Quit Armageddon Mud - Only $ Free 99!
Mar 7, 2023 14:47:42 GMT -5
punished ppurg, jenki, and 4 more like this
Post by bebop on Mar 7, 2023 14:47:42 GMT -5
Quit Armageddon MUD - Only Free 99!
Just found out that the game you’ve been participating in for two decades has been allowing staff to meta-game circles around your pathetically mundane PC for the past several years - maybe even killing them in the process? Not comfy with staff members using the game you love as a gateway to harass people through staff communication, or in person at player meetings? Perhaps you’re not fond of a community that excessively moderates its players and bans whistleblowers who bring these kinds of matters to the public eye? Maybe you’re just realizing that every day you’re getting closer to the Zalanthan experience in real life anyway! Food deserts, lack of access to clean water, police brutality? Zalanthan or American amirite?
Whatever the reason, chopping virtual people with virtual bone swords just isn’t giving you the same escapist satisfaction that it used to. That’s why today, we’re here to tell you about - Quitting Armageddon MUD for only Free 99!
Quitting Armageddon MUD allows you to vote with your feet by leaving a space that has deceived and preyed upon its playerbase. How long? We’re not sure. Having a transparent discussion about it gets you banned!
Quitting Armageddon is guaranteed to leave you with free time to work on hobbies, relationships, a career and side hustles that generate actual returns on your well-being. Sign up now and get our free guide to Quitting Armageddon MUD in a healthy fashion (below), access to our minecraft server, and unlimited use of our growing support group - the SHADOWboards. Free up your spare time, creative energy and emotional bandwidth by Quitting Armageddon MUD today!
___________________________________________________________________________
What?
Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk seriously about quitting Armageddon. Maybe you want to quit temporarily while you process what’s happened. Maybe you want to give it several months to see if there will be some kind of worthwhile renaissance of the game and shift of the culture. Maybe, in light of recent events, you’ve had enough and you’re ready to end your involvement in the game indefinitely/for good.
What I’ve done is researched and compiled a comprehensive guide here to give you some points to think over about why and how to quit. I’ll list an article about identifying points of a toxic community or habit and how to form good habits instead. I genuinely hope that this guide helps people who are considering quitting, or those of you that have decided to quit and are suddenly dealing with the repercussions of finding a hole in your life where a community and creative/social/recreational outlet once stood.
In this article we’re going to address all of the big open-ended questions about leaving Armageddon (think why and how?) I think this opening has covered what, so let’s start by addressing the next big W questions.
___________________________________________________________________________
Why? Where? Who?
The truth is that no one can tell you why you should quit Armageddon or if you even should quit at all. Although I was on the receiving end of meta-gaming and real-life abuse by an Armageddon staffer I do not view people who differ in opinion as my enemies by default. Most of us who quit aren’t going to tell us that you owe it to us to quit as well. Everyone must do what is best for their health and state of mind.
However, if you’re wondering if you should quit, in my eyes, I’ve listed some of the most compelling reasons below as to why.
---A Lack of Agency
The thing that differentiates Armageddon from any other video game out there is the role playing experience. It can’t compete on graphics and soundtrack, for there are none. While I would say the culmination of coded mechanics in Armageddon has become a retro art piece in and of itself, the reality is that the mechanics of the game are dated and increasingly show their limitations. The thing that brings people back predominantly is the unique role playing environment.
One of the principals that Armageddon stands on is that the players (not the characters) have agency. They can create their own clans and factions. Their survival is determined by their actions in a way a modern video game can’t compete with. It is the player’s actions that will contextualize their character within the game. Staff will enable and support this. That’s the sort of social contract of Armageddon MUD.
But what happens when players find out they didn’t have as much agency as was advertised or that they imagined? The request tool is used to either complain or generate actions that need support in game. Staff determine if they will allow your character to achieve certain goals and how. We have now learned that staff avatars are running rampant and that complaints or requests are being filtered through that lens, instead of genuine player support.
What kind of agency do players really have if hidden staff avatars are abandoning the rules and controlling both entire clans and IG narratives? What kind of agency do players have if their complaints and response to them are secret?
