Affection for a program

[A Passe Adesse]

I created this account seperately from my original one for the sake of privacy.

I have played Mass Effect 2 a lot lately. This continued exposure has lead me to a ridiculous situation. I have started developing strong feelings for a character in that fictional world. Specifically, Tali.

I have never felt this way towards what I know is a fictional character consisting of a stream of ones and zeroes. I am usually detached from any situations I find myself in, and I always try to keep my emotions aside and do what is most likely to turn out favorably. My usual mental barriers apparently have a very consequential flaw.

I am infatuated nonetheless. Tali'Zorah vas Neema was able to find her way into my personal feelings and is lodged there deeply. It has been several days since I stopped playing, but I can't shake this emotion. I think you now see why I made this account seperately now.

I'm not sure whether I'm posting this to vent, or if I want suggestions, but please, feel free to comment. I would be more than happy for any feedback you could give me.

I hope you aren't under the false assumption that I am a troll, and I hope you aren't one yourself. I am being much more honest and sincere than life usually allows, and thankfully, the internet allows for anonymity.

 

[Explosm]

Your gonna be flamed so bad....

But i guess everyone has had their fictional character crushes, Some asian people have gone as far as marrying them.

...not me though o_o

 

[delet]

Sounds like you've found yourself a 'Waifu'...

Uhm... That's different I guess. I'd prefer a real woman but who am I to judge.

 

[llafnwod]

I'm going to go by my original assessment of this thread's title, and say right now the answer is HandBrake. I've never met an x264 frontend I've wanted to hug so much.

 

[Pariah87]

Erm, infatuation with a fictional character isn't a good thing.

Feeling empathy, liking characters, hating characters, willing them to die or willing them to succeed, these are all normal emotions which are actively sought after by the makers of games/films/books. To say you are falling in love though?

It's entirely one sided because the character isn't real, there can be no reciprication. As a result if this continues you are going to end up feeling like shit, just like anyone else who knows unrequited love.

Worst case scenario, you take a fictional character and make her the benchmark for all future relationships, meaning they are all doomed to fail because they will never match up next to the character. It doesn't have to be a fictional character, it could easily be something we create in our minds, our own perfect "girl".

Seeking help might be a good plan, or otherwise cutting ME2 out of your life untill all these thoughts have passed.

 

[A Passe Adesse]

Your gonna be flamed so bad....

But i guess everyone has had their fictional character crushes, Some asian people have gone as far as marrying them.

...not me though o_o

Hmmm... I recognize your screen name. Cyanide and Happiness, right? I bought the book. Good stuff! And you're right that I'll probably be flamed pretty horribly. Anonymity is a two-bladed spear; although it allows for people like me to be honest about embarassing situations, it also allows for anonymous people to scream "f*** you" for no good reason, as often as they want to. After all, who are we to judge the river of infinite correctness?

 

[llafnwod]

Your gonna be flamed so bad....

But i guess everyone has had their fictional character crushes, Some asian people have gone as far as marrying them.

...not me though o_o

Hmmm... I recognize your screen name. Cyanide and Happiness, right? I bought the book. Good stuff! And you're right that I'll probably be flamed pretty horribly. Anonymity is a two-bladed spear; although it allows for people like me to be honest about embarassing situations, it also allows for anonymous people to scream "f*** you" for no good reason, as often as they want to. After all, who are we to judge the river of infinite correctness?

No-one's done that yet. Tends to happen a lot on this board; people expect a river of flames and end up surprised at how level-headed the responses end up being. Relax.

 

[OctalLord]

This reminds me of the story I read through Bungies(Halo people) news feed that someone named their daughter Cortana.


I think it's a pretty name myself... But the circumstances in which it was created are going to give that poor girl hell in the future.

I can hear the taunts now: "Hey Corntana! Why don't you go back and make out with Master Chief! BLEHDLE BLEHDLE BLEHDLE BLEH!"

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I have a fanboy-ism with Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, but that's about it.

.. You may want some help with that "infatuation".

 

[teutonicman]

Dude *sigh*...... just go watch some porn like the rest of us.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Yeah, I've never been infatuated with a character from a video game (or anime, for that matter), but I have felt deep empathy... and liked their looks and personality enough to have a very shallow crush on them. *shrug*

 

[A Passe Adesse]

Erm, infatuation with a fictional character isn't a good thing.

Feeling empathy, liking characters, hating characters, willing them to die or willing them to succeed, these are all normal emotions which are actively sought after by the makers of games/films/books. To say you are falling in love though?

It's entirely one sided because the character isn't real, there can be no reciprication. As a result if this continues you are going to end up feeling like shit, just like anyone else who knows unrequited love.

