Thread: Rapture license
View Single Post
Old 10-04-2003, 05:27 PM   #86
Iluvatar
Member
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 142
Iluvatar is on a distinguished road
I’m just an ignorant yet often accused too vocal an old man and I’ve read this nine pages of combined rant, whine, intelligent rebuttal and scathing innuendo and I’m frankly amazed intelligent people miss the point so often. I firmly believe we are two different disciplines, hobbyist and entrepreneur and while I believe those who run graphical or text MU*s for personal profit are exploiting the children of today, but I actually applaud them for success at it since somebody has to. I’m even more impressed they stoop to share the plethora of administrative, qualitative and historical knowledge they’ve garnered over all the years with we, the deprived hobbyists.

Let me elaborate a tad before I ruffle too many feathers. I mean deprived in the perspective that we don’t work from analyst driven models of money making ideas, paid coders nor elaborate degrees and training in interpersonal social skills. I’m not saying all of you do, but you should and I applaud those with the vision to take advantage and make money, but you transgressed the hobbyist stage IMHO. Our, the hobbyist focus is perhaps a bit different in that we have a vision of a world and whether by kink, twist or persistence, hope to make that vision a place that attracts players who also enjoy our vision. That’s part of the challenge to us. Would I want someone to pay us/me to share that vision? #### YES! Do I care if they do? Nopes, as a hobbyist my over 30k hours in seven years online building and managing has the reward of seeing happy people, amazed at certain things, whining about others, but typically enjoying themselves. In my experience, even those that dabble in the realms of Everquest and Aechea eventually return home to our Phoenix after a while because it’s ‘HOME.’

Molly tried to explain but sadly she didn’t really articulate her issues well because of perhaps two different frames of reference, exploitive versus nurturing. I do share her views in most respects but I hope I’m articulating them somewhat better. Players play out of a sense of wonder at abilities given the medium, visualization or dream of reality substitution, or the illusion of another world where you can be that knight in shining armor or hero of the realm that real life circumstance has relegated most to only dream of. In a Mu*, we’re all equal to begin with, none of the social inequities that determine “which side of the tracks” you belong on, regardless of country of origin, upbringing or any of the other social stigmas applied. ANY application of affluence in real life taints that persona to a great extent. I’ve heard and believe there are “time” payment ways to compensate for lack of affluence in quite a few places, but isn’t time more valuable to reach the same goal and not equal to coins, the modern shortcut to notoriety? I wouldn’t really consider that a concern of entrepreneurs since the dollar is the bottom line goal, but it exists and something the valued hobbyists I know concern themselves with. I’ve often kicked someone offline cause they needed to get their buns to school. Silly of me, I know, but they are my kids and I’m not a Nintendo or Playstation game since I care.

Idealistic, altruistic too much, perhaps, but we are successful in our limited perspective and definition of ‘successful’ as are Molly and KaVir and Brody and Ntanel and Samson and quite a few others. I’m perhaps a bit jealous that I can’t earn money for something I love to do, but oh well, I’m happy with the other rewards and I get graduation announcements as well as personal notes from our players like we are all members of a family.

All obeisance and attaboys to Logos et al, I’m proud of you and jealous. I hope Rapture rewards you well and maybe perhaps you can contribute some of that amazing profit back to the rest of us to promote the hobby.
Iluvatar is offline   Reply With Quote