Voice Comms
2007-04-20
The recent debate about online and offline identities has interesting and compelling accounts elsewhere (Gordon, Mike). This addition is much more specific; a brief story of how encountering a person in different media affects the opinion you can have of them.
I recently joined the Lord of the Rings Online game. I hadn't planned to, but it turned out that lots of the people I knew in Star Wars Galaxies were going to be there (including many from our pre-emptive Age of Conan guild, who got bored of waiting). Although I've met but one of these people, I've 'known' them for some time now, having spent a couple of years in SWG when I first moved here. The chance to rejoin the community we had there was something I wasn't going to miss (and as it happens the game is pretty good).
One particular person used to annoy me. In text - in game and on the forums - he seemed glib and abrasive (although I dare say I had a little too much rivalry going on, since having left the Council of our guild for a lengthy hiatus he returned just after I was voted onto it). He's also caused a number of heated discussions with the occasional odd choice of words, something slightly more evocative or cutting than would have been tactful: the most notable such incident had the majority of the Council offer their resignations after he was seen to question their contribution to the community. On the whole, not a person I got on with, in writing.
LotRO has voice comms, and when we something lengthy needed explaining to the group we had last night, we turned them on. After the initial 'who is that?' confusion we got the explanation done and did several hours of adventuring, three of us with microphones chatting away and the other two listening.
My rival? He's a top bloke. Before I had been suspicious of the way statements and accusations that seemed counter to the spirit of the community were brushed away as simple errors and misunderstandings, but having listened to him and talked to him about the old games and a few other things, it's clear that those were exactly what they were. You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of the sort of generous, helpful and easy-going player that is ideal for a light-hearted guild, let alone one that also understands how much more you can get out of such a game by making an effort to understand your character and those of others.
So, lesson learned. The idea I had of him before was flawed, but the best I could manage given the data I had. With more information, my view is completely different. (And haven't written this I don't know whether I'm more worried about him finding it because of the bad things I said, or because of the [even more] massive ego he'll have after the penultimate paragraph...)
I recently joined the Lord of the Rings Online game. I hadn't planned to, but it turned out that lots of the people I knew in Star Wars Galaxies were going to be there (including many from our pre-emptive Age of Conan guild, who got bored of waiting). Although I've met but one of these people, I've 'known' them for some time now, having spent a couple of years in SWG when I first moved here. The chance to rejoin the community we had there was something I wasn't going to miss (and as it happens the game is pretty good).
One particular person used to annoy me. In text - in game and on the forums - he seemed glib and abrasive (although I dare say I had a little too much rivalry going on, since having left the Council of our guild for a lengthy hiatus he returned just after I was voted onto it). He's also caused a number of heated discussions with the occasional odd choice of words, something slightly more evocative or cutting than would have been tactful: the most notable such incident had the majority of the Council offer their resignations after he was seen to question their contribution to the community. On the whole, not a person I got on with, in writing.
LotRO has voice comms, and when we something lengthy needed explaining to the group we had last night, we turned them on. After the initial 'who is that?' confusion we got the explanation done and did several hours of adventuring, three of us with microphones chatting away and the other two listening.
My rival? He's a top bloke. Before I had been suspicious of the way statements and accusations that seemed counter to the spirit of the community were brushed away as simple errors and misunderstandings, but having listened to him and talked to him about the old games and a few other things, it's clear that those were exactly what they were. You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of the sort of generous, helpful and easy-going player that is ideal for a light-hearted guild, let alone one that also understands how much more you can get out of such a game by making an effort to understand your character and those of others.
So, lesson learned. The idea I had of him before was flawed, but the best I could manage given the data I had. With more information, my view is completely different. (And haven't written this I don't know whether I'm more worried about him finding it because of the bad things I said, or because of the [even more] massive ego he'll have after the penultimate paragraph...)
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