Age, Respect, and Games...

I am not a happy little jackalope today.

Now, normally I'd do a video blog but, quite frankly I'm afraid my tone would be far too harsh if I were speaking. I'm so unhappy at the moment that free writing is probably the better outlet right now. Why am I so unhappy you ask?

All in all, it probably seems petty. Hell, who am I kidding? It IS petty. That doesn't make it any less annoying. If you've known me for any length of time you know that I'm creative. I am constantly expressing that creativity in different forms. Sometimes it's through this blog, sometimes it's a song I've written, or I'll hop into the Uncharted Wind universe and be Michelle for awhile, or I'll jump into the DCU and borrow their characters. Sometimes even playing WoW is a form of creative expression or singing. I have all kinds of ways to get the creative out, which has to be done because when it builds up I go crazy. And typically at any given moment I have my favorite outlet. It used to be Uncharted Wind. Before that it was singing. At the moment my chosen outlet is RPing. If you follow my tweets you have noticed I've been RPing a lot.

For those of you that aren't geeky enough to know what RPing is, it means Role Playing and it can be done in a number of different ways. This RP that I speak of is done via LiveJournal. Basically it's like...an on going story you write with different people. You have your set characters and you interact with theirs via posting on the journal. I can't really simplify it any more than that.

Anyway, the point is this, RPing takes a special kind of skill, patience, and the ability to go with the flow. Unlike writing your own fan fiction, you don't have complete control. That's the point. Are there things in the RP that haven't gone my way? Hell yes. The one thing I wanted to happen hasn't. And I will say, I was a bit more irked about it at first than I would like to admit. There is a certain emotional investment in your characters. That being said, I quickly came to accept it's just a game and I re-evaluated what direction to take my character. That would be the whole going with the flow thing.

The hitch is this...not everyone in the game is going with the flow. Not everyone in the game can write dynamic, likeable characters. Hell, not everyone can write in more than one writing style. When you play multiple characters they should be identifiably different. For example, I play three characters in the RP. Kara Kent, Stephanie Brown, and Bruce Wayne. No one can accuse me of playing them all the same. I'll focus in on Kara and Steph here since they were my first two characters and because they would be really easy to play the same. They are both young, blonde, heroines around the same age. It would be so very easy to throw in a default persona for them and be done with it. But I haven't. I play Kara as very much a heart on her sleeve girl that is much stronger in body than mind, but she is developing and finding herself, becoming stronger all the time. I play Stephanie as a tough girl who has had to fight for everything her whole life and is just now getting to a point where she realizes life doesn't have to be a constant fight. Of course I'm over simplifying it, but you get the idea. Two characters that are very similar on the surface, but are identifiably different in practice.

Now, gaming with people that don't get this concept is a struggle in and of itself, but what comes as a bigger struggle is when the said player isn't willing to listen to criticism and/or doesn't want to play nice.

And this, dear reader, is the point my long winded blog is getting to. I'm 27. I plan to be a teacher someday. I will hopefully be teaching 2nd graders and at that age sometimes you still have to work on the basics like learning to play nice with others, sharing your toys, and working together for a common goal. And if I was playing with a bunch of 9 year olds I would understand the importance of these lessons and being patient while teaching them. However, I am not playing with a bunch of 9 year olds. I'm playing with a bunch of grown ass women and men. I should not be having to try to teach an adult to play nice with others. It's frustrating to no end! Am I pissed? Yes. Is it directly about the game? Not really. It's about the fact that I am having to treat adults like I would my future 2nd graders. And worst of all, one of these said adults is someone I deeply care about and would like to have in my life in the future...I should not be having to make this person act like an adult! We're 27 for fucks sake!

And you're probably sitting there laughing saying 'but Cilla, time out. You're playing a game...isn't that childish in and of itself?'. Perhaps. But just because you're playing a game with, yes, comic characters doesn't mean you can't be mature, reasonable, and adult. Act your age when it comes to how you react and treat others. That's all I'm saying. I don't think it's too much to ask really.

Anyway, I have made my point the best I can and I've vented to my little heart's desire. I'm still pissy, but at least I've organized my reasons into concise points, and that is enough to help me feel a little bit better.

Until next time my dear readers, take care...and please, act your age.

Keep the Faith,
Cilla