I’m sorry. I’ve been playing MMOs since I was in highschool. Hell, I’ve been roleplaying (first on forums, then later in MMOs) since I was old enough to realize I could lie about my age to get onto the neopets forums. I just can’t fathom any group of people being this obsessed with an online game. It’s actually kind of creepy.
It’s less ‘We’re just MMO buddies’ and more ‘We met each other through an MMO, and now we’re all really good pals’. People doing things like dropping a few bucks here and there to commission artwork and such really isn’t that rare when you’re dealing with roleplayers, and these guys seem to just be using any reason as an excuse to hang out together.
And, like they keep reminding us, Rachel was eight months old. That’s almost a year of getting to know each other, $120 if subscription fees, and suchlike. Some people won’t make connections that easily. These four are the kind that do.
I think they might really have become close real life buddies, since they seem quite comfortable to use each others real life names.
I’m with my WoW guild since early 2008, and while my best friend within the guild and me are using our real life names when communicating, with the others it just feels somewhat strange not to use the character names I use every day on voice chat, even when meeting them in real life. :)
The level of role playing they seem to be participating in is not like me jumping on my druid to blast a few when I’m bored. They actually invested a piece of their soul into creating a fully fleshed out person with a history, friends (old friends, new friends, lost friends) family, ideals and goals that have changed over time as they learned more about how the world works and their place in it.
I’d of been a little sad if someone took that silly druid from me before I was done with them and I never roleplayed out the little story I had for them in my head during the creation process even a little. If she invested infinitely more into her nun and was apparently using her to work out some old issues I could definitely see the huge loss that would be.
As far as commitment it would probably feel like the creators of this comic would feel if I could somehow erase one of the main characters from existence on these pages and prevent them from ever using that exact character again or completing their part of the story. Sure they could fill the gap with a different character or just bulk up the other’s roles but I bet suddenly waking up to it would bring at least one of them close to tears…
She was like a writer. Rachel was her opus. And somebody came by in the night and burned all her copies of it.
I’ve met alot of real life friends thru playing various MMOs. I see no obsession involved with talking about a game you enjoy with your friends. I’m sure you know people who do *nothing* but talk endlessly about sports & sports stats with their friends. Its the same drive aimed in a different direction. And at the end of it all;being pissed with a character being deleted is something I’d talk about endlessly.
Please don’t read more into what I said than exactly what I said. A nerd is a nerd. You want the best of both worlds, but you can’t have it both ways. Don’t get defensive about the mere existence of nerds. I am a nerd. The most typical type of nerd who likes orcs and warriors and wizards. Or maybe the better word is geek, but only a nerd cares about the semantics of nerds and geeks anyway.
Someone who is an actual veteran roleplayer, and ergo, a nerd, one of the most typical sorts of nerds, would understand caring about the loss of character and being enthralled by a fantasy story.
I call bullshit. Someone who has “been playing MMOs since I was in highschool” and “been roleplaying (first on forums, then later in MMOs) since I was old enough to realize I could lie about my age to get onto the neopets forums” and then follows it with “making friends with fellow players and being upset that their character was deleted is creepy” is clearly bullshitting.
It’s like someone saying, “I’m sorry. I’ve been playing football since highschool, I got into a team in college, and I’ve been kicking around a ball since I was old enough to stand” then following that with “and I can’t fathom anyone making strong friendships with others through football or being upset when their football signed by [insert famous athlete] was destroyed. It’s actually kind of creepy.”
“guest” just has some asinine opinion about nerds and tries to legitimize it by pretending he is one.
These are roleplay buddies, and Rachel was the medium through which their friendship took shape. Frankly, the idea that someone would find this ‘creepy’ honestly sounds pretty heartless and cold to me.
As an RP writer with role play buddies, true facts; I get cookies in the mail and gifts on Christmas. When you’ve told several hundred pages of story or more with someone and spent countless hours story boarding and the like, you tend to make some friendships that last outside the game.
…No clue how it works in MMO RPs, but I’d imagine it to be similar.
How dare these losers make friends with each other! They are supposed to be in their mother’s basements or at the very least grumbling unhappy under a bridge somewhere!
I don’t know about gaming but I’m a member of a professional IT site, TechRepublic. Due to site changes the membership has deteriorated, but at one point the members were as close as any group could be. Births, deaths, weddings, divorces, promotions and firings were celebrated or condemned as appropriate by hundreds of active users. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the site, the staff organized a member meet-up. Between 30 and 35 of us made the trip to Louisville, KY, some from as far away as the British Isles.
It could be part of a spell… the more people that think this place is “real” or care about it, the stronger the spell becomes, and the quest for godhood becomes that much more easier.