---Cheating
Cheating - is defined as - to act dishonestly or unfairly to gain an advantage, especially in a game. To deceive or trick. To avoid something undesirable by luck or skill.
By the above definition Armageddon staff collectively cheated, and minimized or outright hid that the staff and developers they worked alongside were cheating.
Staff avatars were given unfair advantage after unfair advantage over players. They used their OOC knowledge to evade consequences for their characters. They used their power to cause other characters to incur consequences they would otherwise evade.
Can you imagine playing DnD with your buddies and your GM is lying about rolls of dice that would cause your character to fail or even die? You would probably demand to see the dice fall right? Armageddon is like that, but if you request to see the evidence, they will force you to have a private convo away from other players and then potentially ban you from playing at all if you try to out them.
With recently posted screenshots it is clear that staff were playing staff avatars not in the interim but for years. They were offering people sponsored roles “off the books” to lure people into, or benefit their current OOC relationships.
Staff were monitoring and controlling stories by viewing players through a staff lens in real time while pretending their characters were PCs. They metagamed and used staff side info in real time to impact the game.
In doing this staff were not guiding and empowering players. Staff avatars were controlling and influencing the entire narrative of the game and playing full, long term PCs while calling them NPCs. These characters had access to greater resources like warehouses, titles, millions of coins, etc from the jump.
---Over Moderation and Lack of Transparency
Staff have used lack of transparency as a mechanism to enable the above mentioned cheating for an indefinite period of time. Likely for years upon years.
Despite having a limited and aging player base for a game that is dated/retro media the staff have been overly cavalier about banning players for disagreeing with their decisions. In doing so they are harming the game’s potential for continuation and player retention. They are not acting as good stewards towards the player or the game.
Staff have banned not only whistleblowers but their spouses and those in proximity to them without following any kind of due process or informing them formally. Retaliating against whistleblowers is bad form, especially when you have ignored or minimized them through other channels - exposing your players to abuse and allowing them to be cheated out of their characters due to staff influence in game.
Staff operate behind an odd veil of anonymity so that people cannot identify them as players, and players are forbidden from revealing their player identities at the risk of being (you guessed it) banned.
---Sexual Harassment
Over at least a span of ten years a half dozen to a dozen players have come out publicly and privately to excuse an Armageddon staffer of alleged sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior and assault at player gatherings. There were also accusations of in-game obsessive behavior, forced engagement, harassment and triangulation. One does not have to look far for evidence over the years that something was amiss.
Since most recent evidence came to light many women, gender non-conforming people and men have come forward to tell stories on behalf of themselves or their spouses regarding inappropriate behavior. Many of these experiences mirror one another over a long stretch of time. Many players are able to corroborate one another’s stories from real life experience.
The de-platforming of an abuser is something that has become an increasingly common talking point in this day in age. Be it an online influencer, game developer, streamer, athlete etc - people with predatory tendencies can use a platform or position of power (however small) to locate, groom and access people they would not have access to otherwise. It is important to contextualize this situation by stating that Armageddon MUD has been the platform and gateway that has enabled this behavior despite numerous complaints over numerous years.
It is important to iterate that although this issue was brought to a head recently by a single player, numerous players have come forward with similar experiences over many years regarding one staff member in particular. Though almost all tried to go through appropriate channels the person in question retained their platform for a near decade despite allegations they were abusing it.
This is a personal blurb but I would also like to reiterate here that I have not seen or engaged in any kind of personal relationship with Shalooonsh for 9-10 YEARS at this point. I have threatened legal action and made it clear I wanted no personal contact. Anyone choosing to see this as anything for less than what it is (harassment) blows my mind. I should have never had to choose between being harassed for a decade and leaving a hobby I love because my abuser was platformed. I also want to again iterate that over half a dozen people have come forward alleging abuse in person and in game from this person. Stop generalizing this to minimize this. Some of these allegations include real life non-consensual contact. It’s a serious matter.
If you’re considering quitting Armageddon MUD in the year 2023, these are the reasons that may be at the forefront of many people’s consideration.
___________________________________________________________________________
How? And a little bit of grief.
