Whether it’s online RPGs or shooters over Xbox Live, video games receive a lot of unwarranted negative press. The headline grabbers are stories about death, crime or both connected in one way or another – generally loosely at best – to video games.
Well, it’s about time someone stood up and defended the other side of video games. Gamers out there know this side – the one where actual, honest to goodness friendships form. The side that involves healthy interaction among people, all banding together to have fun and enjoy a recreational pursuit that has become for many what the bowling leagues of the past were – a psychologically healthy social outlet.
Gamers in and of themselves are for the most part good people. Personally, I’ve been playing RPGs for about a decade. In that time, I’ve run into more than one person that I’m honored to call a friend. Government workers, lawyers, business owners, construction supervisors, nurses and even some teenagers; they run the gamut and come from all social backgrounds. These people have not only helped me battle great evil in places like Norrath and Paragon City, they’ve also become my friends. Real friends, the kind that stick around when times get tough and ask questions with genuine concern about life’s everyday occurrences.
Games like EverQuest, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft and more promote a spirit of friendship and teamwork. Sure there are some real turkeys out there, but they are generally the exception and not the rule.
My family and I have hosted numerous offline gatherings among gamers who play EQ, EQII and CoH. These gatherings have drawn people from all over the United States and beyond. I’ve had the pleasure of personally meeting dozens of people I’ve played online games with through the years – some coming to Tampa from as far away as Holland.
A particular group of gaming friends of mine has stuck together through three different MMORPGs. Not too long ago, we lost one of those friends to an untimely death; the kind there is no reset button for. Just pixels on a screen some say to the loss. But for those of us who know, it’s much more than that.
This man, BigBuba Kegkiller to his gaming friends, or just Bubs for short, touched our lives. He reached out and connected to people all over the world. He made a difference not only in a game, but in real life. He was more than Bubs the dwarf guardian in EQII, he was an honest to goodness person – and a good one at that – and he was our friend not only online, but off as well.
His name was John in real life, but to those of us who loved him in the gaming community, he will forever remain BigBuba Kegkiller. We were proud to call him our friend.
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