Life, the Universe, and Everything

Something for those who have ears to hear, and eyes to see. One reaches a certain age when one thinks one is wise. Fourteen? Twenty-eight? You may find the answer, but do you really know the question? Understanding what is important—understanding how little one really knows—that is wisdom.

As bloggers, we live in a kind of bell jar. The things we think about echo from one post to another, one blog to another. And we think that what concerns us must concern the larger MMO "community." But it is all a tempest in a teapot, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." It is really just the bloggers, and their relatively tiny audience. To say nothing of the even larger gaming world, or the human population at large. Heck, I can't even bring myself to be concerned about whatever is happening in LOTRO or GW2, because I am not really part of those communities, even if I was at one point. C. T. Murphy rightly points out that not many mourned the relative decline of other gaming genres. However, I would hazard a guess that each was discussed among concerned friends, or on bulletin boards and newsgroups. Much like the "decline" of English is lamented, rather than its evolution celebrated.

But what is more important, the games we play or friendships we form while doing so? More than anything else, MMOs are a shared experience in a way that single player games can never be. They say you can't choose your family, but in many ways we do. And that is far more important than any game mechanic or IP.

The heat of Blaugust is upon us. Take shelter on the Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook. Belghast promises cool rewards for the faithful.

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