“I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of the imagination. What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth – whether it existed before or not -”
I think it would be nice to put in a link to the page in which we see the people next to their avatars. Rachel is obvious, and Emrl looks like his avatar (sort of) and i think i know who Scipio because i’m pretty sure his was fairly ironic.
And as they are using their RL names its hard to place em ;)
I’m eager to see how it is explained that, when they log back in, Frigg and Co. are all talking about defeating some huge beast and these guys are all “huh?”. Also, Wav. No one here (outside of the game) mentioned that his character is an oddity, so I’m wondering if all their interactions so far really have been limited to when the players are asleep?… But it doesn’t seem right that ALL of them would be because it’s not like Scip’s player and Fr’nj being in a relationship only while Scip is offline is new to the player.
I guess what I’m confused about is: are they all going to log back in and wonder who the heck this Wav guy is or are they going to continue on without ever having known he or the beast existed? The players have to become aware of all this extra stuff going on sooner or later, right?
The only one who was present for that fight was Rachel, so probably less ‘huh?’ and more ‘you RP’d her “death” without her permission? That’s cold, dude’.
What, no achievement?
I think she’s got a faint glimmer of a smile in the last panel. I’d call that an achievement.
They forgot to log in before completing the mission.
They will have to do it over again next year.
Made this just for this comment. xD
https://s3.amazonaws.com/achgen360/t/rgOzSK4J.png
I’m sorry. I’ve been playing MMOs since I was in highschool. Hell, I’ve been roleplaying (first on forums, then later in MMOs) since I was old enough to realize I could lie about my age to get onto the neopets forums. I just can’t fathom any group of people being this obsessed with an online game. It’s actually kind of creepy.
Man, YOU’RE kinda creepy.
Maybe, but also remember magic.
It’s less ‘We’re just MMO buddies’ and more ‘We met each other through an MMO, and now we’re all really good pals’. People doing things like dropping a few bucks here and there to commission artwork and such really isn’t that rare when you’re dealing with roleplayers, and these guys seem to just be using any reason as an excuse to hang out together.
And, like they keep reminding us, Rachel was eight months old. That’s almost a year of getting to know each other, $120 if subscription fees, and suchlike. Some people won’t make connections that easily. These four are the kind that do.
I think they might really have become close real life buddies, since they seem quite comfortable to use each others real life names.
I’m with my WoW guild since early 2008, and while my best friend within the guild and me are using our real life names when communicating, with the others it just feels somewhat strange not to use the character names I use every day on voice chat, even when meeting them in real life. :)
I’m not saying them being friends is creepy. I’m saying them mourning a lost character as if someone had legitimately died is the weird thing.
The level of role playing they seem to be participating in is not like me jumping on my druid to blast a few when I’m bored. They actually invested a piece of their soul into creating a fully fleshed out person with a history, friends (old friends, new friends, lost friends) family, ideals and goals that have changed over time as they learned more about how the world works and their place in it.
I’d of been a little sad if someone took that silly druid from me before I was done with them and I never roleplayed out the little story I had for them in my head during the creation process even a little. If she invested infinitely more into her nun and was apparently using her to work out some old issues I could definitely see the huge loss that would be.
As far as commitment it would probably feel like the creators of this comic would feel if I could somehow erase one of the main characters from existence on these pages and prevent them from ever using that exact character again or completing their part of the story. Sure they could fill the gap with a different character or just bulk up the other’s roles but I bet suddenly waking up to it would bring at least one of them close to tears…
She was like a writer. Rachel was her opus. And somebody came by in the night and burned all her copies of it.
You’ve never mourned a permanently lost character?
You freak!
I think you’re lying. Not about not being able to fathom it. About having done that stuff. Nerds are obsessed by definition or they aren’t nerds.
I’ve met alot of real life friends thru playing various MMOs. I see no obsession involved with talking about a game you enjoy with your friends. I’m sure you know people who do *nothing* but talk endlessly about sports & sports stats with their friends. Its the same drive aimed in a different direction. And at the end of it all;being pissed with a character being deleted is something I’d talk about endlessly.
Please don’t read more into what I said than exactly what I said. A nerd is a nerd. You want the best of both worlds, but you can’t have it both ways. Don’t get defensive about the mere existence of nerds. I am a nerd. The most typical type of nerd who likes orcs and warriors and wizards. Or maybe the better word is geek, but only a nerd cares about the semantics of nerds and geeks anyway.
Someone who is an actual veteran roleplayer, and ergo, a nerd, one of the most typical sorts of nerds, would understand caring about the loss of character and being enthralled by a fantasy story.
