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WWIIOL and it's effects on Society
by Weasel

This weekend I decided to let my fabulous girlfriend write me a WWIIOL-related article, as I'm feeling lazy and would rather just go eat some KD than think up a topic.

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"BANG!" - Blood squirts everywhere! But what game is it? Is it Quake? Is it Counterstrike? Is it WWIIOL? It doesn't matter! They're all the same!!!!

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On second thought, maybe I'll do the writing and make myself something to eat a bit later...

On the up-side, my girl's brief message (she wanted it to be longer ;) helped decide a topic for today:

"WWIIOL and it's effects on Society: An in-depth study by weastridamus."

General Community Works
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Depp posted an inspiring little message on the UBB recently. WWIIOL TV. Though his specific idea seemed far-fetched - recording online battles and replaying them over the telly - it made me think of the World@War newspaper.

The newspaper will provide a plethora of information to all people on the net - most likely members and non-members. People all over the net will be reporting major battles being re-fought with chilling historical accuracy - or historian buffs speaking kudos to the allies ingenious counter-tactics that might have ended the war a bit earlier in real life.

The game will become an online drama - having a regular cast of not only stars, but viewers. People, even those not playing the game, will be talking about the great battle of the steeple. I'm not thinking of the "Survivor" crowd here, I'm more thinking the historians, the psychologists, the curious, the sports fans. It'll be like the olympics - except there will be the big "good vs bad" theme under it all. If you want to keep it to basics, there will also be all the little individuals "teams" (aka Countries).

There will be the regular cast; Another allied regiment lost to Suicidal Sixxo's mad para-shooting, Captain Snail who defeated incredible odds to remain the only person that has /not/ lost a ship under his command, and good ol' Mo who landed yet another B25 on an aircraft carrier.

There will be the major events - the fall of Switzerland, the Eiffel tower being saved from German bombs by a suprise long-distance interception force from Russia, the invasion of Britain, and the fire-bombing of Farmer Brown's sheep pasture.

It wont be long, in my opinion, before somebody (such as myself) gets a hold of a webcam and a little affiliate webspace... and starts doing a "live" version of the news, complete with anchorman and big fancy news desk. Images of "weekend update" are flashing through my mind, and I think with all my heart this will be a major crowd drawer. Why read about the news when the Weasel can act it out for you with streaming video?

And after that - do you think it would be so far-fetched as to make "virtual-historical re-enactments of the battle-that-never-really-took-place" movies? Saving Private KillJ00 springs instantly to mind, as does The Thin Red Oz.

Those things with Long Hair that always hang around your house
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Girls. For some reason, the majority of them just don't click with this type of game. Perhaps it has too much testosterone, perhaps they just don't understand how COOL it is to see the blood stream out of somebody's virtual head after a high-velocity headshot. Maybe "Fire in the hole" gets annoying when you're trying to do linguistics homework. *shrugs* I just don't get it.

There will, and I am saying this with definate confidence, be divorces over this game. There will be broken hearts, there will be raped sheep.

How far will you let it get into YOUR life?

This won't be a game you can pause, this won't be a game you can set aside or just, as Stick put it, "play one more turn."

Being an avid game-submerser, I know how easy it is to get lost inside the fantasy battles and ignore your surroundings. For example; as I write this, my girlfriend is kicking me and making faces, hoping I'll turn and notice her. But it won't work; I'm busy writing this article.

Of course, between paragraphs I get to tickle her into submission for her crazy "Un-noticed" (notice the quotes) antics.

WWIIOL will not offer me such "paragraph-breaks" and I will have to sacrifice some sort of online detail, some portion of tactics or teamwork, to deal with the menace that is my girlfriend. (That is, menace to my teammates online, not a menace to me. Well, NOW she's a menace.)

What started out as a simple 10 minute recon mission can turn into a 4-hour-long mad chase across the desert in an opel - and while your wife is going into contractions and the friendly neighborhood fireman is coaxing you to leave your soon-to-be-insurance-write-off, your foe is retired and has a doctorate in being patient.

Welcome to disco heaven.

I hope no ill comes of the game, and I hope everybody has the talent to set it aside and prioritize. But I know this won't happen and I don't look forward to the cry-on-my-shoulder chat sessions with newbies unprepared for the diversity and depth of this game. =)

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I'd just like to end by saying that Jennifer Lopez smells. But this isn't an ordinary smell - she smells... /bad/.

-- Weasel