There’s now a lively discussion over at the Escape Pod message board about my story “Save Me Plz.” The story seems to have particularly struck a nerve with some gamers (or their significant others).
Warning: Spoilers for “Save Me Plz”
For example, mattatarms writes, “First time poster, been listening to the podcast for months. This one connected with me enough in such a way that I felt compelled to come here and post. I am a former MMO addict (Star Wars Galaxies), and during the height of my time in the game I really had the feeling that it was my life. When I was working (the little I was), I would want my life to be that swaggering smuggler/fighter pilot that I was in the game. I was involved in a role-playing guild, and the stories that we had in there just felt more real to me than real life did. There was a time where if I wanted to change the world to fit the universe I was involved with in the game, I would. It’s been a world of change since I decided to ‘unplug’ though. I’ve turned my life around, and found the love of my life. Moved to a new city and started a new and better life. Anyway, my point … The end of the piece, where they found the car in their fantasy world that Devon created, rung some sort of bell, along with Meg’s emotional reaction. That this piece of the old world that she had mostly forgotten would bring her back in that way, and then cry for help, makes me wonder what in my own personal situation reminded me of ‘reality’ and made me cry for help. Anyway, great podcast. Keep up the awesome work!”
Biscuit writes, “This story really struck a chord with me because it is SO close to the bone. At some times in my relationship with my husband, I have had to say, ‘Me or the computer game.’ And now I’m fully on the other side. Having watched on the outside for so many years, I decided to find out what all the fuss is about, and now I am a complete Guild Wars fanatic, to the point it IS pushing aside some of my aspirations in life. (I want to be a writer, but am ‘crippled’ by the amount of time I spend playing during my free time. Even all my other hobbies have suffered because of GW.) I sound like a freak, but I’m actually a very well-centered human being. There’s a whole lot of emotional Ouch in this story. And after all, isn’t that one component that makes a good story?”
CieBird writes, “I am SURE that I dated that guy in college. Brilliant programmer, always spouting some self-important wisdom, never went to class, got high a lot, WAY into gaming, dropped out. I am sure that was him the story was about.”
Speaking of “that guy,” the character Devon, many listeners seem to have very strong reactions to him. Some are creeped out, while others sympathize with his desire to change the world.
Sayeth writes, “The thing I liked best about this story is that the ‘bad guy’ wasn’t really what most people would call evil; he was just trying to make the world into what he thought would be a better place. I don’t think he would have considered himself selfish (though he was), rather he was just so myopic that he believed that by remaking the world he would be helping everyone out. This gives the story resonances with not just multiplayer games, but politics as well. Perhaps I’m a bit naive, but I think most of the political battles are not good vs. evil, but people trying to reshape the world into what they think would be ideal, not grasping that their view of heaven is the other man’s hell.”
ScottC writes, “The story also made me think of Disney. I read (well listened) to the recent biography, and the theme was that Disney wanted to make a perfect world (Snow White, Disneyland, the original concept for EPCOT). But the difference was that Disney invited you into his world, while Devon forced everyone, including Meg, into his. I bet Devon is still fine-tuning his world, still thinking the problem is with reality and not with him.”
To read more, go here.
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