MMOs require our full attention. Especially when we’re out with friends, it’s hard to sneak away. But what are you willing to do when the “real life” comes knocking?
When the raid healer goes afk …
The last boss in the raid is lurking. 19 other players are armed to the teeth, ready. Then the phone rings for the third raid healer. The dreaded Lothar van Holdenbruck writes briefly: “Afk.” And a world away, Tobi Müller answers the phone and realizes: It’s Grandma, who wants to talk to her grandson.
How does one react now? “Granny! I’m in a raid!” shout and hang up? “Aha, aha, aha” murmur and make it clear that one doesn’t feel like talking right now? Enjoying a conversation while replying to the other 19 with a one-handed typed “Sry, takes a bit“? How does one escape the situation? And what if it’s not Grandma calling, but the hot colleague from the neighboring office, who just broke up with her boyfriend and urgently “needs someone to talk to?”
When the MOBA player can’t find the pause button …
Not only MMORPGs and raids are familiar with the problem. The popular MOBA “League of Legends” sometimes demands full attention from all participants for up to 45 minutes. Not even 15 seconds can you tear yourself away if you want a chance at victory.
What to do when the chair collapses beneath you, the cat catches fire, or worse: Your mother calls you for dinner? No, there is no pause button!
But not only external influences can be disturbing; your own body can become the enemy of concentrated gaming. Recently, the Korean LoL pro gamer Seon Ho-san found this out, who vanished for a bio break to the bathroom during a crucial phase of a game and faced quite a bit of criticism from his team and fans. Riot Korea even issued him a warning for it, for reasons unknown.
Some fans commented: Diapers4thewin.
When the girlfriend causes trouble …
But no matter what you do to deal with annoying interruptions: Hopefully, the reaction doesn’t turn out like that of a 23-year-old. He had invited his buddies over for gaming. His girlfriend came home annoyed after 10 hours of work and complained that she couldn’t find a quiet minute anywhere. The 23-year-old then stirred four or five drops of a sleeping aid into her tea and turned back to gaming, having tamed the dragon.
Great solution, right? Unfortunately, only in sitcoms; reality turns out differently.
The girlfriend woke up the next afternoon groggy, had experienced fatigue episodes on the way to work in her car, and wasn’t fully awake even in the evening. She confronted the guilty party. The boyfriend admitted having drugged her. They are no longer a couple but only see each other in court.
What do you do then?
But apart from that: What do you do when you’re engaged with online friends and real life catches up with you, and it just doesn’t fit into your plans?
