Vewy well. I shall... Welease... Wogahh!

So we just completed work on our Pirates of the Burning Sea Strategy Guide. (Yes, it's shameless self promotion, we know. But since our lobotomy we've been unaffected by shame. Or poisoned berries. Is that weird?) And, like we do whenever we complete a new project, we stepped away from the game and took a vacation of sorts. It was during this time of ascetic meditation when we found ourselves reflecting upon the nature of the MMO experience. (And by ascetic meditation and reflection we mean that time of the night immediately after waking up on the linoleum but before the realization of the pressing need to go to the E.R. again and have our stomach's pumped with that delightful, if slightly chalky, charcoal ipecac.)

A typical gamer might spend several hours at a time playing their chosen MMO. Whether they are doing solo missions or grinding, or whether they are part of a group, playing these games is almost entirely a solitary experience. Even if you are using a headset and talking to other members of your group while you play, you aren't really interacting with people. You are controlling a digital avatar that is interacting with other digital avatars who are similarly controlled by other players. It's kind of like parallel play, that stage of child development where the kids play next to each other instead of with each other. Yeah, you are interacting with people, but can you really say you are really playing with them? At best, you hear their voices.

And yes, I know what you're saying "Well, isn't that good enough for the blind?" And even if you are quoting The Guild, it still isn't the same thing. This kind of MMO interaction offers a sense of community, but no more than that of ham radio operators or playing chess by mail. You are simulating a social interaction, one where you might be able to convince a part of yourself that you are sharing experiences and ideas and thus are forming a basic societal unite, but it's a bit of smoke and mirrors, a self imposed prison cell, of sorts. You remain solitary, yet interact with people in some way, and thus come to believe you are not solitary. It's the proverbial carrot held in front of the donkey. You can see the thing you want, and you can make progress as you chase after it, but you'll never get it.

That's all for now. Till next time, True Believers.