How I was Played by Online Caroline: A response
I have never been a fan of simulated games. I am part of the club, “Girlfriends who have been ignored by their boyfriends who play WOW.” For those of you who don’t know, WOW is World of Warcraft. So when I read the article by Jill Walker entitled, “How I was Played by Online Caroline,” I found myself extremely intrigued by this wed page (http://www.onlinecaroline.com) Walker was discussing.
She talked about getting pulled into the obsession of wanting to know what will happen next, thus becoming addicted to this fictional woman and her woes. As a woman I can sympathize with walker and why she got pulled in. When a woman hears about another woman in a bad relationship that turns for the worse we get the feeling that we need to protect her anyway we can.
If you are at all interested in the website and would like to “play” for yourselves I will not give the ending away.
Walker compared the game to the mausoleum of Emanuel Vigeland. The mausoleum is built so that when you walk in you have to bow to go threw the door and once your inside Vigeland made it so that your have to wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. The acoustics inside were created to where every little noise you made was magnified to the point of embarrassment. Vigeland created it on purpose so you had to give him honors of the bow and the sitting in silence. He manipulated the surroundings so that you had to do what he wanted you to do. The website is the same way. You do not get to give your answers; you have to click on one answer that was given to you out of three others. It’s interesting the way people can manipulate you into doing things you don’t even know your doing.
hmm, interesting Thoughts here. my question would be, do those around the players feel jealous, intimidated, or left out? do they feel they have lost contact with the players? Some i believe might answer Yes, All of the above. I was once very addicted to this very game. Lucky for me I had an honest Girlfriend Who rather than just ignoring the problem, came to me and shared her feelings. Lucky for me, I was an understanding boyfriend, and submitted to her request. I still play W.o.w, but not nearly as much and not for nearly as long. It has once again Become what it is, A video game. Nothing more, Nothing less.