The article is well written and concise.
I view the whole situation like this (if you'll allow an analogy)...
Every morning I take an express commuter bus to work. The trip generally lasts anywhere from 30-45 minutes depending on traffic. For the most part, my fellow commuters follow an unwritten, unspoken but generally accepted mode of conduct. Upon arriving at the bus shelter, everyone queues up politely. When the bus arrives, everyone boards the bus in an orderly fashion and takes a seat. During the ride, most people are immersed in the morning paper, current novel, or paperwork and some simply put on the mp3 player and close their eyes. Chatter is kept to a minimum and if someone needs to make or receive a cell phone call, it's usually limited to a quick and muffled statement like, "I'm running late. I'm on the bus and I'll be there as soon as I can." Therefore, the commute is generally quiet and comfortable. When the bus arrives at the terminal in Manhattan, everyone gets off the bus in an orderly fashion similar to deboarding an airliner; front seats first and so on to the back of the cabin. I can even take a quick nap on most days.
As I said, this is what usually happens. Occasionally, someone arrives at the bus shelter completely unaware of the adopted conventions and pushes to the head of the line when boarding, talks incessantly in a loud voice on their cell phone about their fantasy baseball league, belches, farts, gnaws on a liverwurst and onion sandwich (the stench is will make your eyes water) from a loud crinkley wrapper and generally make a nuisance of themselves until they push to the front of the bus to get off before anyone else. My personal favorites are the small groups of Women's Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society members who are on their monthly outing to Manhattan for a day of shopping and cackle in loud voices for the whole trip about Greta's gall bladder problems. Sometimes other commuters get so annoyed at the behavior that a heated argument ensues and I've even witnessed a fairly good approximation of a schoolyard shoving match. I simply turn up my mp3 player a few decibels and immerse myself in a book.
No matter where you go in life, you'll encounter some who have no regard for other people's sensibilities or comfort. It's one of the wonderful things about living in a "free" society.
I've played everything from Ultima Online to Everquest to Star Wars Galaxies to Guild Wars. I'm confident that the majority of players in this game are going to be polite, respectful and downright helpful. The Myst series attracts a different sort of gamer.
But, there will always be those people who do not fit into your preferred gaming style. It's one of the reasons that I've always avoided the more populated areas in any online game. If we are allowed to trade items in the game, you can be sure that any time you near a community center you'll hear incessant and distracting shouts of "Bahro Air Filter 5000 Guilders!" or something to that effect. The good thing about the Cavern is that I will not have to sit in an enclosed space with 56 of you to get from one point to another. I can simply get on with what I'm doing.
There will even be those people who, simply because they have a gametap account, will sign on to Uru Live and run in circles around the nearest "mysty" shouting "Sardo's got a small weiner!" over and over again. They will do it because they can. Not because they're bad or dumb, but because they're immature and bored.
Learn to tune them out. If you think the IC/OOC debate is heated, you should see some of the debates about PVP/non-PVP combat.
|