A brief moment of empathy

[strilmus]

Yesterday morning, I was heading to the Stealing Creation lobby where it dawned upon me these two things:

 

 

 

1. I sucked at defending myself in any other style than mage since melee left me prone to piling, and ranged was just plain ineffective at my ranging level.

 

 

 

2. Neglecting my thieving level had left me open to scoundrels who mocked me by taking my stuff, the most annoying being runes, and I can't block them when I'm attacking some other target. Granted, they usually died moments later when the others caught up and piled that person (in general the stealing folk were lower leveled and had no other way to defend themselves), but nonetheless I wasn't about to let some random schmuck gain amusement from my sucky thief level.

 

 

 

With that in mind, I decided to go train thieving for a bit.

 

 

 

A few bits of teleporting, a pile of tuna, and a carpet ride later, I was at Pollnivneach (horrible name for a town, really), maple blackjack (o) in hand. I'm not really clear on whether it's more effective than the (d) model, and I thought having some defense would be handy should the victim get quite cross, but I wasn't about to lose out on some potential increase in bludgeoning effectiveness, however undocumented it may be.

 

 

 

Pointing at the nearest smooth-chinned bandit, I quickly tugged him into Ali the dyer's house. After shoving the woman out of her shop/home (the sun would do her good, I thought), I wedged said bandit into a corner, and began switching back and forth between knocking him senseless and cleaning his pockets of any gold that was tucked in them.

 

 

 

And then the madness of tedium began to set in.

 

 

 

After the first few runs, I noticed that I was gaining a significant deal more gold than I was spending in cooked tuna. Indeed, if I was spending any at all; the fish was basically free, having been obtained through a few years of mind numbing fishing at the Karamja docks, enduring both fire begz0rs and the piles of burnt, smelly fish next to burning flames that could never harm the dock in a million years. Regardless, 24 tunas were nothing compared to the 10k or so I gained from every trip, and it was slowly increasing with each level I got.

 

 

 

A few more runs in, I had gotten the technique down right, and could now subdue the fellow quite handily. His protests against my efforts to steal and his attempts to retaliate were none too effective if I quickly managed to pick his pocket before he could draw his blade to assault. Then he would suddenly draw silent as if nothing happened. The same would occur if I fled to the roof. For some reason, a scant moment was enough to make him forget every single time I had liberated the contents of his wallet while he lay on the ground snoring for the duration of two seconds.

 

 

 

I started to get more philosophical by every run. How did both my character and the bandit hear and see yellow birds when dizzy, when neither of us had ever seen a canary in the whole of Gielinor? Why were shaven bandits more challenging to steal from as opposed to ones possessing more facial hair? How did the man possess enough coins in his pocket for me to purchase a set of dragon boots (for indeed, I had managed to gain that sum eventually) and yet was only wielding what was either iron or steel equipment? Was there some reason that he refused to wear a helmet to shield himself from the regular head trauma that I continued to inflict? Why does he attack me when when I talk to him normally yet completely trust his curiousity to me when I lure him? When I was away, couldn't the man just open the curtains and escape? Why did Ali the dyer show similar signs of being curtain challenged? Had I sent her out of her property a few hours ago and forget to give her some sunscreen? (Edit: yes.)

 

 

 

And then the truth started to seep in.

 

 

 

I had just spent a few hours smacking a poor, nearly defenseless man around while I cleaned him out of every gold piece he owned, and not only was I allowed to participate in this senseless act of psychotic, criminal sadism for ages without any consequence (unless you count a couple randoms that gave me some noted snapdragons as punishment), the game was encouraging me at every step with fanfare, fireworks, and congratulations.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, this guy was just minding his own bandit business, and suddenly I, some crazy stranger who has no other business in town, arrive out of the blue, trick him into getting hopelessly trapped in a cramped, tie-dyed building, and now I visit him on a regular basis to beat the daylights out of him with a studded thumping stick and take his money, and no doubt he hasn't eaten yet plus he probably has a family depending on his banditry paychecks to get by. I can hear the kids now, asking bandit mommy, "Why hasn't daddy come back from work yet?" and mommy has to say "daddy is just out on some important bandit business" while the kids complain that they're hungry, and she has to sit there worrying where the heck her husband is.