Like many of us, you might find yourself feeling lonely, distressed, saddened and even bored after hearing what has gone on around the game and in orbit of it over the years. It is not fun to realize you have been cheated, influenced negatively by a staff avatar or that your peers were sexually harassed.
I am, by no means an expert on this kind of thing. I am but a humble hair stylist and armchair psychologist by proxy. I’m a trauma content creator and advocate that has done a lot of research on psychological healing, grief and so forth over the years. I will offer my suggestions and then link relevant information by the professionals that have the piece of paper to back up their expertise.
As for me, I suggest those steps and will link relevant articles in this order to help process below.
---Identify what’s happened and how you feel (Journal, Talk about it here or with people close)
---Decide what you would like to do (What course of action would be best for you?)
---Engage in healthier practices. (Put that course of action into practice.)
I’ve already been accused of being a “woke liberal” (which I find hilarious and irrelevant) and I’m sure what I’m about to say isn’t going to help that reputation because I believe in gentle peopling and not blind authoritarianism but here it is.
If you’ve decide(d) to leave Armageddon it’s okay to feel sad and even, dare I say, grief over this process and how it’s happened. For many of us, this was a community and game that we loved for a very long period of time. Some of us contributed literally THOUSANDS of hours of our lives we will never get back. Even if you don’t leave, one day we’ll have to reckon that this little world inside a server is probably not going to outlive us. It’s sad, and no one enjoys being sad.
I can tell you most of the things we silly humans experience grief over are small, seemingly irrelevant things. Maybe it’s a bad haircut, or a hole in your favorite shoe, maybe it’s disappointment over a restaurant closing that had a dish you loved. Today it could be disengaging from a game and or community that you loved. Most of the grief that humans experience are from these small, triggering incidences on any given day. Grief is its own thing. And it’s totally okay to feel that whether you don’t leave, leave for a little while, decide to try to advocate for the game or leave forever.
I think one of the reasons, for me, I’m hurt by this is that in a nutshell staff cheated. Define it as you will. Cheating in the game. Letting the obsessive staff member in question influence the can he ran and my character to be killed off because he could. Sheltering someone predatory in real life. Letting me be harassed through their game when I just wanted to enjoy it. Banning me for bringing this to light. However you want to define cheating today.
I’ve wondered about the word cheating and why people do it? Why do it in a romantic relationship for instance? The conclusion I came to is because they don’t respect their spouse, they aren’t happy in their situation and they think they can get away with it. I think Armageddon staff cheated players for the same reasons. They don’t respect us and they did everything they could to get away with it for as long as they could. That’s where I have a large issue. The fact that energy was actively put into hiding and obfuscating from what was going on in and out of the game. We were told “staff aren’t playing sponsored roles except in an interim” which was frankly an outright lie. For 5-10 years the half dozen or more players that came forward about being harassed were sidelined.
That being said, I’d like to address another point. Some remaining players are complaining and saying that some players will never be happy with any course of action that staff takes. And honestly? That might be true. The blame is still on the cheater. The onus doesn’t fall upon the player to fix what trust the staff broke. You shouldn’t dismiss, push aside, gaslight and cheat people you value. The staff did what they did, and it’s totally possible that the trust, and therefore the desire to play for many people, may be broken irrevocably. Many of us will now likely never come back.
If trust can be repaired that remains to be seen, and it’s an individual experience for each of us based on our priorities. However, the reality is that trust was broken in several ways and over a long period of time. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt by the person that Armageddon insisted on retaining a platform for. People have every right to have many feelings about this.
Long story short (TLDR) - I wanted to write this to normalize any feelings people have had about quitting and offer support back for all of the support that's been given to me. I wanted to catalog some of the reasons that people are taking issue in one place. As this all came to a head so many stories are being told. So many people are piecing together how their play experience was impacted by Shalooonsh's staff avatar. Most recently even the Senate plot was done "virtually" because surprise, surprise, Shalooonsh's avatar had been set up to be the noble PC representative at the event. Unfortunately, the lack of agency mentioned above is quite far gone. A lot of people are actively processing what this all means. If Armageddon had ever actually been predominantly player led these issues would not be so impactful on the state of the game.
