Guild Wars 2

I ran across this the other day. Some of you may have seen it before but I thought I would share.

sonder

n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/23536922667/sonder

Just something for everyone to keep in mind while interacting with others in game and on the forums.

Very true. In addition, it was only a few days back when I was reading two posts of yours that I was reminded of this old thread about interacting on the forum and game.

JustTrogdor.7892:

I got the idea for this thread from several observations. The main one being my own behavior in this forum. While I am generally a very kind person, this forum as with many I have been a part of, can bring out my smart kitten side pretty quick. When I stepped back and evaluated that, I came to the conclusion that I was being overly judgmental of others that play the game.

Yes there are a lot of posts I don’t agree with or that I think are just plain ridiculous. However, in real life if I hear someone say something in public that I think is stupid I don’t get into some debate over why I think what they said was wrong. I just go about my business and often think to myself that I hope they have a better day. I don’t care for constant complaining but it really gets too much when I find myself complaining about complaints.

So reflecting on all these posts I have been involved in and, admittedly rude at times, I started thinking about the person on the other side of the screen that I can’t see. I thought about how I felt as I purchased and downloaded the game. How excited I was once the install was complete and when I first made my first character. So then I thought about this other mysterious person living in wherever and I imagined they felt the same as I at one point. I started thinking that this is a real person that wakes up everyday just like me and they want to have a good day which in many cases means enjoying the game.

The thing about the Internet, and I found this out early during the USNET years, is that since you can’t see that person you forget that they have feelings as well. It’s easy to forget that maybe they just had a bad day and an unpleasant gaming experience later in the day was kind of the final straw leading to rage posting on the boards. It’s easy to forget that when they click the login button they want to have fun also. It’s the reason for playing a game and people like to have fun.

So where am I going with this? I thought it would be a good idea to brain storm some random acts of (kindness) in game to maybe make that random person smile for a second, maybe make their day a little better.

Here are a few things I have done:

*When I see a player that is obviously new and low level running around lost, I help them for a minute. Then later on I mail them a few coins and or maybe a piece of armor they could use. I simply write “Welcome to GW2” and attach the coin/item. I imagine as a new player something like that might give them a brief smile.

*If I see a downed player in PvE I rez them and if they are not down leveled I mail them some coin with a note that says, “Thought you could use some coin to help with your repairs.”

*I shadow obvious new players and only jump in if they get in a real dicy situation then disappear and do it again for a bit.

*I’m maxed on cooking skill so when I get low level cooking mats that don’t sell for much I’ll just mail them to some random name I see in my area with a note that says,“I bet you are hungry after all your travels.”

*I haven’t done this yet but I think once a day when I see some negative posts here I’ll just send one of those people that are unhappy some small gift. Something that has been in my bank and I will never use or sell. (Disclaimer: Please don’t start posting negative threads just to have a chance at a prize. )

Anyway, these are the main things I do but I’m looking for more and hope others will share ideas and participate. The thought isn’t to give your bank away but just some small token of (kindness) that might just make someone think, “That was nice.” even if just for a minute.

tl;dr
I’ve been rather rude here at times and I apologize. I’m really a pretty decent person in real life. I think most here on both sides of arguments are as well. The idea is fun and to some degree I am guessing when everyone logs in each day the idea is to add something pleasant to their day. So let’s help random people out with that.

Please share other ways myself and others might just send our own little “token” to random players as a way of saying in game, “Hope you are having a good day.”

P.S. (kindness) due to overly aggressive language filter.

Edit: all of us should take the time when responding to remember that’s another person you’re talking to.

This is great advice that we can all learn from, myself included. There are entirely too many occasions where I find myself clicking that Reply button a bit before my brain has actually formulated a non-combative response. I can do better. Thanks for posting this reminder.

It’s easy for us all to “fly off the handle” sometimes and not be considerate of other viewpoints. Everyone has their own unique experience, not just in GW2 but in all things, and two people experiencing the same event from different perspectives might have completely opposite opinions of what took place.

