The Dark Side

I am, for the most part, a real "golden rule" kind of guy. If you treat me with respect and courtesy, chances are you and I are going to get along just fine. Treat me, my friends, or my family without respect or courtesy, and, well - there's going to be a problem.

I am also admittedly a computer game geek. There's many a time where a bad mood has been alleviated by playing a game. I especially enjoy (naturally) City of Heroes and City of Villains, not only for the fun factor, but also because it serves as an outlet where I can socialize with my co-contributor. After all, we are in different states. We started out with multiplayer games such as No One Lives Forever 2 then moved on to MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies (believe me, Galaxies was DEFINITELY for the socialization, as fun was scarce). It's our way of "hanging out."

As in real life, MMOs contain people who act without respect, and without courtesy. And just as in real life, if you treat me, friends, or family poorly in an MMO, there will be consequences. Just ask some folks in Star Wars Galaxies.

A few years back when we played, I played as Zapp Farnsworth, a smuggler-in-training. My co-contributor was a Twilek bounty-hunter-in-training, and had some medical skills. I believe he was dubbed "Cloberella." Injured players would ask for healing, and in return, he would often get tips from the players, or at the very least, a "thank you." There we were on Tatooine, on a mission, when we came across a group of players fighting some Bantha. They soon stopped to make camp, saw Cloberella, and asked for healing. Well, it wasn't so much asking as going, "Heal me!"

Despite the bluntness of the players, "Cloberella" obliged them and began healing. And so they were healed. And so, we waited. And waited. The players sat there, uttering not a word. Not a single tip, or thank you. He had done as they asked, despite their rudeness, and despite them not even being badly wounded. Upset at this, and at the similar shabby treatment we had received earlier in the gaming session, I devised a plan. The dark side flowed within me.

"Get ready to run," I told Cloberella. "Why?" my friend asked. "You'll see."

I pulled my blaster, and shot the Bantha spawning point. Then I ran like hell. Cloberella followed. The players, still lounging in their campground, were swarmed by angry Bantha. From a distance, we saw blaster fire, and displays of damage being taken surged through the sky. "-10 -10 -10 -10..." I gleefully laughed. Cloberella, appreciating the gesture and the evilness of it all, joined in the jest. And we enjoy the story to this day.

The moral of the story? Like Hannibal Lecter, discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me. It doesn't matter if its in real life, or in cyberspace, I'll let you know how ugly it is (no cannibalism or stealing your face or anything like that, though).