I heard a phrase that I have absolutely come to adore the other day. It was simple and practical, all in one bundle. The phrase was: "What we accept, we become."
You're walking through the halls at school or in your workplace. Do you hear constant profanity? Do you hear people talking about bad things? Deep down inside, do you feel as if you want to say something and are really against what they're talking about or saying, but you just...don't? Why not?
Now let's go to the virtual world: RuneScape. You're walking through a busy world, maybe in a marketplace or densely populated area. What do you hear? Maybe it's something like "Go away noob." or something else that is morally degrading? Let's go back to when you first started RuneScape. Didn't you want to rebel against that so badly? You wanted to stick up for the people being harassed by players with nothing better to do than put down other people? What ever happened to that feeling? You're a higher level now, what you say may have more influence, right? Why don't you say something?
I'll tell you why. It's because you've seen it so many times, you've had it said or done to you so many times, or you've heard rants about it so many times that you just don't care and begin to accept it as it is. There's the first part: acceptance.
Now, you may be thinking, where does the "you become" part come in? I'll tell you that, too. If you're really against it, and not standing up for what you believe in because you've just simply given up, then you are just as guilty as the person who said it. You can't back out and say "that is not my problem", because, honestly, it is.
I'm going to make one more connection for you. Remember "back in the day" when bots were able to function? How much Pure Essence or Yew Logs or other general and common supplies did they pump into the economy? So much, that the RuneScape economy became built around it! We accepted it as it was because we (supposedly) couldn't fight it, and we became built around it. What happens when that's pulled out? The bottom falls out of everything! Suddenly people are (goodness forbid) having to do things for themselves and recover from their mistakes! What would have happened if we would have tried to stop the bot situation ourselves? Jagex tried, and we just sat back and said "that is not my problem".
The people in RuneScape have a greater potential to change RuneScape as we know it than any amount of code could ever provide! Are you going to change? Or do you even need to? (Which would you feel better saying?)
Did You Know...
...that Tuna Potatoes heal 22 hitpoints in 1 bite! Thats 2 more then a Shark, and it does not require a high Fishing or Cooking level (only 68 Cooking). Be prepared to put some work into it though, there are quite a few ingredients and steps to follow! (Thanks Ts_Stormrage!)
Do you have any thoughts or comments about what you've just read? Want to discuss this article with your fellow RuneScapers? We invite you to discuss the article in this forum topic.
Letters to the Editor are now being accepted. If you have some thoughts to share with the Editor about this or any other Tip.It Times article, please refer to this forum topic for more information on writing a letter to the Editor. Selected letters will be published in the Times' usual space on the main website during those weeks that no Tip.It Times article is being published.
