Dear Santa…
December 6, 2011
I know my days of sitting in your lap as a little tot may be over, but I figure one can never be too old to write. As well, I hear Rivs, Rowan, Scary, and Scopique have already sent you their regards, and I’m sure they can attest to the fact we’re all children at heart anyway. If I may, I’d like to put forth my wishlist too, because I’ve been really, really good this year. So here goes:
1. Above all else, I wish for good health for myself, my family and my friends. I can’t stress that enough. This holiday season, everyone please be safe, be balanced, be hale and hardy!
2. More time, for both work and play. Time for polishing off my art commission projects. Time for more books so I can finally put an actual dent in my to-read list. Time for more games so I can actually get to experience all the stuff in my Steam library (#$%# Steam sales!) and my pile of unopened Xbox 360 games. Time for…ah, you get the idea.
3. Let the MMOs we play be successful and profitable. As well, let the ones currently in development like Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World be ever inspired and moving forward. Let the genre flourish, so those who make MMOs can continue doing so for the folks who love to play them. Let Star Wars: The Old Republic live up to expectations — not only because many of us have looked forward to this game for ages or the fact the devs have worked so hard for years, but also because I think you have to be a really jaded and curmudgeony person to actually want to see a game fail. Seriously.
4. One of these days, may I actually get off my procrastinating butt and finish the novel I started for NaNoWriMo. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that writer’s block has suddenly set in, right after the community support and self-imposed deadline ended with November. But I’ve come too far not to complete this.
5. Harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan… *crowd is silent* …and world peace!
Aaaaand when quotes from crappy Sandra Bullock movies start coming out, you know that’s a sign to quit while you’re ahead. Oh, who am I kidding? I loved Miss Congeniality.
Anyway, thanks in advance. Give my love to your wife, your elves, and the polar bears you drink Coke with. Take care, and be sure to stay warm up there!
Sincerely,
MMOGC
P.S. Have you heard from Blue Kae yet, or has he gotten himself on your naughty list this year? You know him.
MMO Gamer Chick 
Yay!
Yes yes, but what are your opinions on Miss Congeniality 2? That’s what we really want to know.
Okay, that one was bloody awful. Pity, because I still watch the first movie whenever it’s on TV…
I don’t think you have to be jaded or curmudgeonly to want a game to fail. You just have to prefer the implications of the game’s failure to the implications of the game’s success. In SWTOR’s case, I think either result has potentially shitty implications, so I’d just prefer the game wasn’t being made. With that not being an option, I’ve just stopped caring.
Anyway, I really just came by to say that you’re never too old to sit on Santa and offer these testimonials as proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c_mPevNk8E
When I hear people say they want a game to fail, I really hear:
“I’m a loser that can’t do anything with my life so I am going to attack others for my own failures. I prefer people to suffer horribly and die. It gives me strength to wake up in the morning and yell at my mother for not cleaning my room even tho I am an adult.”
That about Sums up people that are so negative, they want people to fail. Yes EA is made of people with families and dreams. Same for any other company. It is simple minded ignorant people that thrive on the failure of others. I wish them peace and hope they seek counseling.
You’re not trying very hard. I can imagine millions of reasons for wanting games to fail that have nothing to do with wanting others to suffer. That’s a complete failure of imagination on your part.
Here’s just one example that should open your mind a little: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_Cleansing_(video_game)
See? Not all games are positive. And while I do not wish for people to get laid-off, I’m willing to bet there are products and companies you have even unconsciously wished failure upon, perhaps because they directly competed with your own employer or the employer of a loved one, yet I do not assume that means you want those who work for that company to suffer and die.
How silly. How completely narrow minded and focused on a narrow track of your own bias.
How sad.
Really, Sauce? You had to prove Godwin’s Law to make your point? Ridiculous.
Just admit SWTOR is simply not a game you want to play, and stop bemoaning the wretched condition of the MMORPG genre, as you see it.
Whoa, time out. I don’t ever censor comments and I don’t want to start now over a post that’s supposed to be fun and merry.
1. I didn’t see anyone say they wanted games to fail. Scary may have only been been expressing his own thoughts on the matter, not addressing anyone directly.
2. It’s understood we’re talking about SWTOR, or in general MMOs like it, ie. games that people have worked years to develop, something they hope to be enjoyed by a wide audience. I’m sure anyone can come up with arguments involving fringe/controversial games or inordinate exceptions with just a little googling, but I don’t really see them adding much to the main point, which is:
3. Many devs are average people, with hopes and dreams, and they work to support themselves and their families. Scary may have a rather strong way of putting things, but he’s right about that. Love or hate a game, it’s like art — even if SWTOR wasn’t my cup of tea, I would still wish BW the best of luck and absolutely nothing less.
4. That said, Saucelah, I think it’s perfectly fine to not care either way. That’s still very different than hoping a game will fail because while I too feel ambivalence sometimes, I personally cannot fathom wishing ill upon anyone who has done nothing to deserve it.
Feeling contrite that I fed the troll. 😦
I think you’re both being naive. What if you were a dev releasing a competing product? Would it not be natural to hope your competitors fail or at the very least, are not anywhere near as successful as you? Have you never applied for a job? If you did, did you somehow manage to obtain it without causing anyone else to be rejected?
I’m not trolling. Trolling would require me to not be sincere about my position, and I am quite sincere. I think that assuming someone’s motivations and assuming negative issues about someone’s character based on a single expressed desire is much worse than wishing failure on any product ever made anywhere.
