Keep Moving Forward

Many of us use gaming as an escape. Whether escaping boredom or the boundaries of reality, we play games to exist in an incomprehensible elsewhere. When we are faced with the loss of someone we care about we play to elude the pain of emptiness. 

Recently Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth’s lead animator, tragically passed away. While I only met Monty twice, his driven attitude and integrity were immediately apparent. His death is unfortunately tragic, but it shines a light on how the Rooster Teeth community chooses to represent ourselves.

With all of the supportive hype, it’s easy to lose sight that gamers can also act their worst towards each other.The anonymity of the internet makes you quick to forget that what you say carries weight.  You can quickly fall into thinking that you are not accountable and your actions are worthless.

But then I saw a post to the DestinyTheGame subreddit on how a player’s friend passed, leaving them without a partner to raid with. This post was riddled with encouragement and offers to group up, even if just to talk.  Raids, the infamous matchmaking-less obstacle, were set up specifically for the widowed player to have a community to move forward with. That kind of response is incredible.  

These responses are not limited to Destiny either. They can be seen in League of Legends, offering to que up with someone who lost their brother, or even through simple build coaching for the guy who lost his best friend in WoW.  For a community  generally stereotyped as antisocial jerks quick to drag others down, gamers show an affinity to the pain of loss.  We as a community are evolving.

Even Rooster Teeth, whose videos utilize inappropriate dick jokes and NSFW content for punchlines. When a member of their staff passes, or even a member of their community, fans give 227,585  reasons to show their love transcends their monitors. It’s not restricted to just death either -- charitable organizations such as ChildsPlay and Extra Life regularly bring in a substantial amount of money through donors, gaming marathons and streams.  

People, as gamers, also suffer loss, fleeing towards games to cope. If or when hard times arrive, just remember that you are in good company.  Don’t say good enough when meeting a charity fundraising goal or stop striving to better yourself. Never say good enough.  Whether it is helping out someone who’s been having a bad day or striving to better your community, keep moving forward.