I hope this article (and the ones listed below) can help you to sort through residual feelings regardless of what you choose to do going forward.
Here is the good news - the end of things can be a windfall for positive change. Ending something that is a source of negative bandwidth can free up a lot of energy for personal growth. I wish you all, all of the best.
___________________________________________________________________________
Resources
8 Warnings Signs You’re in a Toxic (Work) Environment
Forbes article compiled by the Young Entrepreneur Council.
www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2022/11/21/8-warning-signs-that-your-workplace-is-becoming-toxic/?sh=39c04511a46be
Gaming Addiction Symptoms and Treatment
Although I don’t like the overuse of the term “gaming addiction” I think this article by WebMD has some relevant information. In particular, when it is time to step away from a gaming situation that may have become unhealthy.
www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/video-game-addiction
Forming New Healthy Habits
This is a good article from the NY Times backed up with scientific research for how to change your behaviors.
www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/well/mind/how-to-build-healthy-habits.html
Toxicity in Gaming is Dangerous, How How to Stand Up to It
An interesting article by Wired backed up science that talks about how prevalent harassment is in gaming culture.
www.wired.com/story/toxicity-in-gaming-is-dangerous-heres-how-to-stand-up-to-it/
Five Times You’re Allowed to Feel Grief
This article is written by a licensed relationship therapist about how grief is not always a major death or some other bigger blow and that you’re allowed to interact with it.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/202003/5-times-you-are-still-allowed-grieve
Just found out that the game you’ve been participating in for two decades has been allowing staff to meta-game circles around your pathetically mundane PC for the past several years - maybe even killing them in the process? Not comfy with staff members using the game you love as a gateway to harass people through staff communication, or in person at player meetings? Perhaps you’re not fond of a community that excessively moderates its players and bans whistleblowers who bring these kinds of matters to the public eye? Maybe you’re just realizing that every day you’re getting closer to the Zalanthan experience in real life anyway! Food deserts, lack of access to clean water, police brutality? Zalanthan or American amirite?
Whatever the reason, chopping virtual people with virtual bone swords just isn’t giving you the same escapist satisfaction that it used to. That’s why today, we’re here to tell you about - Quitting Armageddon MUD for only Free 99!
Quitting Armageddon MUD allows you to vote with your feet by leaving a space that has deceived and preyed upon its playerbase. How long? We’re not sure. Having a transparent discussion about it gets you banned!
Quitting Armageddon is guaranteed to leave you with free time to work on hobbies, relationships, a career and side hustles that generate actual returns on your well-being. Sign up now and get our free guide to Quitting Armageddon MUD in a healthy fashion (below), access to our minecraft server, and unlimited use of our growing support group - the SHADOWboards. Free up your spare time, creative energy and emotional bandwidth by Quitting Armageddon MUD today!
___________________________________________________________________________
What?
Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk seriously about quitting Armageddon. Maybe you want to quit temporarily while you process what’s happened. Maybe you want to give it several months to see if there will be some kind of worthwhile renaissance of the game and shift of the culture. Maybe, in light of recent events, you’ve had enough and you’re ready to end your involvement in the game indefinitely/for good.
What I’ve done is researched and compiled a comprehensive guide here to give you some points to think over about why and how to quit. I’ll list an article about identifying points of a toxic community or habit and how to form good habits instead. I genuinely hope that this guide helps people who are considering quitting, or those of you that have decided to quit and are suddenly dealing with the repercussions of finding a hole in your life where a community and creative/social/recreational outlet once stood.
In this article we’re going to address all of the big open-ended questions about leaving Armageddon (think why and how?) I think this opening has covered what, so let’s start by addressing the next big W questions.
___________________________________________________________________________
Why? Where? Who?
The truth is that no one can tell you why you should quit Armageddon or if you even should quit at all. Although I was on the receiving end of meta-gaming and real-life abuse by an Armageddon staffer I do not view people who differ in opinion as my enemies by default. Most of us who quit aren’t going to tell us that you owe it to us to quit as well. Everyone must do what is best for their health and state of mind.
