Would you leave your life behind?

[pseudo_hero]

All I can say is wow! I read a book on the average psychology of modern man (can't remember the name) a while back and I thought it was neat, but that's all. And suddenly I find the very same views in that book alive in the majority of the posts on this board! Seriously, so many slaves to convienience. Who on this boad has realy lived? "Now that your 70 Mr Jones, what did you do with your life?" "Oh I went to school, went to college, got a ho-hum job, got married, had kids, got old. I was a statistic" Did any one read the Drizz novels? Remember the kind of fullfilment he felt standing atop that snowy mountain? The kind of inner peace and appreciation for life he had. And his life was WAY worse then most adventurer's. I tell ya, I've had a taste of that kind of life. I've risked my life, fought for what I believed in, and took the pain. And the pay off is phenominal. And that was just wussy ass real world stuff. How many christian priests feel like god was never there for them? How many people struggle with the fear of death because they just don't know if anything is gonna happen? Jee, my faith was nil until I saw that cleric bring the guy back to life! It realy shocks me that most people are whining about the loss of television and compact discs. I wonder if they even read my two posts before replying.... So a mind flayer could eat your brain. What a story to tell after your friends RESURRECT you! The only argument I understand is loss of family. May'be Um just nucking futs.

 

[Tiefling]

People don't just wake up one day and say "Hey, life sucks."
It takes a lot of mistakes over a long period of time to get that way.

If your life sucks, you must have made a lot of mistakes?

Are you a Libertarian?

 

[Chromnos]

All I can say is wow!

What I can't believe is the lack of pioneering spirit displayed from this sample. I thought gamers were a group generally attracted to adventure. Maybe I'm nuts too.

-C

 

[Zappo]

Me- my life kicks ass. One of the reasons why it does kick ass is I don't pass up once in a life-time opportunities.

That goes for me too.

Why do you think that a desire to improve my life implies that I believe my current life is bad?

Or should everyone believe their life is perfect?

I like my life, and I reckon in this world it's one of the best I could reasonably hope for, but once the bonds of reality are broken, I can picture several better ones. Not counting that if I can be an elf, I get to live a half millennium if I just avoid getting killed.

Now what I'd hate is to be a 2nd edition elf. Stuck for 500 years with the same class? Ewwww!

 

[d20Dwarf]

The issue of will your body be a 4d6 stat body is a good issue too. Otherwise most will continue to be experts or become mages due to lack of muscles... ( Maybe except Eric Noah who has 15 dex ! Roguish ? )

The only roguish things about EN are his humor and his height!

 

[Terraism]

I'd go. A year ago I would have said "with no regrets," but that was a year ago, and I would've done anything to get out of her, save break a promise. But now - I'd still go, but I'd miss some things. Having just recently realized I've got more friends than I ever knew, it'd be a kinda jerking experience, but... like so many people have said, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I've regretted not doing too many things in my life - and some of them I can still try. But this? No - you don't pass up an opportunity like this, unless you've got people you love as much as life. And that's a precious thing all by itself.

 

[Umbran]

What I can't believe is the lack of pioneering spirit displayed from this sample. I thought gamers were a group generally attracted to adventure. Maybe I'm nuts too.

Well, fo rone thing, gamers are attracted to the simulation of adventure,not the adventure itself. If we were attracted to adventure, we'd all spend our $$ and time on bungee-jumping and skydiving, rather than books and dice

I think if you check actual history, you'll find that usually the "pioneering spirit" is focused in the poor, downtrodden folks who have nothing to leave behind. Most pioneers are willing to take the plunge because they've got little to lose.

And, when I think of it, this isn't an offer to be a pioneer. To me, this was an offer to go alone into a new world, change who I was, and assimilate into the culture there. That's not pioneering.

A pioneer sets out to open a new landscape, expecting others to follow in his wake. Pioneers are at the vanguard of their civilizations, but also helping to create a new, more vital culture. If you gave me a credible offer to give up my current life to become part of a new ndersea, Lunar, or Martian colony, my answer would likely be "Sure!" Not only then do I get to explore, but I get to help create something that didn't exist before, from which others of my lands will benefit.