 

 

 

In fact, that probably explains his sudden memory loss and lack of will to fight back. Every time I have the gall to pick his pocket right in front of him before he is about to strike, I steal a bit of his soul too, and bit by bit, he loses the spirit to attack me. Also, there's only so many knocks to the head before a man forgets why he is trying to kill me when I leave his sight for five seconds. Sometimes he remembers that I have killed his leader when I accidently address him like a human being, but that is quickly lost in the haze of bruises that I have given him. When I ask him to follow me, he hopes that I will lead him to freedom, even though it is mostly futile thinking on his part, or maybe he hopes that I will consider some mercy for his act of submission. Also futile.

 

 

 

In the meanwhile, I consider my time away at the Shantay Pass a nice respite from all the torture (hitting that guy repeatedly without killing him is hell on the tennis arm), and since I get a tidy sum to use, I take the path of sloth and bribe the guard even though I could get a pass for just 5 coins, all because I don't want to have to use the extra slot that I could use to carry a tuna, and if he looks the other way nobody is the wiser to my coming and going, which is good when you're trying to not be found out when you have a kidnapped victim in a windowless building who the authorities are no doubt looking for.

 

 

 

And what is all this pain and anguish upon one man's shoulders for? Besides the levels, all I really want is a slightly reduced chance at getting my runes stolen from me by lower leveled players, many of who I have fired large balls of energy at just for trying to gather clay nearby, while they clearly posed no other threat and wanted some points. One had asked for mercy, and I had granted it but called him a wuss. After a few moments of contemplation and silence, he immediately commenced to kicking the barrier I had set up, and I had struck him down on the spot for his contempt. Stealing the runes was their only joy in life, having one upped somebody that to them, was just another higher leveled character who held no sympathy while they camped near their spawn point and collaborated with other players to blast whoever ventured outside into oblivion, while their hurling of armorless players with the Redemption prayer on was all for naught since I had a full load of food and took bites between bouts of setting them ablaze and casually mentioning that the conflict was not going too well for them. (And yes, I was quite polite about that, instead of the "haha pwnt those noobs" you usually hear. That's just rude, really.)

 

 

 

I had considered giving up this whole act of depravity altogether to take a stand against this immoral behavior and prove that mangling another human being for profit wasn't the only way.

 

 

 

And then I noticed that I had hit level 65 and could move on to smacking some Menaphites.

 

 

 

I hope the purple guy I trapped in that hut can last for fifteen more levels than the bandit.

 

 

 

-------------------------------------

 

 

 

So how about you? Have you ever thought at some point that the NPCs whose existence you were manipulating and destroying for your own gains had lives of their own and deserved to be respected and treated like people?

 

 

 

Even a little bit?

[Omali]

So how about you? Have you ever thought at some point that the NPCs whose existence you were manipulating and destroying for your own gains had lives of their own and deserved to be respected and treated like people?

 

 

 

No, but then again I have a basic understanding of the difference between real people and autonomous pixels. Real people have emotions, don't have an infinite supply of money, don't respawn on death (I found that out the hard way), and have a memory span of longer than your meeting.

 

 

 

Runescape people on the other hand have an infinite supply of cash, do not feel emotion aside from one or two that they are programmed to respond with, will not remember you after your initial scuffle unless they're a quest npc, and respawn after death.

 

 

 

And let's not forget the all important: It's a game. You're reading too far into it. I'm going to go murder a chicken in your name (In runescape, calm down!)

[D Jay99]

You have to be mean to train thieving :D

 

 

 

Nicely written post, I enjoyed reading it. But no, I've never felt empathy for an npc, sorry :P

[strilmus]

Well, just for a second, consider that the people in the game world live in an alternate reality, and that you've been basically toying with them for years just to gain some levels.

 

 

 

That, and I'm not really being all that serious. Besides educational thought exercises.

 

 

 

And OF COURSE, we all know that chickens have no feelings and exist only to be formed into tasty chicken dinners or nibbly chicken nugget bits.

[Forerunner]

Oh the humanity! SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

 

It's kind of hard to steal someone without hurting them mentally, emotionally or physically. That comes with the profession of being a thief.

 

No, I don't lose any sleep over stealing 3gp from random men & women.

 

 

 

Assuming they live in an alternate reality, I still wouldn't be worried about any NPCs. They all must have magical pockets with unlimited amounts of cash & items, as it seems there is no limit to stealing from them.

 

 

 

Besides, everyone that people without beards are harder to steal from than those with beards. \

[compfreak847]

In the real world sense: He's a computer avatar

 

In the RS sense: It's what he's been doing its whole life. Did you think the term "bandit" meant he was an angel?

 

In the TIF sense: Yeah, you'll get nothing but a very rare philosophical\discussion post and bunch of "lolz hez pixels u cant tell the difference between them and rl nerd lolz".

