good-samaritan
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The Daily Grind: When have you been Good Samaritaned?
This past weekend I decided to explore an MMO I'd previously barely scratched -- EverQuest II -- and found, to my delight, that it's quite an involving and enjoyable game. Yet being a newbie in a land of veterans can be an intimidating experience, and I found myself stumbling over questions, restrictions, and ignorance as I made my way through the beginning zone of Darklight Woods. I was bowled over, then, when a high-level character did an MMO version of a drive-by shooting. Only instead of bullets, he fired a couple large backpacks my way without any demands or even really expecting gratitude. He simply saw a lowbie who could use a helping hand, and became the Good Samaritan for me that day. So when have you, for lack of a better term, been "Good Samaritaned" by a player who went out of their way to help you even though you were a stranger to them? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Brother, can you lend me a hand?
MMOs occasionally appear to be the mother of all oxymorons. On one hand, you have games specifically designed for many, many people to play simultaneously and work together for increased rewards; on the other, loot and personal advancement tend to cultivate greed and jerkish behavior. So by the games' designs, players are pulled between the extremes of selfishness and selflessness. Here at Massively we'd like to focus on the good that bubbles out of our games, which is why we'd like to know of a time when someone went out of his way to help you when you least expected it. Have you ever encountered a Good Samaritan who took pity on you when others ran by? Do you have fond memories of a mentor who took you under his or her wing and showed you the ropes? When have you seen someone drop what he were doing for himself and devote his time to helping a fellow gamer in the spirit of altruism?
The Daily Grind: Omg rez pls k thx
We at Massively imagine that there are two types of people in this world: those that will rez, and those that won't. And we don't just mean classes, although of course you have to have the ability to resurrect a fallen player in any MMO you play.No, there are those good Samaritans who will stop and resurrect any players they can, whether they ask or not, and then there are those who, for whatever reason (they were treated poorly as children?), will not stop to resurrect anyone not in their group. "You can run," they might say, "I had to."Back in the day, there were penalties for not getting rezzed-- you could even lose experience or gold for regaining life without actually being resurrected by another player. But these days, it's mostly just time. Still, time is money-- do you stop and cast resurrect every chance you get, whether asked or not, or do you save that mana and casting time for better, more selfish things?
