Everyone wants to win

[_______________Xuric]

Hi. I look here every night, as I'm pretty addicted to AO, I have on and off obsessions with MMPORGs, although it helps that it's cheap and burns a lot of time and covers accomplishment and social interaction. I'm out of school for the moment, 23 and employed, but I was going for psychology, I plan on a Masters in about 4 more years, so I have somewhere around 4 more months to burn until spring, I find that being a 'computer nerd' is a hell of a lot more cost-effective than being social, I spent upwards of 50 bucks a night going out, and finally just cut most of my acquaintance ties off and just have a couple close friends now. And this costs me 13 bucks a month

Anyhow, I digress. I spend time at work every night looking at the forums, as I have a night-time cubicle job so it's pretty easy and I spend roughly 2 hours per night actually working I had a bit of a thought the other day, and it only vaguely relates to AO and FC, so I put it in OT before it got moved there My thought was this, I love this game, and like all other MMPORGs out there there's of course a question at the levels you want to 'win' at, namely 200 in this game, and that question is 'Why bother?'. I think that's actually a pretty easy question to ask. In reality, an MMPORG is an alternate world that you 'live' in. Maybe everyone isn't as existential as I am, but I see the same thing in life. Why bother going to school if you're just gonna get a job and work until you retire and subsequently die? And that's an ideal situation. For me, I used this question to avoid actually making any decisions about anything. Finally, I decided to do it for a sense of personal accomplishment. An analogy here would be why level/get better gear/improve skills in game if it just leads to a brick wall with only your own imagination fueling you in the end?

I guess my question is, is this an American thing? I've noticed everyone wants to 'win'. I found myself getting snippy with a GM the other day when my org tax function was broken somehow and taxing my members. Because you feel like you just lost when you hit a brick wall with them. I know a sociological question attached to an MMPORG is a bit odd, but I'm curious as to why people play. For me it's a way to burn time, have a sense of accomplishment (granted I realize it's false but there ARE other people on the same playing field), competition, and social interaction. Plus it's cheap as hell. I wonder how these people who play to 'win' manage to stick around as long as they do. The forums are a great example of that. 2/3 threads are whining about something or another, when, despite their draconian CS policies, FC has made a great game and support it fairly well.

Why do you play this game? And where are you from? I'm theorizing to myself that an instant gratification society has made me lax and expect to 'win' in every situation, and to have everything handed to me if I don't feel like trying. Anyhow, I could go on for hours but I'm going to stop there. Where are you from and why do you play?

[_______________Xuric]

He said a word we don't understand!

[__________Maxtor 1-7]

I'm from the US and have nothing better to do.

I don't plan on 'winning' in this game, btw

[______________hobbes]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Xuric


Anyhow, I could go on for hours but I'm going to stop there. Where are you from and why do you play? [/QUOT

Xuric,

You should check this thread out on where people are from. I don't remember who started it, but I was struck by the maturity of the poster.


http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...hreadid=17747f

[______________Dysart]

Hiya. I myself have played 3 characters to lvl 80 and then started over each time. Winning, which we'll get to later, is the furthest thing from my mind. Why play the game then?

Because it is that. A game. One I happen to enjoy. I've always enjoyed computer games and especially online games. I like online games for two reasons. One, they are more open ended than most games. Two, there are more people. The more people the better as far as I'm concerned.

About winning. Has anyone ever played the ancient *blows off the dust* paper and pencil role-playing games. Good. Now, how many people have won. Mmmhmm. You can't win. You play, but can't "win". Yet hundreds of thousands of people played and still play them. Why? Becuase they enjoy them. Because it is something that they find either relaxing or stimulationg or both. Because they are, in a word, fun.

So let's stop worrying about who's winning, who would roxxor another's boxxors, who has Grid Nullity Uber Rare loot drop cause they camped it for 70 hours, and start having fun.