Greetings,

As this is my first post, I wanted it to be something relatively thought-provoking.

I’ve considered this for a time, and so I wanted to share my opinions with you all. I’m sure some of you may have heard something along the lines of “The world of Lusternia lives in it’s players imaginations.” I found this to be an incredibly truthful statement, as I’ve always been one to freely divulge myself in my own imagination. There is a great number of people who dedicate hundreds of hours and even days to their “lives” within Lusternia, and in a way, these joined minds breathe life into what is otherwise just a heap of code.

This probably sounds terribly psycho, but I find it mildly irritating when a friend or roommate says, “What’re you doing? Playing your game again?” As, in my perception, Lusternia is far, far more then any game. I’ve been the geekish type since I was able to hold a Nintendo controller in my hands, and in no way has any game I’ve ever played been able to compare to an IRE mud. I like to think that all of our collective imaginations joined together in this one very special place manifest a certain amount of reality to what is considered by most “just a game.”

How often have you found yourself affected more then just a little bit by what’s going on in your character’s life? I for one have found myself feeling truly excited, happy, sad or angry - and a multitude of other emotions when I’m there. Not to mention the intense adrenaline you might experience when doing battle with another player. So, not to be overly redundant, but I’ve never experienced a “game” that can do that - and I’ve played a fairly large amount.

Is it really so hard to believe that this place many of us invest very large quantities of time into exists in a way, simply by the fact that we all must exercise a certain amount of belief in order to enjoy ourselves (aka, roleplaying). For me, it’s an opportunity to experience someone else’s life firsthand, in a world nothing like our own.

Just wondering if anyone else had similar thoughts.

Also, please let me know if you think I’m totally bonkers.

Yes, I think many of us have similar thoughts.

This is kind of standard in IRE, yes.

I don't know if I should say this is a sad truth. I have found myself enjoying the life in Lusternia a lot more than my actual life. In Lusternia, it is a lot easier for people to get along because we all have something in common and you don't have to worry about cross-continental conflicts. I think that Lusternia is probably the easiest way for people to get together and put differences aside.

You know, I once heard this great quote, "When reality is better than your dreams, you know it's love."

"When RL is better than Lusternia, you know it's love."

That's my motto

I agree with you totally - though I do try to put some distance between what happens to my character how that affects me - and I also find it very hard to explain to my friends or family why I might spend so much time playing a game. It's a story to me, really, and I think that is why I enjoy it so much. I miss it, too, since I work full time now and am usually busy with other things at night and on the weekend .

This would be true, and very much by design. Matt(founder of IRE and co-creator of Achaea) was a major of Sociology(if I remember correctly, if not something along the same lines) and Achaea was designed to have just this effect on people. It was meant to mimic real life in as many aspects as possible, so to give you a more emotional connection to your character and thus want to play more.

Is that anything like regulating the amount of nicotine in cigarettes?

Interesting...

I would prefer to view Mr. Mihaly's motives more along the lines of a gift to the players, not so much an ingenious marketing plan. Emotionally attached or not, I have a whole lot of fun. I can just say that in this same vein, I think its truly a great thing that the ... "games" remain free, even though most of us who get truly hooked purchase credits.

I very regularly openly admit to having an addiction to Lusternia, as clearly, by definition of the word, I am addicted to the Iron Realms Entertainment Product.
I can agree with you wholeheartedly, as when people say to me "Mimi, why do you spend so much time in that game?" Or Other things similiar, to me its not a game anymore, it stopped being a 'game' for me, when I turned down a good book so I would not miss an ingame event. Not that I do not distinguish Lusty from RealLife, but, to me it is like a never-ending storybook, which is like crack for us girls, as well...books rock.
Ya, we can pretty much all sympathize with you, you know your an addict when your friends who play together ingame (the ones you know ooc, like me and mornen and sekrio) talk together in/about lusternian things...like we were all walking around walmart the other day and we saw this huge beefy bodybuilder guy, and Sekrio said to me "Hey Mimi...I bet Lyco could tank that guy.." and I was all "Psshh... wish I had a Lover's Tarot right now..." then Mornen said "Hahaha, Lover's then Trueheal, then give him Daevos' pink coat and then influence hi to rape sekrio!" Yea it's a dumb example. but I can't think of a good one.
Yea i'm an emotional person, not really alot, but some things hit me hard ooc, like.. one night I cried myself to be cause I was SO hurt by somethin that happened to Simimi (well it had been disterssing me for a long time, then PMS hit and I losted it ooc), SO.. yea...I agree with you

nice post and uh... Welcome to the Addicts, I am Simimi, and I have issues.

