"Advanced" use of virtual worlds? (Re: [MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs)

[Matt Mihaly]

On Sat, 2 Feb 2002, J C Lawrence wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Feb 2002 16:22:35 +0000 (GMT) 
> Matt Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.com> wrote:
  
>> Well, speaking for myself, I'm not able to consciously decide to
>> be in love, or consciously decide to be emotionally hurt today.

> <<This is treading far on the fringes of topic>>
 
> Its actually something I find easy, for both the examples listed.
> Try it.  Its not that hard and it makes comprehending and
> predicting player patterns very much easier.

Really. So, today, you could just summarily decide, "I am in love
with Jesse Helms." I could make my character love him, but there
wouldn't be any actual emotion behind it, particularly as I actually
loathe him.

I also question whether you've ever experienced anything truly
emotionally shocking, because the feeling of watching, say, someone
shot to death 2 feet from you is not one I would be able to conjure
up spontaneously, despite having seen it happen and knowing exactly
what it feels like.

I maintain that roleplaying, by necessity, involves disconnecting
your actions from your emotions to some extent. That's not to say
that roleplayers feel no emotion. I have certainly gotten caught up
in the emotional rush of roleplaying before. But to say that it can
achieve the same intensity is beyond my ability to believe, at
least.

(Incidentally, I don't think this is off-topic, because it drives to
the core of one of the complaints about roleplaying: It cuts people
off from themselves, and dampens emotional connection to events.)

--matt

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