Are gamers really lonely? Do we flock to MMORPGs as a response to that? I’m pondering these thoughts today following the response of a call for screenshots that captured the emotional state of loneliness. There were several entries, which makes me think that being alone, even together, is something that’s often on our mind.
In this vein, Rees Racer has an example from — of all games — Winning Putt Online. Seriously.
“Despite several different modes of team play in Winning Putt Online, sometimes it’s just you and your putter left to walk off the 18th green after a round, wondering how it all went so terribly wrong,” Rees writes. Mental note: “Rees Writes” would be an interesting PBS kids-type show.
“I’ve been poking Trove this morning and I guess it is a palate cleanser type of game,” BalsBigBrother. “You run in, shoot some stuff for no good reason, collect stuff because it’s there, and then leave feeling a bit lighter in mood without really knowing why that is. Anyhow I picked a Dino Tamer to play because dino pets and an on-call dino you can ride. I mean, what is not to like unless you don’t like dinos — but then you would just be weird.”
I am not weird.
MySecretID sets this shot up for us: “In Star Trek Online, there are effectively two versions of Star Trek’s vacation planet of Risa. You choose which one you want to beam into when your ship arrives in orbit. A few winters ago, I was pretty ill, and feeling kind of unhappy about that. It was all sort of getting me down. I wanted to play STO, but I typically didn’t have the health or the focus to actually play.
“Instead, I used to log into the original Risa map and go sit on the seaside cliff you see in these pics, next to the NPC Vulcan woman. Being Vulcan (and an NPC!), she wasn’t much for conversation, but I used to sit there and watch the fake ocean in the fake sunlight, and listen to the fake breeze and the fake birdsong — and somehow, it made me feel a little bit better about being very sick in the very dead of winter. A lonely place? Yes. But not the bad kind. My own personal low-cost holodeck vacation, I guess!”
All hail Agemyth for representing Massively OP in the most unlikely of places!
“Here is a screenshot of my amateur attempt at making a Mo hero for the recent City of Heroes get-together,” Agemyth said. “The one I made for the event was rushed and not very accurate at all, so I had to go back after and at least put a little more time into it.”
I am still kicking myself that I didn’t think of doing this first.
Lets go down for our last picture, down underground with Line and the grues.
“Here I am in the subterranean lake in Tangled Depths of Guild Wars 2,” Line said. “There’s a whopping single event in the place that nobody does, and it’s always empty of players (how many times have I seen people not even finding the entrance… not that complicated, but certainly spiral-y). I like massive underground caves, especially when it’s all overgrown and full of swamp water.”
Yes, who doesn’t enjoy a big room full of swamp water, really?
What, you’re still here? Go home! Go!
Oh wait, you want the new screenshot challenge. Hm. This week, let’s see if you can cobble together something along the theme of “before and after.” Maybe it’s a location that has changed over time, or the development of your character’s gear, or something to do with weather and time of day.
Every week, One Shots shines a spotlight on the best community screenshots from your MMO adventures. If you have a great pic to share, email it to justin@massivelyop.com with the subject “One Shots.” Make sure that the picture is over 880px wide and comes with a description or story!
