P
Pathetic Sheep (Little Upsilon)
16 Mar 2009 08:37
Link
Imagine a real world building. The sign on the front included the word "supermarket" and the door said "open". The door opened automatically when you entered. The building had isles of food and you filled a cart (available in rows at the door). You then wheeled it back towards the front door. When approaching the isle an angry young man in an apron scowls and shouts "HEY! IF YOU PUSH THAT CART IN MY LAIN I AM GOING TO CHARGE YOU FOR EVERY ITEM IN IT". After acknowledging and placing an item on the conveyor belt the man gets red in the face and screams "HEY A__HOLE I SAID IF YOU BRING THAT D__M CART IN MY LANE I WILL CHARGE YOU. NOW F__K OFF! Don't push me! I mean it!"
My dilemma is that I am not sure what the appropriate response would be. Where I come from, swearing and yelling at people is not appropriate public behavior. I do not go to supermarkets in order to annoy clerks. In the U.S. I normally expect that a clerk rings me up and says something like "thank you" and/or "have a nice day" with a smile. In Germany I expect the clerk will slap the change on the counter and say "your welcome" [bitte]. There is a range of possibilities but the example I gave above is way out of that range.
Last August I discovered Simcountry. I had some free time to check out a few games and the game I had been wasting time on got stale. The advertisement and the start pages looked like a war game. I tried playing for awhile, read documentation, got familiar with the game mechanics and it still looked like a war game to me. Things like the numerous pictures/icons of tanks and planes or maybe the fact that half the commodities are weapons help to create and maintain that impression.
By September I joined a large federation on White Giant expecting that federations would have wars. The federation had a web site with discussion boards. On those boards people talked about potential wars and preparing for wars and I remained under the impression that one might be imminent. I eventually realized that the fed I joined had a few people who were very good at negotiations. The foreign minister was especially fanatic about crushing every war opportunity that almost came our/my way.
Up to November I was entertaining myself sacking CCCs and assimilating the weapons and cash into my growing war machine. When W3C changed the reset rules, sacking CCC became useless. So I eventually broke ties with my fed. I took stations on most continents so I could prep for a good fight regardless of where it appeared. Eventually it became apparent that White Giant is not a good place to find competition. Reading the LU and general threads of the Simcountry forum gave me the impression that LU had a more active war gaming environment.
Shortly after xmas I set up a country on LU. I started putting effort into build up in late January and February. I had a forced break in mid to late February. I expected/hoped March would create some sort of interesting scenario.
I would like to spell this out in the hopes that it can be understood. I bought a country on LU in order to find "good wars". The purpose of my empire on LU is to house the military I intend to use in wars. The economies in the countries in my empire on LU are intended to facilitate the construction of armies that will be used in wars. The only value that my armies have is their function as pieces in a war game. Preservation of pieces in a war game makes sense only because that allows me to continue enjoying the game.
I understand that causing massive death in the real world is reprehensible. Throwing away lives for entertainment is unacceptable behavior. I also do not gain real satisfaction from ruining real people's day(s). However, Simpeople are expendable and I believe a competitive gaming environment is a good thing. The principle "do unto others as you would have them do" does, in fact, make me think I should prepare for war with other players who choose to play war games.
Having said that I would like to state that certain threats are simply not at all intimidating to me. If I go to the tennis courts I do not expect to have to negotiate at the net. I would actually hope the other player serves and/or returns the ball. Smacking tennis balls at paralyzed people would be less enjoyable than a well matched tennis game. If my opponent does not want to move pieces I do not see any reason to set up a chess board. I have never played a chess game where my opponent tried to intimidate me with vulgar language. I just try to take the center of the board. I expect, hope for, and enjoy vigorous opposition.
I have not intended to "call anyones bluff". I also have not intended to insult anyone's playing ability. Nor do I intend to dismiss or belittle the size of any pile you may have accumulated. I am not in the habit of deliberately harassing or annoying other players. However, my purpose for every asset I own on LU is to be used and probably destroyed in wars. If someone does not want to fight a war he/she is welcome to request that I do not attack him or her. The in-game message system is a good way to reach me.
