Editor's Note: The Network
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
Me! I'm the other Internet Guild person in the story!
I actually got this job (indirectly) because of Diablo 2. It's a longer story, but essentially I was hanging out in a (gaming related) IRC channel I found via someone I knew from the diabloii.com UGO forums. And @Landslide here (who happened to be a regular in that channel) posted a link to a Job posting for a Game Master position (back when we did mostly support contracts), which is what got my foot in the door here.
And I know I would have never been in that IRC channel, especially not at the time in my life when I was able to take advantage of it, if it wasn't for my otherwise unhealthy Diablo 2 addiction.
*eyes D3 avatar*
Oh yes, soon we shall meet again.
P.S. (I (love) parentheses)
I actually got this job (indirectly) because of Diablo 2. It's a longer story, but essentially I was hanging out in a (gaming related) IRC channel I found via someone I knew from the diabloii.com UGO forums. And @Landslide here (who happened to be a regular in that channel) posted a link to a Job posting for a Game Master position (back when we did mostly support contracts), which is what got my foot in the door here.
And I know I would have never been in that IRC channel, especially not at the time in my life when I was able to take advantage of it, if it wasn't for my otherwise unhealthy Diablo 2 addiction.
*eyes D3 avatar*
Oh yes, soon we shall meet again.
P.S. (I (love) parentheses)
You lucky, lucky son of a *****. 
But, speaking as an ex-WoWplayer, I entirely agree: you might not have met those people in real life, that doesn't mean they can't be real friends. This summer I got an e-mail from a Norwegian guy, who told me he was going on a vacation to Amsterdam, which is about 60 miles from my place. This Norwegian guy also told me he was the druid with whom I experienced years of Azerothian content. Note: this was also two years after I last spoke him, since I put an end to my WoW-career in 2006.
All said and done, he came to Amsterdam a few months later, and so did I, with another Dutch WoW-player who was and is a good real life friend of mine (no accident, of course). Then, when we met him on that ridiculously hot saturday, the most amazing thing happened: I talked with someone I had never seen before, and at the same time it felt like I knew him better than a lot of neighbours and colleagues I see every day. Which, quite frankly, I did.
Of course, that event isn't something that will amaze a regular MMORPG-gamer. People wouldn't keep playing a game like WoW for years if they didn't meet people they actually liked. What personally stunned me though, was the fact that this 'friendship' was capable of crossing the barrier that is your computer screen. On the internet you see a lot of forums and sites where people like eachother online, but there is always this feeling of insignificance: "yeah, you're a nice guy, but you're also an internetguy, and therefore any real feelings are closed off." And this works also on the negative spectrum; just check a random flamewar, where everyone is doing their very best to let other people notice that they really don't care.
..True, in most cases online interaction is too superficial to have any possible consequences in real life. I can't recommend anyone to actually get emotionally involved in some nice or horrible person you see on youtube. But when you've known someone for a long time online, don't lock him or her out. There's a good chance that 'relationship' doesn't have any use outside your guild or forum, but there's also a slight chance that it does..and that's definitely worth the risk.
But, speaking as an ex-WoWplayer, I entirely agree: you might not have met those people in real life, that doesn't mean they can't be real friends. This summer I got an e-mail from a Norwegian guy, who told me he was going on a vacation to Amsterdam, which is about 60 miles from my place. This Norwegian guy also told me he was the druid with whom I experienced years of Azerothian content. Note: this was also two years after I last spoke him, since I put an end to my WoW-career in 2006.
All said and done, he came to Amsterdam a few months later, and so did I, with another Dutch WoW-player who was and is a good real life friend of mine (no accident, of course). Then, when we met him on that ridiculously hot saturday, the most amazing thing happened: I talked with someone I had never seen before, and at the same time it felt like I knew him better than a lot of neighbours and colleagues I see every day. Which, quite frankly, I did.
Of course, that event isn't something that will amaze a regular MMORPG-gamer. People wouldn't keep playing a game like WoW for years if they didn't meet people they actually liked. What personally stunned me though, was the fact that this 'friendship' was capable of crossing the barrier that is your computer screen. On the internet you see a lot of forums and sites where people like eachother online, but there is always this feeling of insignificance: "yeah, you're a nice guy, but you're also an internetguy, and therefore any real feelings are closed off." And this works also on the negative spectrum; just check a random flamewar, where everyone is doing their very best to let other people notice that they really don't care.
..True, in most cases online interaction is too superficial to have any possible consequences in real life. I can't recommend anyone to actually get emotionally involved in some nice or horrible person you see on youtube. But when you've known someone for a long time online, don't lock him or her out. There's a good chance that 'relationship' doesn't have any use outside your guild or forum, but there's also a slight chance that it does..and that's definitely worth the risk.
A really touching tale actually. Thanks for sharing that. I'm closer to some online friends than "RL" friends, so its nice to hear that this was such a pivotal moment in your life, and all caused by an online community. Cheers to that!
'quickly goes back to playing WoW with dreams of sugar plums and summer jobs dancing in his head'
This is a testament to the power of the internet as a whole. I've made some friends due to a mutual hobby (Shadowrun), and then actually met them later and we've gone on to do all kinds of good things together(Food Bank Charity work, Habitat for Humanity), because we knew each other, and knew our hobbies, which made knowing someone a lot easier to get into the work, because we knew what was going on for the downtime at the projects.
Makes me wonder: "What of the person who gave you the internship?"
You're now the Editor of the Escapist, where are they now? Do you now 'outrank' them?
You're now the Editor of the Escapist, where are they now? Do you now 'outrank' them?