Here I blog about my personal experiences [posting rarely]
At my tumblelog Intoxicated by possibility I blog about my opinions/likes/dislikes [posting heavily]
The ground beneath my feet
Published by Abhilash Ravishankar on Saturday, April 30, 2005 at 6:40 PMMy friend RC today pointed out to me - One thing which has demanded a lot of one of my most valuable resource called 'time' these days, yet hasnt found time for a post in this blog - 'Quake'.
Quake is a unique game. It is like the matrix. It is not an easy game for beginners. As you enter 'The Arena' filled with experienced Quakers, all you hear is the sound 'whoosh' of rockets flying by as if they are giving rocket launchers free around the corner of the street. And then in space maps, you just hear 'sleesh' and you see a pinkish red laser coming right at you, and before you wink, you are floating lifelessly in deep space.
And the ground beneath my feet shakes !
As one masters the game, we begin to see through the game just like Neo saw the code behind the matrix. One can expect the launch of a rocket, one can calculate its trajectory, one can calculate the counter-trajectory to be adopted to dodge the rocket, and simultaneously plan a counter-attack. All this comes thorugh intuition. And this doesnt stay always. Once I had stayed upto 3 hours in the night playing Quake, and at the end of it, I was seeing through the game for about a day or so. I cannot explain why, but then again I couldnt continue the momentum. Its all in the mind, you see.
I play Quake to:
- Free my mind
- To hear the golden words 'Perfect', 'Humiliation', 'Excellent', 'Impressive'
- To see 'You fragged Kara' on the screen (well, Kara dont mind it buddy!)
- Realise that a human can be as powerful as a machine
- To feel my alienity/alienness (somebody correct me on this)
As they say buddy,
Be Quake or be Dead
Listening to: 'Hero' - Chad Kroeger & Josey Scott
(This is one song I have been listening to a zillion number of times since yesterday!)
Posted by Abhilash Ravishankar
I don't agree with all the glamourization of Quake. I mean, its just another of those games where the aim is to get the hell out of every other thing you see on screen, just rip them apart, ruthlessly. Its good when you are pissed of with someone, and want you pacify yourself (This is common here - having bots named after Profs! - and all the vulgar lingo is in the game) I think that this kind of game induces recklessness when dealing with others. Though I don't see it in you, do you remember the attitude of the american soldier in the film Fahrenheit 9-11? Don't you remember how he had been killing recklessly in Iraq, as in a game like quake(You heard it from the horse's mouth)? Don't you think that such a game provokes such a feeling, reduces the price of life in certain cases?
By the way, the song you were listening to is one of my favourites! I have it on tape, but couldn't find one on net. Plz mail it to me asap.
I agree 95% or rather 98% of the total time spent on Quake, its about releasing frustration. But, I play for the complementary set of time space wherein I feel as if I am real in virtual reality.
Looking at such games as violence-inducers is also a partially right viewpoint. Its about maturity. Once one is mature enough, it is about feeling the game rather than recklessness. A young kid into Quake might end up being rude and reckless; a useless grown-up might also turn up like that; but not everyone. For some weak-headed people, it might teach courage ( I am looking at a very narrow market here ;) )
And yes, Quake is something that you get saturated with after some time. Thats when, you head onto games like Counter Strike (Now, that is stealth and skill man! )
I was talking about junta in general...