Epeen and You

Love the way NewtonD on the official forums puts this. Quoting his post here in full for posterity, but reading the replies is enlightening as well.

Epeen runs rampant in this game and its community. I'd like to point out a few things.

It's a game. Nothing about it is hardcore. We're sitting down when we play it. The mental requirements are not on the level of chess or go. The physical requirements are to stay awake and be able to move your hands. Ping pong is more demanding.

Someone please explain to me from where in this game you're getting the kind of pride that I keep seeing in these forums.

Some of you are so "hardcore" that one would think you had chased down a cheetah barefoot before beating it to death with your phallus and eating it in one go without chewing.

Don't get me wrong; I love video games. But let's not go confusing ourselves into thinking that they are in any way representative of a real world accomplishment. Feel proud about your loot, high score, or whatever, but stop acting like you accomplished something real. It's a virtual accomplishment in a virtual world. It's a game someone made for you to pass the time. Not a road to enlightenment or personal betterment.

Even tiny and mundane real world accomplishments outweigh virtual ones. I'm more proud that I cleaned my house last week than I am that my guild took a city. That's called "keeping it in perspective."

When virtual worlds mean more to you than reality, it's time for a priority check, people.

Of course, this applies to us carebears as well. You're going to have to get over losing your virtual stuff if you're going to play Darkfall, that's for sure.