Ok, seeing how this forum is ever so constructive when it comes to someone's private life, I'll post a sad and silly little story here. It's gets even sillier towards the end. Yesterday I played World of Warcraft and during my glorious journey across the mighty lands of Azeroth (I was grinding or something), I came across some player who was the same level as I am (54 I think). That wouldn't be nothing special if I hadn't noticed he's riding a mount that is slower than mine (to make things more clear, at level 20 you get to buy mount that gives you 60% speed boost and at level 40 you get to buy mount that gives you 100% speed boost, but the latter is a bit more pricey). So, I noticed this and moved on like usual, because, why the hell should I care about those things. And I continue doing my quests like some soon-to-be hero and eventually move on to the next zone. There after some time I happen to see the same guy riding the same slower mount. I approach him and ask: "Why do you have slower mount?", to which he replies: "The fast one is expensive". Feeling bad, I immediately open the trade window with him and give him 50 gold (which is no small money for that level). So he's all happy and thanks me and we part our ways. Now, the interesting part in all this is that I was thinking about that for the rest of the evening until I went sleep. What really bugged me was that had he to spend 14 levels riding on a slower mount while he could have saved a lot of time if he had the fast one. I genuinely felt sorry and it was really emotionally draining thinking about that. He wasn't some kind of a friend I've met before in-game, just a random encounter. I had a lot of money because some friends who are higher level gave it to me so I was kind of secured for some time. Why is it that this hit me so hard while at the same time I basically don't give a shit when I read about some tragedies or disasters in real life? Am I a good person for this random act of goodness or selfish for giving him the money just so I can feel better? If I didn't have the money to give, I would probably be even more hit by the situation.
I understand how you have felt and that it may be quite disturbing to feel bad for such a thing. But it's not silly in my opinion. As humans, we have the ability to feel and to be emotionally touched by pretty much everything in the world. Last week, I went out and, as soon as I passed to door, I felt a warn wind blowing. The warmth bring back a memory and I felt really good for maybe an hour because of that. It's what I called aestheticism. Some stuff you feel deep inside that have an influence on you. What you felt is not stupid or pathetic, you have been sensitive to that particular thing, like a special key fitting a special keyhole. We are all sensitive to some events/perceptions. I think you've just discovered one on those.
This. WoW is that kind of game where you need to meta and twink hell a lot to be on appropriate level of power. While I like WoW setting with all of these elves and demons, MMORPG format definitely ruined RPG element of the game.
I'll summarise what you should take away from this situation: You're not affected by real life tragedies or disasters because they don't affect you personally in any way. This is normal. Being affected by every strangers' emotional grievances would be draining to say the least. Don't over think a random act of kindness, you did something good and so you should feel good about it. Then again, realistically this person is just someone with slightly less internet chums than you on WoW - so don't go thinking you're Mother Teresa either. If you want to do something that would actually make yourself feel better in the long term, do more selfless deeds for people that will affect their real lives - even in the short term Lastly don't become too overly invested in WoW. Really if you care more about a random stranger in the game than a random stranger on the street then that says something about your commitment to the game. Also do try and grow a pair - though I hesitate to agree with Crypton if this is the sort of situation that brings you into an emotional crisis then you really need to develop a thicker skin and some composure. Trust me, me saying grow a pair is phrasing things mildly compared to more senior members when presented with such a minor quibble.
Ugh! So much manly answers... So guys, you've never be touched by something seemingly insignificant for no apparent reasons ? Like Jojobobo said, I have balls but it doesn't mean I can't feel anything because, oh god, I'm such a manly man. People afraid of accepting such emotions/refusing to feel emotions are, in my opinion, just a bunch of cowards/liars. Aside from that, I think you should not see this action as good or selfish. You don't need to judge your reaction. You just did it.
Well, it was not really an emotional crisis, I'm too manly to get those (I think I perhaps used too strong words when I described), it's more like a simple and unimportant small event that made me think and feel bad for him and not just him, but rather all those that are in similar position. This is also stands for a lot of real life situations. Just to clarify: I'm not a WoW addict. I played it before, but then I had 2 year pause and now recently I started playing again - casually. Oh, and I'm not emo either. I'm stone-cold heartless bastard who giggles at the end of Titanic.
Well sure you can feel bad about people who are impoverished in real life, but this is someone who pays a monthly fee for WoW and probably has all three current expansions already. Don't feel bad for him, if his real life sucks then he always has the escapism of WoW to fall back on. What's the point? It's an earnestly told story about two people deeply in love and is comparable to any situation where people have loved and lost. As a side line it also reflects a sad moment in history where over two thirds of a ship's 2,223 passengers died needlessly, which wouldn't have happened had the boat been better prepared and human error not been so colossally large - the Titanic even had life boats to save around half it's total capacity (1,200 people) and failed to do so. I don't see anything funny about either of those two facts relayed by the film, but then again... Why did Jack have to die, WHY?!?! Him and Rose could have been happy, if only he'd bothered to find his own bit of debris instead of waiting in the water to freeze to death like a moron.
It depends on the disaster, but I think generally it's a question of scale. Say a typhoon wipes out one million people on the other side of the globe. I cannot care about that because my mind does not even know what one million people is. A school bus of children at the bottom of the ocean I can conceptualize, but one million people? I think Eddie has it at 0:45: <object width="480" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BFtkJd8w5UQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BFtkJd8w5UQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
50 gold is a lot at 54? ? Seriously? Learn to manipulate the AH. It really isn't that hard to have over 1k gold at your level with the right trade skills (mining and skinning). I used my paladin's level 40 summoned mount (before you kids got it at 20!) until level 60 when you could by your epic flyer back in the BC days (3 years ago). l2play noob.
I think it is because we are a sight oriented species. What I mean by that is that we can conceptualize that atrocities such as the Rwandan genocides are awful things, but as the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind." It's half a world away, it has no affect on you or your life in any way. You can hear about mass murders, you can watch news footage of it, but it doesn't illicit the same emotional response as witnessing the horrors first hand. Reading in the newspapers of a 20 car pile up on the freeway that left 5 people dead and a dozen injured is nothing compared to watching it happen from your apartment window.