However, if you’re wondering if you should quit, in my eyes, I’ve listed some of the most compelling reasons below as to why.
---A Lack of Agency
The thing that differentiates Armageddon from any other video game out there is the role playing experience. It can’t compete on graphics and soundtrack, for there are none. While I would say the culmination of coded mechanics in Armageddon has become a retro art piece in and of itself, the reality is that the mechanics of the game are dated and increasingly show their limitations. The thing that brings people back predominantly is the unique role playing environment.
One of the principals that Armageddon stands on is that the players (not the characters) have agency. They can create their own clans and factions. Their survival is determined by their actions in a way a modern video game can’t compete with. It is the player’s actions that will contextualize their character within the game. Staff will enable and support this. That’s the sort of social contract of Armageddon MUD.
But what happens when players find out they didn’t have as much agency as was advertised or that they imagined? The request tool is used to either complain or generate actions that need support in game. Staff determine if they will allow your character to achieve certain goals and how. We have now learned that staff avatars are running rampant and that complaints or requests are being filtered through that lens, instead of genuine player support.
What kind of agency do players really have if hidden staff avatars are abandoning the rules and controlling both entire clans and IG narratives? What kind of agency do players have if their complaints and response to them are secret?
---Cheating
Cheating - is defined as - to act dishonestly or unfairly to gain an advantage, especially in a game. To deceive or trick. To avoid something undesirable by luck or skill.
By the above definition Armageddon staff collectively cheated, and minimized or outright hid that the staff and developers they worked alongside were cheating.
Staff avatars were given unfair advantage after unfair advantage over players. They used their OOC knowledge to evade consequences for their characters. They used their power to cause other characters to incur consequences they would otherwise evade.
Can you imagine playing DnD with your buddies and your GM is lying about rolls of dice that would cause your character to fail or even die? You would probably demand to see the dice fall right? Armageddon is like that, but if you request to see the evidence, they will force you to have a private convo away from other players and then potentially ban you from playing at all if you try to out them.
With recently posted screenshots it is clear that staff were playing staff avatars not in the interim but for years. They were offering people sponsored roles “off the books” to lure people into, or benefit their current OOC relationships.
Staff were monitoring and controlling stories by viewing players through a staff lens in real time while pretending their characters were PCs. They metagamed and used staff side info in real time to impact the game.
In doing this staff were not guiding and empowering players. Staff avatars were controlling and influencing the entire narrative of the game and playing full, long term PCs while calling them NPCs. These characters had access to greater resources like warehouses, titles, millions of coins, etc from the jump.
---Over Moderation and Lack of Transparency
Staff have used lack of transparency as a mechanism to enable the above mentioned cheating for an indefinite period of time. Likely for years upon years.
Despite having a limited and aging player base for a game that is dated/retro media the staff have been overly cavalier about banning players for disagreeing with their decisions. In doing so they are harming the game’s potential for continuation and player retention. They are not acting as good stewards towards the player or the game.
Staff have banned not only whistleblowers but their spouses and those in proximity to them without following any kind of due process or informing them formally. Retaliating against whistleblowers is bad form, especially when you have ignored or minimized them through other channels - exposing your players to abuse and allowing them to be cheated out of their characters due to staff influence in game.
Staff operate behind an odd veil of anonymity so that people cannot identify them as players, and players are forbidden from revealing their player identities at the risk of being (you guessed it) banned.
---Sexual Harassment
Over at least a span of ten years a half dozen to a dozen players have come out publicly and privately to excuse an Armageddon staffer of alleged sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior and assault at player gatherings. There were also accusations of in-game obsessive behavior, forced engagement, harassment and triangulation. One does not have to look far for evidence over the years that something was amiss.
Since most recent evidence came to light many women, gender non-conforming people and men have come forward to tell stories on behalf of themselves or their spouses regarding inappropriate behavior. Many of these experiences mirror one another over a long stretch of time. Many players are able to corroborate one another’s stories from real life experience.
