gideon
Mar 8, 2001, 05:32 AM
Jihatsu writes, "It’s tough trying to prove your point in 52 alphanumeric characters."I once had a debate with another player online about many topics, but two in particular, which I’d like to share with you and see how you feel about it.
Somehow we got on the topic of PSO, online games, and sociality. My argument was that being in the game, talking to people, giving help, communicating, was being social. She made points in which the player is not actually interacting with these people, you don’t know them, and you can’t literally say you’re being social with them. She referred to PSO players as if they were not physical people. I thought she was wrong. When you turn on your Dreamcast and connect to PSO, what are you expecting? There is absolutely no way in PSO that you can not be social. The bare minimum would be a simple “help” when you die. (And no, scape dolls do not count. Unless you have thousands of them on hand, there is going to be a point where you have to ask for help.) And that’s it. That bars thanking people, that bars saying your welcome, it cuts out absolutely everything else that everyone does normally. It bars trading. It bars learning about the people you’re playing with. It bars making friends. It defies one of the main points of the game: teamwork. Sonic Team spent a lot of time devising the translator so you could communicate. To say that PSO is not a social activity is not looking at the plain facts.
But, in essence, I can barely understand what she was trying to say. You can’t touch these people, you don’t know them, you can’t see their reactions to how you respond. Text can only go so far when communicating. Which brings me to my next point..
She also said that the majority of female characters are not female players. For some reason, I have a hard time believing this. Yes, I’m sure male players have created female characters ‘cos they’re cute, but 3/4ths, if not more, of the female characters I’ve ever encountered HAVE been females. Of course, there’s no real way I can prove this, but have you ever noticed that males and females talk differently? It’s a subtle change, but if you study it for a while (try in a normal chat room), you can differentiate between the male and female people. Yes, there are convincing switches between the two, but it’s usually noticeable. I wonder how many females would actually consider creating a “masturbation” animation using symbol chats. Any of you girls? I guess that’s another tip-off. O_o
Perhaps between us we clouded the lobby with meaningless crap that no one really cares about. I love debates, I love seeing the whole point of view. How can you not say PSO is social? I’ve made so many friends that I interact with on a daily basis, just as I do in real life. Perhaps this is not quite the same, as I said, text can only go so far, but it’s more than sitting in my room by myself, picking my nose. Maybe my cat would like to be social with me then.
Somehow we got on the topic of PSO, online games, and sociality. My argument was that being in the game, talking to people, giving help, communicating, was being social. She made points in which the player is not actually interacting with these people, you don’t know them, and you can’t literally say you’re being social with them. She referred to PSO players as if they were not physical people. I thought she was wrong. When you turn on your Dreamcast and connect to PSO, what are you expecting? There is absolutely no way in PSO that you can not be social. The bare minimum would be a simple “help” when you die. (And no, scape dolls do not count. Unless you have thousands of them on hand, there is going to be a point where you have to ask for help.) And that’s it. That bars thanking people, that bars saying your welcome, it cuts out absolutely everything else that everyone does normally. It bars trading. It bars learning about the people you’re playing with. It bars making friends. It defies one of the main points of the game: teamwork. Sonic Team spent a lot of time devising the translator so you could communicate. To say that PSO is not a social activity is not looking at the plain facts.
But, in essence, I can barely understand what she was trying to say. You can’t touch these people, you don’t know them, you can’t see their reactions to how you respond. Text can only go so far when communicating. Which brings me to my next point..
She also said that the majority of female characters are not female players. For some reason, I have a hard time believing this. Yes, I’m sure male players have created female characters ‘cos they’re cute, but 3/4ths, if not more, of the female characters I’ve ever encountered HAVE been females. Of course, there’s no real way I can prove this, but have you ever noticed that males and females talk differently? It’s a subtle change, but if you study it for a while (try in a normal chat room), you can differentiate between the male and female people. Yes, there are convincing switches between the two, but it’s usually noticeable. I wonder how many females would actually consider creating a “masturbation” animation using symbol chats. Any of you girls? I guess that’s another tip-off. O_o
Perhaps between us we clouded the lobby with meaningless crap that no one really cares about. I love debates, I love seeing the whole point of view. How can you not say PSO is social? I’ve made so many friends that I interact with on a daily basis, just as I do in real life. Perhaps this is not quite the same, as I said, text can only go so far, but it’s more than sitting in my room by myself, picking my nose. Maybe my cat would like to be social with me then.