seems we got our names from the same source. :)
The 'gaming mentality' is what I'd like to address with this post, specifically one that relates to the grouping that naturally comes from creating and joining leagues as well as the fact that we're all individuals coming from all sorts of places meeting in a game like this and how that affects us. I'm sure you all understand by now that Balur isn't going to show his face (anytime soon anyway, I still keep some hope) and let us have a go at him personally, so we can only focus on each other playing this game.
Being no expert by any means, I still think it's safe to say that given the way we are all different as individuals, that it is a tall order to ask of everyone to get along. There is a mentality heading many players' actions in this game and it's really sad to see how prevalent it is. This is a game; Plarium has handed us an opportunity to play it, so why is it in the state it is? - Human nature would be the given answer and it probably has much to do with it, but I won't easily dismiss the potential solutions to making this game become a better experience even so.
I read once that someone complained about this game lacking a 'gentleman spirit' between us as gamers. I agree with that sentiment: Too quickly do we dismiss each other in favour of our league, friends and whatever priorities we have logging in to play the game. We simply forget that this is a game. People focus on spending money to simply beat down on each other and the strategic part of the game is lost. Your meeting with another person is diminished to "My league and everyone else outside of it" and that's a tragedy if anything.
I've been a Marshal for only a couple of months and I have gotten to see a lot of things I'd rather not. As a player I've had death threats directed towards me of many kinds, this is the internet, so I'm not exactly shocked to be honest. There is a sunny side to playing this game however, even as a Marshal, and Plarium has, knowing it or not, provided us an opportunity to play strategically, outside spending money. Sure I speak as a Marshal of a somewhat big league, but I also speak as someone who enjoys the thrill of seeing my plans come to fruition. You'll find yourself deflated sooner or later if you think money is all there is to playing this game and enjoy it while playing.
I want to have fun playing this game and as it stands now I know the means certainly exist. It's just the mentality of "we and them" that gets in the way of potentially making it even more fun as well as money enabling/reinforcing it to some extent.
I don't know why you decided to join the game, but I know why I did and now also why I want to continue playing it. I'm a person like you; I have feelings, fears and make friends whom I don't even know the faces of. So is there a need for all the hard feelings and dislike between us all? I don't think so. We grow as individuals through interaction, whether in a proper direction or not, change comes to us with every meeting, no matter how miniscule. Can't we at least acknowledge each other's resolution to play?
I just don't like to see how there's even a need to aggravate each other over, objectively looking, small matters. I'd rather log out from this game with a good aftertaste, but somehow it's hard with all the strenuous relations.
I'm aware of my verbose nature, I speak too much, but that's because I worry about not being able to convey my thoughts, which is even harder to do on the net considering lack of a personal meeting. Anyway that's my rant and I hope at least someone can start playing with a little bit less stress after having read this.
Thank you for reading as far as you did, even if you didn't finish it all. :)
- DJ Shin
*Plarium isn't a sole entity, just want to make sure you all understand that I know that Plarium is made up of individuals just like us, the community. The difference is our positions.