I went home with every intent to have a productive night of writing code for Teller, the Clan Lord bot. Then by luck of the draw, my copy of Alien Vs. Predator arrived, and my buddy Mark actually was home for once, so it was time for some serious geek net-gaming. Completely stupid waste of time, but tremendously fun. AVP is a good game too. The lighting effects are so well done.

I felt bad for my Clan Lord friends last night, who beckoned to me via ICQ. It's been a long time since I really spent any time playing Clan Lord, though I invest a fair amount of energies in Meta Clan Lord. Working on Teller, or clanlord.net and keeping up on the email and usenet, all keep me involved, yet without actually playing.

I had dinner with a good Clan Lord friend the other night. We both realized our deep commitment to this game occured when we were both not really happy with our own lives. Since that time, both of us have made pretty profound changes and now both of us don't find Clan Lord nearly as compelling. I've seen it happen to others too. People who are unhappy with a job or a relationship and clock hours and hours of clan-time, only to suddenly make a dramatic change in their lives and then they rarely clan.

I know some people will be upset with this statement, but I do think it's true. If you are an adult spending a lot of time playing Clan Lord (or any other MMORPG) there is a good chance you are trying to escape from something. This isn't a universal, of course, but I think it's typical. The good news is, I think there's a strong catalytic potential in the experience.

I'm not coming down hard on the MMORPGs, I do think they are powerful, entertaining, and potentially beneficial experiences. I also think participation in a community, like the one in Clan Lord, even when it's a rather dysfunctional community, is still a good thing.

Though if you are married, or in a serious relationship with someone who doesn't clan, and you are "role-playing" a marriage or a romance with a person in Clan Lord, you should take a long hard look at yourself. If you don't talk such things with your spouse or significant other, take a doubly hard look. You can kid yourself all you want about it being "just a game," but it's not. Each little icon has a real person behind it. Even if both players are kidding themselves, "playing" a relationship is still a form of emotional commitment. A good rule of thumb is if you are entertaining notions like this, don't ask "why not?" but ask "why?" Why do I want to "pretend" I'm in a relationship with another person?

Like I said, these games are powerful stuff. Use at your own risk.

posted 9:14 AM | link |