I made the mistake long ago of thinking Lusternia was a game. Most of the frustration I have felt as a result of playing Lusternia stemmed from this misconception. Lusternia is not a game, it is an interactive world. I make no judgement with this statement - neither is better or worse than the other. The entire point of a 'game,' by my definition, is to have fun. There is no greater purpose or complication to a game than that.

The point of an interactive world, however, is immersion, creating such emotional attachments as you described. When Shorlen gets repeatedly killed, or something he has worked hard for crumbles to dust, when those he cares about are slaughtered over and over and over, I am not having fun. However, that is all part of Lusternia, the good with the bad. If Lusternia was fun all the time, if everything was pleasent and happy, it would not be the wonderful immersive world that it is.

Not everything can be great all the time - there is a balance to it, just as there is in reality. I agree entirely with you on how well Lusternia mimics reality, creating a microcosm of society, allowing us to play out social interactions that are no less real than those we experience in person, though they are certainly different.

Wish my parents would understand that part.

To me, Lusternia is just a game. But then, games and my social life have always been inseperable. I was inventing my own board games before I started role-playing, and I'd started role-playing by age nine.

I met the woman who'd become my wife when she showed up at my door for a role-play session, and later courted her over another role-play campaign.

I'm never really able to bond with anyone without gaming with them. Be it board game or paper RPG or MUD, if we don't have some game to talk about, I really don't know what to say to them.

And the only people who know me half as well as my wife does all met me online, playing one MUD or another.

So, yeah. Lusternia's just a game. And I play it to have fun. I don't let myself get caught up for long in any aspect that would spoil my fun. But that's because I've been around the block about 5,000 times and know how to keep my perspective, and because I understand that games are to life as rehearsals are to theatre.

Role-play in all its forms is potent stuff, and MUDing is one of the most potent forms there is. Handle with care, because the lessons you learn (or fail to learn) here can make (or break) your offline life.

Lusternia is definitely addictive, and can be a very pleasant and rewarding experience.

However, truth be told, I'm not sure what to think of it. Besides the advantages of massive immersion in such a realm, there are quite significant drawbacks and dangers attached to it, as I'm sure anyone largely dependant on online relationships and friendships whose connection was defunct for a longer period of time can tell you. And, addictions in general are quite unhealthy, after all.

Hmm. Wish I could write another paragraph about the advantages but unfortunately I have to go to class. So much about addictions *smirk*

Well, so far I think I've managed to keep Lusternia in the "game" stage, so, I don't think it's more real than my real life. Regarding getting upset or happy at the game, well, I get upset or happy when I win or lose at darts, so I guess that's not difference.
The only thing that gives lusternia a "life" it's the people playing there, wich some are more real for me than people I know real life (specially because I talk more with them) even if I am not going to see them ever unless I decide to start doing big travelling. Is this people and the interactions between them who would make it into a "virtual world" instead of just a game where the only objective is to fulfill some goals.

Bit confusing but it's monday morning

Plus you haven't played in like half a year.

You should try an lay your hands on some of the essays Matt has written over the years about this sort of thing. I think a couple are still available on the IRE corporate site. But the others will require more tracking down. Also some of his posts to Mud-Dev deal a lot with concepts like this.

I don't play, but I used to play quite heavily, and I still talk with quite a few people from there to keep me informed.
Besides, wasn't lusternia adress www.lusternia.ire-community.com?

Sadly, I remember in my younger days, being quite infuriated by a certain Warlock that I broke a couple of items (luckily I didn't need them). I think that's when I took a step back and coupled the idea of a GAME with interactive world rather than simply, LIFE. Admittedly, it was addictive to be there for every single little possible event so your name appeared in every single thing of major import day in and day out. However, it's not worth the havoc it eventually creates in real life. Just combine the thoughts of an interactive life with the game part, and play it as both. You'll come out okay... I hope.

I know I play too much. I know I have an addiction to IRE, but I figure since I can still hold a job and so on and carry on in real life and pay my bills on time that it is an addiction I can handle.