winning at the cost of fun

[disastro]

way back before the fancy days of graphics i played a text mud extensively. in the early days of that pvp-heavy world two top notch players finally met in battle after having perfected their builds and equipment loadouts.

they battled for a long time. the way the rules worked it was easy to make characters with healing that far outstripped any possible offense, if you set up your regen properly. one minute dragged on to two, to five, until finally out of boredom they both simply walked away.

some would say that neither lost the battle, but the way I see it they both lost. Boredom defeated them both with a battle that could not end. I learned something that day.

I know now that while the thrill of victory is great, if it comes at the cost of fun itself (which is at core the only reason i ever click on that NWN icon on my desktop) then I will eventually become bored and stop doing it. I don't want to win by killing the fun.

So this is why I personally never do the pot chug in pvp. It creates an open ended situation like those 2 regen warriors, where there's never any end to the fight unless Boredom comes and claims you and your opponent both. Spell based healing OK because it's a finite resource that can be exhausted.

Everyone has their own reasons for clicking on that NWN icon and I don't grudge at all the folks that do choose to use heal pots. It's got nothing to do with honor or any of that crap. It's just that I've been there, been that guy, and I reckon someday those that do the pot chug thing will find themselves in the same place I am now: I'd rather hit "Respawn" than "Exit."

So if I'm battling one of you guys out there and you see me walk away, its nothing personal. I'm just trying to preserve something for myself and my enjoyment of the game, and I'll look for other folks to have fun with where I can. Maybe if I'm on one of my time stoppers I'll show you how to end it, but otherwise I'll just roll on to the next guy.

[AllAmerican]

Well said...

[Ade]

Games would be so much more fun without the human fault known as pride.