Posted by Zepachu on September 1, 2000 at 12:54:03:
In Reply to: CF as a productive and/or learning experience? posted by Imbrogno(VIP) on September 1, 2000 at 12:03:08:
Imbrogno, check that thread where you mentioned Jane's Addiction lyrics, I posted them not sure if you saw it. Now for my thoughts. Carrion Fields is a form of entertainment. It's just like TV or going to the movies. I don't watch much TV, save Star Trek and the Simpsons... (no I'm not a Trekkie!) CF is a soap opera. There are many interesting parallels. a) You need to check in every day to stay up to date. b) If you don't check in every day, and take a month off from it, it's okay... you can pretty much fill in the blanks and pick right up where you left off. c) There are those people that you just want to smack... really, really hard. Like I said, CF is a form of entertainment. I spend some of my free time playing CF. In the last few weeks, though, I haven't set foot in the game... just been checking in on this forum. I've been doing other things. CF becomes an addiction and not because it's a fantastically well thought out game. It's an addiction because you're playing against other people, and psychologically the competitive part of your brain is stimulated. The #1 factor to success in CF doesn't equal experience, or eliteness, or any of that divine knowledge... it's Time. You need a lot of time to invest. (Okay, those other factors do play a big part, too, I admit.) The problem that arises with CF is that there are a few types of players, all thrown into one environment, and they each can be analyzed with a certain degree of accuracy. 1) The roleplayer. They're in it for the sheer enjoyment of interacting with others, and rank slowly by choice. This denotes confidence in their own abilities, both to make a name for themselves without being very high rank, and to avoid conflicts so that they don't con-die. 2) The roleplayers, that rank quickly. They get up to the 40s, quickly, then start partaking in social interaction. It shows insecurity in one's own abilities, must get Hero as quickly as possible... I don't know about you, but I seem to think that the world views stellar roleplayer at level 25 in the same light as a so-so roleplayer at level 45. 3) The PKers. The majority of CF players hate people that "only PK" and RP just enough to not get kicked off. I happen to like them, but it does say something about them. Power hungry? Ego maniac? These are the players that pick fire giant warriors, then gloat when they kill a level 15 necromancer. It's all about pumping up their own ego and getting instant gratification. CF is a fun environment, but PKing is the only "instant" gratification that there is. When you roleplay it can take dozens of hours to be recognized as such... but to be "feared" among a school of players (i.e. mages) you need only kill a half-dozen of them. It's rare you see someone with a healthy mix of RPing and PKing... I could go on, but I'm not a psychology major. Oh yeah, finally, there are those people that are playing to have fun, like I said.. a form of entertainment. I personally don't let things affect me so bad. If I die, I die. (Hm, Rocky 4 flashback.) I play the game for fun, and yeah for the roleplaying aspect. Another thing that many people don't take advantage of are the nicely done areas on CF. If you walk through those areas while not in brief mode, and look at the descriptions... I guarantee you'll have to look up a word or two. Some of those words have even worked their way into my everyday writings, or my college papers. CF also helps your interpersonal skills, and how to convey what's on your mind. It sickens me when someone tells me something and it really makes no sense, or whenever someone just insults me while in the game. It has always been my feeling that if you don't have something to add other than "You suck" then you're not worth talking to. But, we all deal with people like that in game, don't we? It's the same in a workplace... where a vice president may walk up to you and say, "I don't like this." but not give you any insight into what he/she doesn't like. What do you do? Spite them. Draw up three more plans, completely different, and send 'em over. More likely than not, one of them will work. What do you do in CF? Spite them. Kill them, hire an assassin to do it, or out-rank them and gloat over it... or say nothing. There are so many ways, and it's all a matter of personal preference. W o w , I d o t e n d t o r a m b l e . To sum it all up... CF helps your social skills by giving you a way to practice conveying an idea, or manipulating someone in a social situation by leading the conversation down the path you want it to follow. CF helps your grammar and vocabulary, take advantage of it. And most importantly, CF helps you waste time better spent doing something productive to your life. > This is an offshoot of the Ekhiral crying thread below and is spurred on by ToTW's saying he plays CF instead of watching TV. > The whole thing got me to thinking about how I view CF. I, like many of us, went through that period where CF was the end-all-be-all of our existence. I would sit in my classes(thankfully only 100 or 200 level at that time) and write descriptions/roles/etc. instead of paying attention to the professor. At that time I had a girlfriend of about 3 years and we argued a lot over my playing the game and it definitely put a damper on our relationship. That is, admittedly, very very sad and if you're in that position now I suggest you re-evaluate your life. > Two years have passed since then. The bitch and I parted ways(she was one of those types where she'd get drunk and her legs would fly open, and it didn't necessarily have to be her boyfriend that they were wrapped around, so good riddance) and I found myself only playing CF when I've got nothing much better to do with long periods in between serious characters. I find that I appreciate life a lot more now that I don't sink all of my time into the damned 'puter. I actually get to see the sun now, and spend time with great people, but I have digressed far far too much. > I don't view CF as a particularly productive or learning experience, though I'm sure it does have some practical applications. I'm sure it does something in the way of aiding players in their interactions with other people, that is, it probably teaches patience, understanding, and so on to some extent. Let's face it, CF is full of dickheads and if you can get along with even some of them then the people in your real life probably seem a lot more sociable and enjoyable :) > It may also have some practical applications for those people interested in the arts, such as acting, songwriting, and so on. > Of course, if you get into the coding aspect of it I'm sure that has some practical applications as well. > I guess the point of this thread will be to determine what, if any, practical applications CF has for our real life. How do you view it? > For me, I'd say TV is a more productive and/or learning experience, but then I enjoy watching the more education channels like the History Channel, TLC, and Discovery, with fairly liberal MTV, Fox usage as well ESPN, ESPN2, Animal Planet, and CBS/ABC/NBC bringing up the rear. Generally though, when I was playing CF I also had the TV on in my room(I say "was playing" because I'm tossing around the idea of quitting for good and haven't played in about 2 weeks). > There's too many men, to many people > Genesis
> Making too many problems
> and not much love to go 'round
> Can't you see this is the land of confusion