Worst case scenario, you take a fictional character and make her the benchmark for all future relationships, meaning they are all doomed to fail because they will never match up next to the character. It doesn't have to be a fictional character, it could easily be something we create in our minds, our own perfect "girl".

Seeking help might be a good plan, or otherwise cutting ME2 out of your life untill all these thoughts have passed.

The thing is, I don't want to play Mass Effect 2 anymore. I don't feel like doing anything anymore. I've tried books, movies, and other forms of entertainment, as well as speaking with and meeting with friends. Nothing can match up to that one... experience, I guess. Can't find a suitable word.

I've been growing more and more... close, I guess, to games in the past several years, since my first time being rejected by a woman I thought I loved, and her avoidance of me since. About three years later, I fell for another. After revealing my emotions to her, she refused to even speak with me. It was about then that I realized how cold some people can be, and I became what some would call isolated. I was never much of a people person, and I have always enjoyed being alone, but two heartbreaks in succession was too much. Soon after my second, I thought of suicide often and started searching for my purpose in this world. My suicidal leanings have passed. My deep contemplation of purpose continues, and will for a long time to come.

The strongest side effect of my crippled heart is my lack of sociality. I gave up many friends and grew detached from many more. Why become so close to people? They are unreliable and are always able to betray you in a number of ways. I trust myself. I am still able to carry a conversation perfectly well if I choose to, I just don't want to most of the time, and I often give very short answers or explanations.

I have started to prefer fiction to reality, which I understand is unhealthy, but why would I rather live in such an unforgiving world when I can choose to live in one with much more excitement, in which those who antagonize me will almost always either get what's coming or make up for what they've done? A universe in which I can choose to be a noble hero who saves the "innocent" from their "unjust" punishment? A world in which I can meet an unfamiliar alien life form, and, over the process of our journey, grow emotions for each other --- where this time, I won't be coldly shut down like a toy or machine that she has grown tired of, or thrown away like a stone that has lost its luster? Why not lose myself in a world where I have people more loyal, more dependable, more caring for my fictional character than those in reality?

 

[mrpenguinismyhomeboy]

I don't feel any deep personal attraction toward video game characters, but I do think quite a few of them are outrageously sexy.

But physical attraction is it.

VIRTUAL GLOBAL SEX MANIA

 

[mew4ever23]

I think we all have our gaming crushes. Sooner or later though, you'll realize she's just pixels and move on.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

As long as you keep things in perspective, I don't see a problem. I've had crushes on a few fictional characters before, nothing wrong with that; provided that you keep in mind that they are fictional and don't do anything excessively stupid like say marrying a love pillow with their image on it.
Always remember:

Spoiler: Natural Selection

and keep your feelings in check.

 

[A Passe Adesse]

Dude *sigh*...... just go watch some porn like the rest of us.

And the flaming begins. In the words of our beloved Yahtzee, "Tan-fucking-fastic!"

Quickly, nerds of the Escapist! Round up your +9 Agility Skullswords! These n00bs r a plage on ur kingdum! KIL EM WIF FIYUR!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, please, although I appreciate that you see no point in this topic, which will always happen with many people because of human independence of thought, if you have no valid point, I would like to keep this thread serious. By the way, thanks for the post, Pariah87.

 

[Kimarous]

I have never felt this way towards what I know is a fictional character consisting of a stream of ones and zeroes.

Don't forget that the character consists of a lot more than "a stream of ones and zeroes". The whole is more than a sum of it's parts. Those ones and zeroes mean something, be in an aspect of physical design, the voice files, or whatever. Someone had to forge the design for that whole. Another person had to write the character for that design. Someone had to record the dialogue for said character.

Granted, yes, she is a ficticious character and maintaining a constant affection for such a figure is not exactly healthy. I'm just said that, ficticious or not, she IS a character.

 

[The_Healer]

Thats pretty funny.

I suggest you do the manly thing and never mention this ever again.

Ever.

 

[A Passe Adesse]

Thats pretty funny.

I suggest you do the manly thing and never mention this ever again.

Ever.

To get this out of the way, your profile pic is (with cheesy enthusiasm) AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

As I said earlier, what with the swords and fire and such, I don't want to hear it. I don't want you to tell me to shut up and be masculine and contain all of my emotions. I show emotion much more than most men do, and I would like for you to respect that. I'm not a "pussy", I have done pointless guy-ish things like fighting before. I love doing martial arts. I have fought twice, and while I hated it, I won both times. I do plenty of "manly" things. If I am not "manly" enough for your standards, just don't talk to me. Nothing is making you.

 

[Vorpals]

Erm, infatuation with a fictional character isn't a good thing.