I love the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, by the way. Their YouTube channel is downright moving sometimes.

EDIT: The relevant video goes into a greater explanation of some possible context behind ‘Sonder’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkoML0_FiV4

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Very true. In addition, it was only a few days back when I was reading two posts of yours that I was reminded of this old thread about interacting on the forum and game.

JustTrogdor.7892:

I got the idea for this thread from several observations. The main one being my own behavior in this forum. While I am generally a very kind person, this forum as with many I have been a part of, can bring out my smart kitten side pretty quick. When I stepped back and evaluated that, I came to the conclusion that I was being overly judgmental of others that play the game.

Yes there are a lot of posts I don’t agree with or that I think are just plain ridiculous. However, in real life if I hear someone say something in public that I think is stupid I don’t get into some debate over why I think what they said was wrong. I just go about my business and often think to myself that I hope they have a better day. I don’t care for constant complaining but it really gets too much when I find myself complaining about complaints.

So reflecting on all these posts I have been involved in and, admittedly rude at times, I started thinking about the person on the other side of the screen that I can’t see. I thought about how I felt as I purchased and downloaded the game. How excited I was once the install was complete and when I first made my first character. So then I thought about this other mysterious person living in wherever and I imagined they felt the same as I at one point. I started thinking that this is a real person that wakes up everyday just like me and they want to have a good day which in many cases means enjoying the game.

The thing about the Internet, and I found this out early during the USNET years, is that since you can’t see that person you forget that they have feelings as well. It’s easy to forget that maybe they just had a bad day and an unpleasant gaming experience later in the day was kind of the final straw leading to rage posting on the boards. It’s easy to forget that when they click the login button they want to have fun also. It’s the reason for playing a game and people like to have fun.

So where am I going with this? I thought it would be a good idea to brain storm some random acts of (kindness) in game to maybe make that random person smile for a second, maybe make their day a little better.

Here are a few things I have done:

*When I see a player that is obviously new and low level running around lost, I help them for a minute. Then later on I mail them a few coins and or maybe a piece of armor they could use. I simply write “Welcome to GW2” and attach the coin/item. I imagine as a new player something like that might give them a brief smile.

*If I see a downed player in PvE I rez them and if they are not down leveled I mail them some coin with a note that says, “Thought you could use some coin to help with your repairs.”

*I shadow obvious new players and only jump in if they get in a real dicy situation then disappear and do it again for a bit.

*I’m maxed on cooking skill so when I get low level cooking mats that don’t sell for much I’ll just mail them to some random name I see in my area with a note that says,“I bet you are hungry after all your travels.”

*I haven’t done this yet but I think once a day when I see some negative posts here I’ll just send one of those people that are unhappy some small gift. Something that has been in my bank and I will never use or sell. (Disclaimer: Please don’t start posting negative threads just to have a chance at a prize. )

Anyway, these are the main things I do but I’m looking for more and hope others will share ideas and participate. The thought isn’t to give your bank away but just some small token of (kindness) that might just make someone think, “That was nice.” even if just for a minute.

tl;dr
I’ve been rather rude here at times and I apologize. I’m really a pretty decent person in real life. I think most here on both sides of arguments are as well. The idea is fun and to some degree I am guessing when everyone logs in each day the idea is to add something pleasant to their day. So let’s help random people out with that.

Please share other ways myself and others might just send our own little “token” to random players as a way of saying in game, “Hope you are having a good day.”

P.S. (kindness) due to overly aggressive language filter.

Edit: all of us should take the time when responding to remember that’s another person you’re talking to.

Mailing someone else your hard earned coin is a good way to attact “takers” into your life. Who are only going to wanna be around you to see what they can get out of you.

No! I am the hero, the rest of you all are the NPC’s!

…really though, always good stuff to keep in mind.

JustTrogdor, you speak from the bottom of my soul.
I guess we should all treat other players the way we want to be treated. Forgetting about the other person having feelings as well is a common flaw of internet activities.

For the future, I try to keep that in mind.