The de-platforming of an abuser is something that has become an increasingly common talking point in this day in age. Be it an online influencer, game developer, streamer, athlete etc - people with predatory tendencies can use a platform or position of power (however small) to locate, groom and access people they would not have access to otherwise. It is important to contextualize this situation by stating that Armageddon MUD has been the platform and gateway that has enabled this behavior despite numerous complaints over numerous years.
It is important to iterate that although this issue was brought to a head recently by a single player, numerous players have come forward with similar experiences over many years regarding one staff member in particular. Though almost all tried to go through appropriate channels the person in question retained their platform for a near decade despite allegations they were abusing it.
This is a personal blurb but I would also like to reiterate here that I have not seen or engaged in any kind of personal relationship with Shalooonsh for 9-10 YEARS at this point. I have threatened legal action and made it clear I wanted no personal contact. Anyone choosing to see this as anything for less than what it is (harassment) blows my mind. I should have never had to choose between being harassed for a decade and leaving a hobby I love because my abuser was platformed. I also want to again iterate that over half a dozen people have come forward alleging abuse in person and in game from this person. Stop generalizing this to minimize this. Some of these allegations include real life non-consensual contact. It’s a serious matter.
If you’re considering quitting Armageddon MUD in the year 2023, these are the reasons that may be at the forefront of many people’s consideration.
___________________________________________________________________________
How? And a little bit of grief.
Like many of us, you might find yourself feeling lonely, distressed, saddened and even bored after hearing what has gone on around the game and in orbit of it over the years. It is not fun to realize you have been cheated, influenced negatively by a staff avatar or that your peers were sexually harassed.
I am, by no means an expert on this kind of thing. I am but a humble hair stylist and armchair psychologist by proxy. I’m a trauma content creator and advocate that has done a lot of research on psychological healing, grief and so forth over the years. I will offer my suggestions and then link relevant information by the professionals that have the piece of paper to back up their expertise.
As for me, I suggest those steps and will link relevant articles in this order to help process below.
---Identify what’s happened and how you feel (Journal, Talk about it here or with people close)
---Decide what you would like to do (What course of action would be best for you?)
---Engage in healthier practices. (Put that course of action into practice.)
I’ve already been accused of being a “woke liberal” (which I find hilarious and irrelevant) and I’m sure what I’m about to say isn’t going to help that reputation because I believe in gentle peopling and not blind authoritarianism but here it is.
If you’ve decide(d) to leave Armageddon it’s okay to feel sad and even, dare I say, grief over this process and how it’s happened. For many of us, this was a community and game that we loved for a very long period of time. Some of us contributed literally THOUSANDS of hours of our lives we will never get back. Even if you don’t leave, one day we’ll have to reckon that this little world inside a server is probably not going to outlive us. It’s sad, and no one enjoys being sad.
I can tell you most of the things we silly humans experience grief over are small, seemingly irrelevant things. Maybe it’s a bad haircut, or a hole in your favorite shoe, maybe it’s disappointment over a restaurant closing that had a dish you loved. Today it could be disengaging from a game and or community that you loved. Most of the grief that humans experience are from these small, triggering incidences on any given day. Grief is its own thing. And it’s totally okay to feel that whether you don’t leave, leave for a little while, decide to try to advocate for the game or leave forever.
I think one of the reasons, for me, I’m hurt by this is that in a nutshell staff cheated. Define it as you will. Cheating in the game. Letting the obsessive staff member in question influence the can he ran and my character to be killed off because he could. Sheltering someone predatory in real life. Letting me be harassed through their game when I just wanted to enjoy it. Banning me for bringing this to light. However you want to define cheating today.
I’ve wondered about the word cheating and why people do it? Why do it in a romantic relationship for instance? The conclusion I came to is because they don’t respect their spouse, they aren’t happy in their situation and they think they can get away with it. I think Armageddon staff cheated players for the same reasons. They don’t respect us and they did everything they could to get away with it for as long as they could. That’s where I have a large issue. The fact that energy was actively put into hiding and obfuscating from what was going on in and out of the game. We were told “staff aren’t playing sponsored roles except in an interim” which was frankly an outright lie. For 5-10 years the half dozen or more players that came forward about being harassed were sidelined.
