T w e n t y S i d e d
I mentioned last week that I was playing an MMO called Maplestory Classic and that has continued on to this week. I don’t see myself stopping in the near future either. It’s fun. It’s dumb. I’m happy with it. However, as I spend more time in the game, I’ve noticed a couple things that bug me on a very serious level.
Firstly, why the hell is a goofy, chibi art-styled, simple MMORPG filled to the gills with people talking about politics? Everywhere you go there are people discussing various American political matters. I personally have my own very strong political beliefs but you know where it doesn’t belong? The place where this is the primary sight:
(Same gif as last week but it’s quite poignant.)
It’s so tonally bizarre and I hate it very much. All art is political. Video games are art. I just don’t see the reason why that has to mean you bring outside politics, that have nothing to do with the game, into it constantly. So, imagine how confused I am when I see “global chat” ranting about American foreign policy. Not to mention that each sentence you send in Maplestory’s global chat actually costs real money since it’s primary intended use is advertising guilds and items for sale.
Which brings us to our next point. There is a guy from Nexon (The company that runs Maplestory) called Inkwell. He plays the game alongside the community as well as acts as an administrator and sort of de facto face of the company. Why am I, a casual player, even aware of this? The global chat spams his name constantly whether he’s online or not. The guy is gracious enough to make himself available to the community only to get badgered, begged, bitched at, and otherwise bothered by nerds who don’t seem to understand boundaries.
People lacking the basic understanding of boundaries is nothing new, especially on the internet. It’s still exhausting to see someone just trying to do their job get punished for being friendly. I’d really appreciate it if I could enjoy the casual presence of an admin like I do in League of Legends, Magic the Gathering Arena, and plenty of other games where people don’t lose their minds every time they see an admin tag. You give one of these and move on with your day.
This weekend I’m introducing my teenage nephew to Godzilla v King Kong on my 82″ TV and surround sound. My mental health for the next week or so may or may not be hinged on a 13-year-old’s appreciation of a movie watching experience and I don’t even really know why. Stay tuned for more mania and anxiety.
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Because americans have had their brains rotted by their sharp left/right political divide. As someone from eastern europe I ‘ve been getting lectured by some sort of american midwit for at least the last 10 years from some side of your political isle. “Probematic behaviour”, “supporting degeneracy” , “deconstructing white supremacist thinking” , “Woke DEI” . Now it seems to be AI. I can’t go to any online hangout or third place without some loser screaming “FUCK AI, clanker lovers must burn!” .
Because it’s called the “culture WAR”, both sides try to plant their flags in any place they frequent., drawing lines in the sand and parting people into “with me /against me”.
… I’m joking about the “american” thing. Everyone does this, it’s not an american specific thing, but with the midterms, and america’s political climate being what it is, you folks get the brunt of it.