Bonding...over porn...

[Sasso]

(03-09-2016, 01:38 AM)823 Wrote: Before I share my experience, I would like to preface this with a little conversation that I enjoyed with IvanXLIV when he wrote "A Night at the Vodka." 

I had been guessing the names of the various MnF Club members who made cameos in his story, and many of these people still keep the forums alive. (Read the story and guess for yourself, if you haven't yet!) There was one person in particular, however, whose identity I couldn't place – frustratingly so, since I could recognize nearly everyone else. "But you seem to be good friends with her!" he exclaimed. That person is no other than our honorary Messi of rejections.

Sasso, you and I have never met in game, and we've never really had a conversation together. I hope we can change that soon! After all, it's thanks to you and the "Handling Unwanted Invites" thread that helped me have fun with even the less enjoyable aspects of the game, like cold invites, lazy sexting, and the occasional horny aggression. It was free of drama and harassment, without any desire to slander or judge people personally. I thought it was an ingenious and good-humored way to let someone know when I'm not in the mood for a conversation with them, let alone roleplay.

Many people come here with certain expectations of a sex MMO. Not many of us, myself included, expected anything more than being able to get off with someone. New players often wander around, thinking virtual sex and small talk are the only things this game offers – and that was how I played the game my first week or so when I joined in January. My reason for joining the community is rather unique, and I might save this story for another day when the time feels right... 

So, there I was, engaging in the usual dirty talk with my cute, yet busty, avatar... then, I discovered the forums. That was a turning point that expanded my time here in a lot of good ways. I found rich personalities, a lot of creativity and humor, and many, many bright minds. I learned that sex can be all kinds of communication, and sex can mean all kinds of intimacy and release to different people. I've made surprisingly deep connections: sexual, emotional, mental. And, soon, I became a friend to many wonderful people here. Like Sasso, I believe that what elevates the game beyond just virtual sex are the people who make it worth staying for. This place offers so much more than what you take at face-value. We share music and video games. Laughter. Imaginations. Hell, let's throw in some philosophy, literature, and politics while we're at it. We build castles out of sand.

There's a strange duality going on here. This is only a fraction of who I am IRL, and this place doesn't define my life. But the friendships I've made are very strong, and very dear, and something that can grow outside of the game. Fenix once told me how, regardless of age, nationality, race, occupation, gender, sexual orientation – "we are in the same boat, we all have something that pushes us here."

So, with affection and gratitude, I thank everyone who's made this a fun journey that's far exceeded what I could anticipate from the outset.

,
Soju

(Saved this one for last because it's very special  )

I just read A Night at the Vodka just now. I haven't looked through the other sections of the forum much but I really should when I have time. I cant quite place many of the names (Including myself yet 0.0), but I'll be rereading it and re-reading it for days just to figure it out.

It's actually sad that we haven't talked in game before.I'm so happy Handling Unwanted Invites had such a good effect on you!  Alot of regulars on the forums I think of as friends, but I haven't talked to many of them myself directly (To take an example I never met MsTan in game, even thou she was a major contributor to the "Handling Unwanted Invites" thread, which I am super grateful for). We'll have to meet up in the game so we can add each other (I'm usually at the beach because it's my favourite place to hear from new people). Anyone else from the forums can take this as an invite to find me in game, and I promise I'll add you can we can have a chat

The forums changed the game majorly for me as well. without it there wouldn't be a way for the community to really be able to meet and talk as a group. I think there were some other websites that had threads dedicated to this but that is more of a sub community in their website instead of one of our own (ULMF comes to mind. I sometimes check there but I'm not active on their forums). It's kind of weird to think of a time before the forums existed, and it was just a bunch of people running around in game.

Who I am online and who I am in game I don't think are exactly the same person. I usually try to act like myself online but I feel like Sasso  is a distinct person herself (I'm a theatre student and this is just making me think of Stanislavsky's theory of method acting, which actually is actually a whole different conversation in itself). People do act subtly different depending who they're with (stuff like why you'll swear in front of some friends and not others), and that applies online.

That said, what I said in my reply to Sharp is what I should say here. The relationships are real and even when we move on they will always count for alot.