That being said, I’d like to address another point. Some remaining players are complaining and saying that some players will never be happy with any course of action that staff takes. And honestly? That might be true. The blame is still on the cheater. The onus doesn’t fall upon the player to fix what trust the staff broke. You shouldn’t dismiss, push aside, gaslight and cheat people you value. The staff did what they did, and it’s totally possible that the trust, and therefore the desire to play for many people, may be broken irrevocably. Many of us will now likely never come back.
If trust can be repaired that remains to be seen, and it’s an individual experience for each of us based on our priorities. However, the reality is that trust was broken in several ways and over a long period of time. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt by the person that Armageddon insisted on retaining a platform for. People have every right to have many feelings about this.
Long story short (TLDR) - I wanted to write this to normalize any feelings people have had about quitting and offer support back for all of the support that's been given to me. I wanted to catalog some of the reasons that people are taking issue in one place. As this all came to a head so many stories are being told. So many people are piecing together how their play experience was impacted by Shalooonsh's staff avatar. Most recently even the Senate plot was done "virtually" because surprise, surprise, Shalooonsh's avatar had been set up to be the noble PC representative at the event. Unfortunately, the lack of agency mentioned above is quite far gone. A lot of people are actively processing what this all means. If Armageddon had ever actually been predominantly player led these issues would not be so impactful on the state of the game.
I hope this article (and the ones listed below) can help you to sort through residual feelings regardless of what you choose to do going forward.
Here is the good news - the end of things can be a windfall for positive change. Ending something that is a source of negative bandwidth can free up a lot of energy for personal growth. I wish you all, all of the best.
___________________________________________________________________________
Resources
8 Warnings Signs You’re in a Toxic (Work) Environment
Forbes article compiled by the Young Entrepreneur Council.
www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2022/11/21/8-warning-signs-that-your-workplace-is-becoming-toxic/?sh=39c04511a46be
Gaming Addiction Symptoms and Treatment
Although I don’t like the overuse of the term “gaming addiction” I think this article by WebMD has some relevant information. In particular, when it is time to step away from a gaming situation that may have become unhealthy.
Thinking about gaming all or a lot of the time
Feeling bad when you can’t play
Needing to spend more and more time playing to feel good
Not being able to quit or even play less
Not wanting to do other things that you used to like
Having problems at work, school, or home because of your gaming
Playing despite these problems
Lying to people close to you about how much time you spend playing
Using gaming to ease bad moods and feelings
Feeling bad when you can’t play
Needing to spend more and more time playing to feel good
Not being able to quit or even play less
Not wanting to do other things that you used to like
Having problems at work, school, or home because of your gaming
Playing despite these problems
Lying to people close to you about how much time you spend playing
Using gaming to ease bad moods and feelings
www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/video-game-addiction
Forming New Healthy Habits
This is a good article from the NY Times backed up with scientific research for how to change your behaviors.
www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/well/mind/how-to-build-healthy-habits.html
Toxicity in Gaming is Dangerous, How How to Stand Up to It
An interesting article by Wired backed up science that talks about how prevalent harassment is in gaming culture.
“According to a recent survey from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of 1,000 US gamers ages 18 to 45, more than half of multiplayer gamers reported harassment related to their race/ethnicity, religion, ability, gender, or sexual orientation in the previous six months. This study also found that roughly a third of LGBTQ, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx players experienced in-game harassment related to their sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity. And 81 percent of multiplayer gamers overall experience some form of harassment, the majority of whom also reported experiencing physical threats, stalking, and sexual harassment. Further, 64 percent of respondents felt that toxicity impacted them, with 11 percent reporting depressive or suicidal thoughts, and nearly a quarter saying they had quit playing certain games as a result of these negative experiences.”
www.wired.com/story/toxicity-in-gaming-is-dangerous-heres-how-to-stand-up-to-it/
Five Times You’re Allowed to Feel Grief
This article is written by a licensed relationship therapist about how grief is not always a major death or some other bigger blow and that you’re allowed to interact with it.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/202003/5-times-you-are-still-allowed-grieve