I call bullshit. Someone who has “been playing MMOs since I was in highschool” and “been roleplaying (first on forums, then later in MMOs) since I was old enough to realize I could lie about my age to get onto the neopets forums” and then follows it with “making friends with fellow players and being upset that their character was deleted is creepy” is clearly bullshitting.
It’s like someone saying, “I’m sorry. I’ve been playing football since highschool, I got into a team in college, and I’ve been kicking around a ball since I was old enough to stand” then following that with “and I can’t fathom anyone making strong friendships with others through football or being upset when their football signed by [insert famous athlete] was destroyed. It’s actually kind of creepy.”
“guest” just has some asinine opinion about nerds and tries to legitimize it by pretending he is one.
These are roleplay buddies, and Rachel was the medium through which their friendship took shape. Frankly, the idea that someone would find this ‘creepy’ honestly sounds pretty heartless and cold to me.
As an RP writer with role play buddies, true facts; I get cookies in the mail and gifts on Christmas. When you’ve told several hundred pages of story or more with someone and spent countless hours story boarding and the like, you tend to make some friendships that last outside the game.
…No clue how it works in MMO RPs, but I’d imagine it to be similar.
How dare these losers make friends with each other! They are supposed to be in their mother’s basements or at the very least grumbling unhappy under a bridge somewhere!
I don’t know about gaming but I’m a member of a professional IT site, TechRepublic. Due to site changes the membership has deteriorated, but at one point the members were as close as any group could be. Births, deaths, weddings, divorces, promotions and firings were celebrated or condemned as appropriate by hundreds of active users. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the site, the staff organized a member meet-up. Between 30 and 35 of us made the trip to Louisville, KY, some from as far away as the British Isles.
In short, this is easy to believe.
Yes, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Either the OP doesn’t care about the people he plays with, or he never actually played an MMO.
These are the relationships that keep WoW going on… and on… and on….
Obviously, you have never played WoW… (:P)
It could be part of a spell… the more people that think this place is “real” or care about it, the stronger the spell becomes, and the quest for godhood becomes that much more easier.
Achievement: A Guilded Axemas!
“I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of the imagination. What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth – whether it existed before or not -”
John Keats
avatar win:)
Quote win! :D
BTW, there is a tagging error: Instead of “Chrissie” it says “Chrisse”.
It’s not an error, it’s the opening stages of a metamorphosis. In a week’s time she’ll be tagged as “Christ”.
I would not oppose this development.
I am not sure why, possibly just some vague facial similarities, but the last panel made me think of Peggy Hill.
I like to think there might be something deeper than just that but I cannot seem to find the words or reasoning for it.
It’s that smile. Peggy has that same smile.
I think it would be nice to put in a link to the page in which we see the people next to their avatars. Rachel is obvious, and Emrl looks like his avatar (sort of) and i think i know who Scipio because i’m pretty sure his was fairly ironic.
And as they are using their RL names its hard to place em ;)
I believe Chrissie is Bandit, Daniel is E-Merl, and Kaye is Scipio.
Wait. Is Sundar a bot? He’s in that last fight.
I’m eager to see how it is explained that, when they log back in, Frigg and Co. are all talking about defeating some huge beast and these guys are all “huh?”. Also, Wav. No one here (outside of the game) mentioned that his character is an oddity, so I’m wondering if all their interactions so far really have been limited to when the players are asleep?… But it doesn’t seem right that ALL of them would be because it’s not like Scip’s player and Fr’nj being in a relationship only while Scip is offline is new to the player.
I guess what I’m confused about is: are they all going to log back in and wonder who the heck this Wav guy is or are they going to continue on without ever having known he or the beast existed? The players have to become aware of all this extra stuff going on sooner or later, right?
The only one who was present for that fight was Rachel, so probably less ‘huh?’ and more ‘you RP’d her “death” without her permission? That’s cold, dude’.
Soooo we can buy those in the GA store, right? Cause I want one.
omgitsproductplacement :[
It´s always nice if guild chat leads to real friendships.
Not that I would ever have experienced such a thing.
But then, I´m no pro gamer.
I’m not a pro gamer. I’m just a gamer. And yes, this can happen. ;)
original creation phhht, looks like Daniel got the idea from your archive button, he must read this comic too
Oh that’s effing brilliant, I didn’t even notice! :D
But now we must pick up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on
darn these onions…
So I will follow you wherever you go
If your offered hand is still open to me
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one
This “or whatever”… it kills me. I want to hug them all.
So, a bit late, but…
My money says Moustache will arrive at Kaye’s place, then be a butt in such a matter that he’ll use the gift Kaye wants sent to learn Lia’s address.
Cut to Rachel, surrounded by the thumping pulsing chambers of Lia’s heart