Saturday, April 30, 2011

A perspective on Face Book games - they're not real people

Online games are addictive.  Face book (FB) has many online games and there always seems to be a social influence in them.  Where you are supposed to pull along friends on FB to join in, you then help each other out by trading imaginary goods or services.  Then there are of course those people who are not actual friends at all, who you have never met in your life, but because you like games you then find they have to become an FB friend in order to play the game more effectively.  These are people who you don't know from Adam.  They are all over the world, but the thing is you haven't sat down with them and had a coffee, pint or glass of wine.  They are there for the reason because they like the game.  Although relatively speaking everyone does like to be sociable, to some degree.  Even the hermits, and I tend to be one of these.  To tell the truth I'd rather not add such individuals to my FB account but am being forced by FB to do so.  Some of these people take their gaming experience very seriously.  It is as though for them FB and the game becomes a surrogate device for something missing in their life.  I know, I'll hold my hands up to it.  If I were able to turn over in bed this morning and give Sparkling a hug or just have the physical contact she was there it might of calmed my 3:28 a.m. sudden insomnia.  She wasn't so my insomnia was allowed to run it's course.  The very true reality is unknown friends added on FB are not friends at all.  In another universe they could even be software programs set up on servers which engage with real people, just so we the real people don't feel lonely.  Which would be a pretty sad thing when you think about it, but I wouldn't put it past the giant companies to generate such imaginary people. 

Games have rules by which they are played.  The rules are hard and fast ones.  Like monopoly.  If you land on the jail then you lose a go.  There are similar rules in FB games.  To go from one progressives stage to another there are certain things  you have to do.  Once done then the program allows you to upgrade your status.  As though this upgrade in status should give you a little more self esteem, because you can show people and say "hey look at me, yes I'm a level 457 blue knight with gold trimming, nah, nah,"  you could say a little self pride in one's abilities takes over.  But of course such a statement would only hold sentiment with other game players.  Then there are other rules which players impose on the game but which are not actually there.  The rule might be because you have built more widgets than anyone else then before they are allowed to walk on the holly ground where you build widgets they must give you due deference.  Like a million pieces of gold.  But the game doesn't actually have a routine set into it which kicks players out who don't cough up the goods.  So the game allows this behaviour.  It's just other players who don't like it.  So they gang up like bullies when someone doesn't play the game the way they are expected to, it is as if the imaginary game is a real thing which they have invested so much of their life into they will then put all their efforts into squashing the said unwritten rule player.  But when argument takes place and it is said, well the game does allow such actions to take place they have difficulty comprehending.  For them the world becomes a big bad dog of imagination which they goad in one direction or another to their whims.  They become autocratic fascist rulers, lording their made up rules.  FB does not take this into account.  It's online games have their own rules, they are completely unable to program rules which the users think should be there.  The game would then change.  Development costs would increase and it may then get to the point where new users would not want to be part of it.  It becomes a self defeating thing.  Lets face it, games developers are out to make money and my experience with FB games is, there will be some part where gaining higher status means looking in your wallet and pulling out a credit card.  Anyone who thinks otherwise would be pretty naive. 

Cherrie Blair.  Now her actions are openly public, I'm sure there's a lot of people wondering how on earth she could of ever become one the ex PM's wife and two a QC to the judicial system.  Some may even think it's not because of any ability but rather through who she knows.  I don't have to go into details, anyone who wants to do a google search will find the information there.  Now to get to the point of this BLOG.  I went against the grain of an FB game as the grain was imposed by other maniacal players who liked to hold their widgets close to their chest and tell other people what to do.  Blimey reminds me of some religions as well.  The bottom lines is a game on FB is just a game.  Nothing is as good as turning over in bed and saying good morning to someone you love, or going for a coffee with a real friend.  Such is life.  Real life that is.

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