Reality check:

[Arielle]

This is the first post on these boards I've sat down to write in the one year and three months I've been playing with all of you, because until now I've never really been bothered enough to deal with the IP block, and much prefer to keep ic and ooc seperate where and when I can.
Saying that, and while it's likely that I won't engage here as often in the future, recent events and interractions between players I've been watching from here have compelled me to speak up.
Those of you familiar with my character/s may have noticed an absence of most of them from the who list of late, and to those who checked in I said that it was mostly because of college and the mountain of work we've been given to finish over Christmas break.
While this is true, what I didn't mention to anyone was that this is just one of the many things occupying my mind at the moment.
This year has undoubtedly been difficult for everyone everywhere to some degree or other. People have lost jobs, had to move house, adapt to a new way of life in a very short amount of time which has lead to many struggles and sadly, this hasn't stopped despite it almost being a whole year already.
Some of us are still struggling, still caught in the middle of the chaos and in some places, for some people, it's gotten even worse.
I've often pointed out even to some of you, how easy it is in this virtual world, to forget that the people with whom we interact on a daily basis are far more than simple strings of code. That behind every character, every alias, every digital image or giph is a person at the keyboard no less human than you. This I think is a reality we often oversee. It's easier to forget the person when all you're faced with is text on a screan or some robotic voice coming through your speakers.
Time for a reality check:
One of those people in a virtual classroom of mine has just received a notice that they're quarantined for the rest of this year (over Christmas and new year) because three positive COVid-19 cases were found at the school his younger brother goes to. My classmate is 22 years old. His brother is 13.
Before that, my neighbor had to miss the funeral of their 24 year old grandson who may not have been taken by this virus, but did suffer a brutal accident while out with his friends for the last time before his family were planning to move back home to be closer to relatives during this time. He never got to join them.
Many of my friends who suffer from underlying conditions like COPD and heart complications despite their youth have to constantly text and call me to let me know they're alright because when we don't hear from each other for an extended period we start to fear the worst. One of those friends has been in critical condition three times since the start of this pandemic. He's the single parent of two beautiful little girls, neither of whom is older than ten.
Every week my brother and cousin travel with hundreds of people on an aircraft (the latter of whom has to fly it) because despite the world being on alert, people would still rather spend their Christmas somewhere nice than adhear to their own, and everyone else's safety. If my brother and cousin refuse, they lose their jobs.
My one year old nephew has been sick twice since my brother and his wife moved back home after three years. I've only seen him once for about ten minutes since they came back, and waited another nine months before that because I couldn't fly in to see them after he'd been born.
My mother, along with a third of my extended family all work in healthcare. Many of them are on the front lines, caring for patients who tested positive for COVid-19. Every phonecall, every text. Every email brings an element of dread.
Four other people in my social group are in the exact same position. We don't hang out anymore because any one of us could be compramised and risks to infect the rest as well as their families and which ever medical department our respective parents work in. We are in isolation.
That's not to mention the friends and family I've lost already to this virus. I think I've made my point.
If this isn't real enough for some of you, then perhaps this might be.
At least two of us here on this very forum have been infected at some point this year. This isn't assumption based on statistical results. It's fact. It's happened. It is real.
Bummer, right? sad to hear? are you shocked yet? Because you very much should be.
Now I'm not here to guilt trip, or judge, or assign blame to anyone for anything because I would very much like to think that we are all mature enough to carefully analyse the situation at large.
I would instead like to invite anyone who's bothered to read this far to think about the person their at odds with, however much or little. That guy who disagreed with you on a topic. The chick you think is making your virtual life hell. Who ever they are and what ever they've done, for what ever reason you think they've done it. The things you've done in turn.
Perhaps it's high time we ALL take a step back and self-reflect, not about what's happened so far, but about what we can do to make it better. How we can resolve whatever personal issues we have with whom ever we have them, regardless of which direction they're coming from.
Without insult, without judgement, without any more of this meaningless bickering which has, despite how thick-skinned some people might seem, caused a lot of hurt already.
To myself included, not because of what was said, I frankly don't know if anything has been about me nor do I care to. I've made friends on platforms like this, games like this and I've had to say goodbye to others in ways I hope none of you ever have to know.
Whatever character or characters we don't happen to like, whatever guild, or faith, or circumstance, storyline or plot. It's just a game. It isn't real.
The people behind them though, they have a story of their own. Let's not forget it.
Happy holidays.

[ceinna]

Beautifully written.

[Allalltar]

While I can't fully get behind everything that is said here, I very easily agree to the gist behind it (and have just posted it in another thread before reading this): GEAS is a game. It is played by people trying to find a few hours away from reality that is very much shaken in its very foundation of what we call life by COVID and its effects. It has put a lot of stress onto a lot of us and people come to this and similar games to be somewhere else for a little, have a bit of fun and relax. We try to provide an engaging game experience to you players, but we are also in the same mess that you are all in. So for every petty disagreement that you come up with, one of us ends up eventually having to deal with it. Please... look at each other, realize you're people here for the fun and make the best of it. Don't be asshats to each other, you don't have to be to play characters on opposing sides. Beat the heck out of each other IC if you have to... but keep an at least neutral attitude OOC. The best encounters happen when the people behind the serious happenings are smiling and laughing and having a good time.

[ila]

gone

[ferranifer]

I find this very relevant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANdG2DGm0CQ

[Allalltar]

IC happenings are whatever, but some OOC behavior I've seen makes me pretty grumpy.

I don't think they will be resolved either.

I get that there are things that make one OOC grumpy, but I can only urge you to try to resolve these and put them to the ground, all of you. They're not healthy for you and they're not healthy for the game.

[Arsicas]

IC happenings are whatever, but some OOC behavior I've seen makes me pretty grumpy.

I don't think they will be resolved either.

I get that there are things that make one OOC grumpy, but I can only urge you to try to resolve these and put them to the ground, all of you. They're not healthy for you and they're not healthy for the game.

Yeah, it might be best to just take a breath, realize that things got heated and some crappy behavior happened, but hopefully everyone can put everything behind them and start with a clean slate.

[ila]

gone