And I also sincerely think that both of you have at times succeeded at the expense of others and have consciously or unconsciously desired the failure of others in order to succeed or at least desired successes that required the failures of others. Your art commission projects, for example, necessitate that you get the commission and not another artist — should I assume that means you have no respect for the families and well-beings of other freelance artists? No, that would clearly be absurd, just as it is absurd to assume that someone who wants a game to fail in favor of a competitor or a competing genre wishes ill on those that worked the game. The market is not infinite, so the success of a game can possibly affect the success of another.
On 1, I didn’t take what he said personal, I just took it to be a universal assumption with no support and easy to imagine exceptions — I treated it and responded to it the same way I would to an absurd assumption based on race or religion for that matter
.
On 2, you did not specify “anyone that wants SWTOR to fail” you specified anyone that wants any game to fail, as did the comment, and my comment addressed how this cannot be applied universally.
3, I’ve covered.
On 4, wishing for a game to fail is not the equivalent of wishing ill-will on the people who worked for it. Someone can wish for a game to fail and simultaneously hope the entire dev team bounces into new jobs and sees great success in the future.
I hope your concern about possibly having to censor was addressed to scary, not me. I have actually been more accepting of the ideas and opinions of individuals, ideas and opinions apparently none of us hold, than either of you. And the only thing sadder than pigeon-holing human beings based on your perception of their motivations is to quash anyone pointing out that your perception is optional and simply a result of bias.
tl;dr: hey, thanks for the hits on my blog.
My apologies, but in my original post I was talking about SWTOR. I might not have been as clear as I could have been, and the discussion has since taken it elsewhere, but when I said that in 2. it was more of a response to your first comment.
Maybe I am naive or overly optimistic, but no, I don’t think I have ever consciously wished my competitors to fail. Honestly. Not even when I worked in the head hunting/recruiting business a couple years ago and you know how cutthroat that industry is, especially with the economy as it is. Yeah, clients were hard to come by, but I guess my mind isn’t hardwired to immediately think, “I desire the failure of our competitors” and instead the situation was motivation to work even harder.
And now that I’m in art, it’s a completely different realm so it’s not a really good example. The thing with art is, people can love my style or hate it. Whether they choose me for their projects comes down to their taste, and is rather independent of how hard I work at it or the quality of customer service I can provide. So, really it’s out of my hands, whether or not I want other artists to fail. So sorry, no, it doesn’t even occur to me. I mentioned I can be ambivalent too sometimes, and this is good example of one of those situations.
By censor, it might have been better if I had used the word moderate. If I had to, it would be for the flames, and never for the opinions themselves, I assure you. There is hence no need to get defensive; I never thought you were trolling anyway, mostly because I’ve seen your comments before and I know you are always sincere. Anyway, as I have in the past, I agree to disagree. And if you are indeed as accepting of the ideas of individuals as you say you are, perhaps you will also see how you have managed to pidgeon-hole others based on your own perceptions and biases as well? 😉
LOL regarding blog hits, right back at ya (all)!
[…] seems like the holiday chain letters have started back up too, tis the season to be blogging! So with that in mind, I […]
I’m sorry my sense of blunt humor based on wishing somebody to fail was taken in an odd negative manner. I’ve applied for many jobs and I’ve respected everyone of my competitors. The only instance I can think of that I might somebody to fail is when they plan to harm others. A person wishing somebody to fail because they make a competing video game is just childish. I assume (just like it was assumed how I think) a developer in a competing game (example WoW vs SWTOR), does not wish the other to fail. They might wish they are not as successful as they are, but they don’t want them to fail (definition: To be unsuccessful).
Personally I try to see the best in people, but when they say, “I hope -blank- fails.” it makes me mad. I think calling me names was uncalled for. I apologize for saying anything to MMOGC and I’m sorry I said what I did. I meant only to express this is a holiday season post and being negative is not what I wanted.
I’m sorry and please don’t ban me from comments
I would not ban you from comments…where would I get my fix of Scarybooster sense of blunt humor then?!
I’m shocked that you would even JOKE that Miss Congeniality was a crappy movie. “She’s beauty, and she’s grace… she’s MISS United States” /Shatner 😛
So many good quotes from that movie.
*speaks into cuff microphone* “He has a gun” 😀 ha ha
Oh, look what I found! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212346/quotes
This here’s my favorite:
Victor Melling: Why is New Jersey called “The Garden State”?
Gracie Hart: Because it’s too hard to fit”Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State” on a license plate?
That one makes me LOL every time especially since I lived in Jersey for a while. 😀
[…] haven’t gotten my paypal payments. Oh, what’s that? You’re upset because even MmoGamerChick, Rivs, Rowan, and Scopique found the time to send off their lists? Well. That’s just how this […]
[…] MMOGamerChick finally got tired of waiting for me to post again and tagged me with a Chistmas Wishlist chain blog. I checked and couldn’t find out what I’d be risking by not doing it, but better safe […]
Dang it, had to knock the rust off of my New Post page. 😛
Hey, if you want motivation to finish your story, give yourself a deadline to email it to me for beta reading.
Hey thanks for the offer, I might just take you up on that. Mind you remember it’ll be beta reading and that it was you who asked to be subjected to the torture of my raw, unedited crappy first draft 😛
sounds more like alpha reading XD
LOL alpha reading. The way it is now, that’s probably more accurate. Couldn’t have said it better myself!
The rewrite forums are still up too (I think) if you want to post whole/parts/snippets.
That’s a lovely set of holiday wishes. 🙂 I totally agree with the post-NaNoWriMo problem, by the way. I am currently sitting in front of Scrivener staring at my project as I have most mornings since NaNo. Writing? Not so much.
Heh, same here. Nothing I put on paper seems to look right anymore.
[…] Gamer chick asks Santa to ensure that Guild Wars 2 keep ever inspired and keep moving […]