The original offer was for escape. Escaping isn't constructive, while pioneering is. Or, that's how I see it, anyway.

 

[Rahkan]

I'd definitely be a wizard. Then as soon as I got enough knowledge I'd put out texts on abstract things (I know enough physics to be Faraday, Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus in one). I'd put out texts on Psychology (Sigmund Freud), the mish of philosophy that I know (Plaristotegel), and economics (Adam Smith). After i'd advanced mathematics far enough I'd even pose Fermat's Last Theorem to really annoy people. I'd leverage my fame into an advisorship to the king and spend the rest of my life as Royal Chancellor of the Exchequeur or something, comfortably manipulating the kingdom and achieving everlasting fame. I'd also have access to magical healing and anti-aging techniques so I'd live a longer and more able life than here on earth. I would certainly never adventure, I'd be the guy that hires people to find the Dark Tome of Necropotence (and I'd definitely be one of those corrupt, evil, Grand Viziers).

 

[Taloras]

It's interesting that many people are saying that a girlfriend is what would keep them on Earth and pass up such an opportunity.

A GIRLFRIEND?!
Hell, if she's just my gf, and not your wife, why should that keep you back?
Isn't the point of a gf that it's a temporary thing?
If she's your fiancee, I could see staying, but a gf?

You have to have a g/f first to get a fiancee, right?

I would do -anything- for my girlfriend.....i could never leave her behind.

 

[Reynard]

You all do realize that there is more than enough opportunity for "adventure" in this supposedly mundane world, don't you? I mean, between military life, things like the Peace Corps, and various field academics, you can have adventure and *still* have the comforts of the modern world. Willing to give up safety and cleanliness? Hell, there are still lots of mercenaries, pirates, and underworl types out there today. Want to be a "good guy"? Try being a cop, or a combat medic/EMT, or a Search and Rescure specialist. maybe its that you want to break new ground, explore new territories. Well, just because something is on a map doesn't mean it has been thoroughly explored. How many millins of square acres are essentially uninhabited in the american midwest or Canad? How much of the vast jungles and forests and mountains of south America have truly been explored?

I mean, really, if you are willing to say you'll drop everything to go to some fantasy world, what is keeping you from dropping everything *right now*, turning off you computer, throwing some clothes ina duffle bag, and heading out the door. yeah, maybe you'll have to fight for your life and for a living, but I'll bet you'll have one hell of an interesting life. that's what this is about, isn't it? People want to go off to "fantasy land" because their lives are mundane and oppressive and however much they may love theirwife/husband/kids/dog/whatever, they just want *something* to happen to them that sets them apart from everyone else.

See, the thing is that in movies and books, the protagonists don't have a life like an RPG campaign character. In a book or movie the character usually works througha single event/challenge/crisis and returns, though changed, to the status quo. the RPG character never gets a break. Every week there is a new orc horde or evil wizard or mad cultists to kill. No rest. No time for love or life. Sure, you get drunk at night at the tavern before heading to the local temple to get sewn up before heading back down to the Caves of Infinite Goblins, but that is not rest or relaxation: it is escapism. Which brings us back to the point of why people escape -- because they don't like their lives. Now, at this point, after many scars and many battles and losing so many friends, if a wizard appeared to you and said "You can go to a world that is quiet and warm, and yes you will be human and mortal so you will suffer some pain, but you will also feel joy and happiness." Do you go then?

So as not to skip out on the question: No. Not because I love this life too much, I do. I actually don't have a reason. All I know is that I am still here, living in this house, working this job, and loving this woman, and I have not left yet, even though I could. i mean, the door is right there. i can see it from here. How long could the road be? but I don't. There it is.

(Maybe the thing that is extra special about the magical portal to fantasy land is that you don't feel and responsibility -- after all, you could not say goodbye or visit if you wanted too. if you leave in this very real world, you know they they/she/he ar/is out there, suffering because you disappeared without a trace. Just a thought.)