Not Everyone on the Internet is Horrible

I've had plenty of interesting experiences playing online games.  Many of them have been very positive but there have been several that have made me grit my teeth and swear to never play multiplayer games again (I've somewhat kept to that pact).  In 2006 I began playing World of Warcraft and began an almost seven year long adventure in the world of the MMORPG where the point is to interact with others.  Anyone who has played WoW could probably share horror stories about awful people they come across in-game.  People with little patience for new players, jerks who are out to prove their superiority at video games and don't care who they trample on the get there, or trolls who derive pleasure from tormenting others.  But once in awhile you come across genuinely nice people who are willing to help others.  Yesterday I came across a great story that exemplifies the kindness that can often go unseen in gaming.

According to this story, a man posted on a WoW  Reddit requesting help with learning the ropes of the game.  The unusual part of the story is that this person is a father whose son recently died and he took up WoW as a way to learn more about his son's interests.  (*Grabbing Kleenexes*) Amazingly the community responded very positively to his appeal for help.

It's always great to read stories like this.  I feel like too often people focus on all the negativity that goes on in gaming.  I've read way too many articles about how the developers behind popular MOBA's are looking for ways to muzzle toxic players.  Or all the focus on the negativity spawned by "gamergate."  It's refreshing to see people being nice to each other.  Why can't it always be like this with players offering to help one another?  Gaming would be such a different experience.

I tried to get my own Dad to play WoW and was apalled at how people treated him.  Somehow he always ended up getting talked into doing instances and this never turned out well.  He would get kicked out of groups with no explanation as to why and absolutely no one tried to help.  I did my best to stick with him, but our play schedules didn't always sync up so well.  He ended up losing interest and quitting, but the fact that people would treat him so poorly always resonated with me.

I'm sure some people would argue that it's your own decision to help others in a game and that you determine how you spend your playtime.  Not everyone wants to spend their time teaching others how to play.  I totally get that.  But think about your own experiences as a new player and how much easier things would have been if someone had helped you rather than made jokes at your expense or just kicked you out of a group.  We owe it to each other to be kind and need to remember that even though we're in a virtual world there is an actual person behind each character.