Many older players remember the utopia that was the original alpha. Testers had formed strong bonds with each other based largely on trust, generosity, and compromise. Many believe that these generous practices began with one of GNE’s developers, Caterina, and have served as the basis for GNE culture. These early practices have since been implemented and maintained by some of the game’s most influential players as well as the onslaught of newbies. It was, in short, a great time and place to “live” in.
This first book of the “bible” was soon coming to an end however. In December of 2002 the developers of the game announced there would be a wipe, and with it, invitations for more testers to enter the game.
Existing players didn’t know what exactly to expect with the next generation. Though everyone had been a newbie once, the new alphas would not be aware of the different overlapping cultures and GNE netiquette that had formed. Soon after Stewart’s announcement of the invitations the new players came and with them a myriad of different incidents.
The different incidents that followed were hard to classify. Some involved people robbing items in homes then hocking them in stores around Stencilton, while other incidents were more “social crimes.” Outrage, long debacles between old and new players, and an outpouring of support for those who had been affected.
I conducted some interviews (while some debated in global chat) to try to gauge crowd opinion of stealing. To my own surprise, those that I interviewed all had very different opinions of the subject. I had expected to see an overwhelming trend through all the players (reflecting comments that were made in Loli’s above post on Paperlane), but every individual viewed the situations in a different light. Some viewed “crime” as lack of knowledge about the game’s social life; one player said of the matter, “I think Eglantine was right to point out that much of it has not been thievery as much as new people not knowing conventions.” Others viewed it as part of the game or saw it just as these crimes would have been viewed in real life.
It was hard to identify with the different opinions that I heard that night during the interviews, but one player’s thoughts stayed with me: “Honestly, what bothers me is to see a betrayal of trust. It’s not the loss of items or money, it’s to see a trusting player (an old-timer perhaps?) be betrayed by a crass or greedy newbie. It’s seeing someone attached to a culture of generosity experience disillusionment. Even if other players replenish what was taken the violation still occurred.” No matter how much of a generous outpouring occurs there is one intangible thing that you cannot give back: trust.
The questions I asked afterwards related with whether actions some had taken in the game were appropriate and if they weren’t, what should have been done? The lines between crime, competition, and greed were grayed with technicalities. While there existed a certain netiquette to the game, players weren’t forced to adhere to it and at the same time lack of experience also played a heavy role. How then should one respond to such trivial issues? One player felt no need for community policing and that there was an appropriate amount of mentoring and welcoming for the influx of new players. Another felt that that type of social pressure, while effective in most cases, would not work on every player. Some agreed that more caution on the part of homeowners (taking care to put valuables in closets) and talking to potential house guests about any items you wouldn’t want removed, and also chatting with previous “offenders” and reaching out a friendly hand would be good resolves.
While part of the blame in those types of situations lies on the part of the offender perhaps some also falls on the part of the host as well. Effective socialization with other players or guests can help convey your particular value system and what you feel is acceptable netiquette within the game in regards to visiting homes, etc. Even a minimal amount before they enter your home for a party or just for a visit, can help prevent a situation from ensuing.
Crime in the GNE may well exist as long as the game, but with a more proactive effort on the part of older players to integrate newbies further occurrences can be quelled. With a building of trust and mutual understanding the future of GNE looks to be bright and hopeful.