Feeling empathy, liking characters, hating characters, willing them to die or willing them to succeed, these are all normal emotions which are actively sought after by the makers of games/films/books. To say you are falling in love though?

It's entirely one sided because the character isn't real, there can be no reciprication. As a result if this continues you are going to end up feeling like shit, just like anyone else who knows unrequited love.

Worst case scenario, you take a fictional character and make her the benchmark for all future relationships, meaning they are all doomed to fail because they will never match up next to the character. It doesn't have to be a fictional character, it could easily be something we create in our minds, our own perfect "girl".

Seeking help might be a good plan, or otherwise cutting ME2 out of your life untill all these thoughts have passed.

The thing is, I don't want to play Mass Effect 2 anymore. I don't feel like doing anything anymore. I've tried books, movies, and other forms of entertainment, as well as speaking with and meeting with friends. Nothing can match up to that one... experience, I guess. Can't find a suitable word.

I've been growing more and more... close, I guess, to games in the past several years, since my first time being rejected by a woman I thought I loved, and her avoidance of me since. About three years later, I fell for another. After revealing my emotions to her, she refused to even speak with me. It was about then that I realized how cold some people can be, and I became what some would call isolated. I was never much of a people person, and I have always enjoyed being alone, but two heartbreaks in succession was too much. Soon after my second, I thought of suicide often and started searching for my purpose in this world. My suicidal leanings have passed. My deep contemplation of purpose continues, and will for a long time to come.

The strongest side effect of my crippled heart is my lack of sociality. I gave up many friends and grew detached from many more. Why become so close to people? They are unreliable and are always able to betray you in a number of ways. I trust myself. I am still able to carry a conversation perfectly well if I choose to, I just don't want to most of the time, and I often give very short answers or explanations.

I have started to prefer fiction to reality, which I understand is unhealthy, but why would I rather live in such an unforgiving world when I can choose to live in one with much more excitement, in which those who antagonize me will almost always either get what's coming or make up for what they've done? A universe in which I can choose to be a noble hero who saves the "innocent" from their "unjust" punishment? A world in which I can meet an unfamiliar alien life form, and, over the process of our journey, grow emotions for each other --- where this time, I won't be coldly shut down like a toy or machine that she has grown tired of, or thrown away like a stone that has lost its luster? Why not lose myself in a world where I have people more loyal, more dependable, more caring for my fictional character than those in reality?

(wall of text alert)

The reason you ever wanted to get attached to those women originally was because they were sentient things that you thought could love you back too, as seen in the loneliness you talked about, or because they were beautiful, or all of the above.

Everyone has their heartbreaks, and I can tell you about many people who have had more than two of them, and are still alive and kicking. The point is: Love is pretty enough a double edged sword. On your way to find somebody right for you, you will fail a couple, many, or uncountable times. It all depends, but it is an important aspect of life.

You might not want to become attached to people, but these characters in the fictional world you are becoming attached to are just programs. They cannot truly respond to anything you say to them that is not preprogrammed into them. Why do we search for love? Biologists tell us it to reproduce. Psychologists tell us it an innate feeling. Sociologists tell us that it is a source of fufillment, coming from having somebody love you as much as you love them. Love is when two beings value you each other above all else, right? More to that.

The reason why people are considered valuable according to ethics is because they have "unconditional value", meaning that they can give "conditional value" to objects, the same way you can give value to Tali. For example, gold is only seen as valuable because our ancestors put a conditional value on it, but gold cannot value anything else. But the thing is, Tali cannot value you back, nor can the other characters in that program. She cannot love you beyond what you perceive as Tali but is actually BioWare's writers' script. Therefore, Tali cannot love you back, and thus that "love" does not exist anyways.

The loneliness you tell us about is a hole that needs to be filled with another human's value of you, whether it be by friends or via a loved one. Instead of looking to things that cannot solve that problem by valuing you as much as you value them, keep trying with people that can solve that problem, who can confer value to you as love, what you are looking for.

Even if you think that all people are bad and have the same cynical misanthropic feelings other people have, they are not valid because you have not met everyone alive yet. You cannot truly hate people to the point of putting up your mental barriers and secluding yourself behind them because you have not met them all. That would be like racism, judging a group of people before you know who they actually are. As the super-trite saying goes "There are more fish in the sea".

(tl;dr

Thus, realize that Tali is no more than a unrational puppet that cannot value you back and that there are more people than those you've met and given you the hard times that have let this, and keep trying. I'm sorry if I misunderstood anything or if I was too blunt, and I understand how this can happen to you, since I've experienced the same sense of loneliness and want of seclusion you've felt, minus the results you've experienced.