I may eventually search for a new war game. If I leave Simcountry it will either be because of real world time pressure or I may leave when I find a game that has more competitive interaction. A vigorous assault on my LU empire would likely give me a good reasons to build a new one.
Where I grew up we tried to play hard. After athletic games we always shook hands and said "good game". I think the practice is highly appropriate in internet games. If we fight a war and you sincerely believe my opposition was too weak and unworthy of your time then I might feel the need to apologize.
My dilemma is that I am not sure what the appropriate response would be. Where I come from, swearing and yelling at people is not appropriate public behavior. I do not go to supermarkets in order to annoy clerks. In the U.S. I normally expect that a clerk rings me up and says something like "thank you" and/or "have a nice day" with a smile. In Germany I expect the clerk will slap the change on the counter and say "your welcome" [bitte]. There is a range of possibilities but the example I gave above is way out of that range.
Last August I discovered Simcountry. I had some free time to check out a few games and the game I had been wasting time on got stale. The advertisement and the start pages looked like a war game. I tried playing for awhile, read documentation, got familiar with the game mechanics and it still looked like a war game to me. Things like the numerous pictures/icons of tanks and planes or maybe the fact that half the commodities are weapons help to create and maintain that impression.
By September I joined a large federation on White Giant expecting that federations would have wars. The federation had a web site with discussion boards. On those boards people talked about potential wars and preparing for wars and I remained under the impression that one might be imminent. I eventually realized that the fed I joined had a few people who were very good at negotiations. The foreign minister was especially fanatic about crushing every war opportunity that almost came our/my way.
Up to November I was entertaining myself sacking CCCs and assimilating the weapons and cash into my growing war machine. When W3C changed the reset rules, sacking CCC became useless. So I eventually broke ties with my fed. I took stations on most continents so I could prep for a good fight regardless of where it appeared. Eventually it became apparent that White Giant is not a good place to find competition. Reading the LU and general threads of the Simcountry forum gave me the impression that LU had a more active war gaming environment.
Shortly after xmas I set up a country on LU. I started putting effort into build up in late January and February. I had a forced break in mid to late February. I expected/hoped March would create some sort of interesting scenario.
I would like to spell this out in the hopes that it can be understood. I bought a country on LU in order to find "good wars". The purpose of my empire on LU is to house the military I intend to use in wars. The economies in the countries in my empire on LU are intended to facilitate the construction of armies that will be used in wars. The only value that my armies have is their function as pieces in a war game. Preservation of pieces in a war game makes sense only because that allows me to continue enjoying the game.
I understand that causing massive death in the real world is reprehensible. Throwing away lives for entertainment is unacceptable behavior. I also do not gain real satisfaction from ruining real people's day(s). However, Simpeople are expendable and I believe a competitive gaming environment is a good thing. The principle "do unto others as you would have them do" does, in fact, make me think I should prepare for war with other players who choose to play war games.
Having said that I would like to state that certain threats are simply not at all intimidating to me. If I go to the tennis courts I do not expect to have to negotiate at the net. I would actually hope the other player serves and/or returns the ball. Smacking tennis balls at paralyzed people would be less enjoyable than a well matched tennis game. If my opponent does not want to move pieces I do not see any reason to set up a chess board. I have never played a chess game where my opponent tried to intimidate me with vulgar language. I just try to take the center of the board. I expect, hope for, and enjoy vigorous opposition.
I have not intended to "call anyones bluff". I also have not intended to insult anyone's playing ability. Nor do I intend to dismiss or belittle the size of any pile you may have accumulated. I am not in the habit of deliberately harassing or annoying other players. However, my purpose for every asset I own on LU is to be used and probably destroyed in wars. If someone does not want to fight a war he/she is welcome to request that I do not attack him or her. The in-game message system is a good way to reach me.
I may eventually search for a new war game. If I leave Simcountry it will either be because of real world time pressure or I may leave when I find a game that has more competitive interaction. A vigorous assault on my LU empire would likely give me a good reasons to build a new one.
Where I grew up we tried to play hard. After athletic games we always shook hands and said "good game". I think the practice is highly appropriate in internet games. If we fight a war and you sincerely believe my opposition was too weak and unworthy of your time then I might feel the need to apologize.