[Rosanante1]

The only NPC I have a problem with is the unicorn.

 

 

 

I just can't bring myself to kill those sweet little horsies. It's just not right!

[Poppet]

Why couldn't you have done Pyramid Plunder instead whats wrong with you.

[Kilo]

You sound like a morally conscientious version of O'Bryan from 1984 put in a [bleep]ens novel. Nicely done.

[Obtaurian]

[hide=]DDDDDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAADDDDEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:[/hide]

[spyderownzyou]

I found that a very interesting read, and very philosophical and emotionally deep not towards the pixels but the ideals behind them.

 

Would have made a great tip.it times in my opinion :thumbsup:

[green9090]

I used to worry about the blue dragon population when my money making method involved competing with five or six other people to kill every dragon much faster than they could spawn. Surely they couldn't keep reaching adulthood so quickly, and then we would have a shortage of dragon bones and blue dragonhide! Fortunately they seem to be infinitely renewable, as I can still see them on my way to the black demon pit sometimes.

[Bauke]

Why couldn't you have done Pyramid Plunder instead whats wrong with you.

 

Hey, that mummy has feelings too. You better not tell him, else he'll probably cut his, err, bandages.

[3hitm4g3u]

I found nothing 'brief' about your post.

[Great_one]

i loved this, lol. you should have submitted it to the times. it was a great read and i am off to go wack some bandits right now. :thumbsup:

 

 

 

btw, i miss duradel, and expecialy the gnome guy to(he sacrificed his like 800 year old life to save me!)

[SanNo1]

Great post, a very enjoyable read :thumbsup:

 

I never really thought about the feelings of the NPC's though, must be my unsensitive self :oops:

[brunokiller]

I am a killer with no remorse.

[smobo]

I've stolen thousands of gold from knights, and town guards, let alone thugs and bandits who actually deserve it. I've also probably put some of the merchants out of business, and prevented many master farmers from being able to plant crops. You're every day commoner isn't safe either, I had to practice stealing from somebody.

 

 

 

I also go hunt down many creatures, just because some guy asks me too. Sure maybe demons and dragons could be seen as evil and thus deserving of this punishment, but one time I was asked to kill dogs. Not any dog in specific, I just had to go randomly kill dogs.

 

 

 

Then there is the environmental aspect. I frequently chop down lots and lots of trees. Now if I was doing something practical, that would be ok, but most of the time I just set them on fire. Not to mention I waste precious resources like iron ore, by just dumping them on the ground. I also hunt small furry animals for sport, I keep them alive for weeks, only for them to see their true fate of being thrown into a fiery explosive death.

 

 

 

And that's nothing, out of sheer bordem, I've killed hundreds of innocent civilians, looting their corpses and leaving the body there to rot, because I'm to lazy to give them a proper burial.

 

 

 

And that's me, there are millions of other people doing these things and worse, though we are proclaimed to be "heroes".

[bedman]

So how about you? Have you ever thought at some point that the NPCs whose existence you were manipulating and destroying for your own gains had lives of their own and deserved to be respected and treated like people?

 

 

 

No, but then again I have a basic understanding of the difference between real people and autonomous pixels. Real people have emotions, don't have an infinite supply of money, don't respawn on death (I found that out the hard way), and have a memory span of longer than your meeting.

 

 

 

Runescape people on the other hand have an infinite supply of cash, do not feel emotion aside from one or two that they are programmed to respond with, will not remember you after your initial scuffle unless they're a quest npc, and respawn after death.

 

 

 

And let's not forget the all important: It's a game. You're reading too far into it. I'm going to go murder a chicken in your name (In runescape, calm down!)

 

Ever considered he was just joking.

 

 

 

Anyway, nicely written I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

I used to have sympathy with the NPC "man". However, that was because I thought he was a real player too, seriously! I was lvl 6 and was wondering how I could possibly beat that lvl 9 player. So I started him asking questions, why he was so weak, and thank him for the money he dropped. After a while, I found out he was just an npc :

[Drakolord7]

Wait, you feel bad stealing from a bandit?

[Melter]

this is runescape... not the matrix... the man youre harrassing has no family, no mind, hes not even a man... just a computer controlled character made for the sole purpose of being killed.

[strilmus]

Too often we mistake conducting wrong acts against wrongdoers as being just, when in fact we have both done wrong and he just happened to do it first.

 

 

 

That aside, I do likes me some popcorn chicken.

[primadog]

I used to worry about the blue dragon population when my money making method involved competing with five or six other people to kill every dragon much faster than they could spawn.

 

 

 

Dragon hunting is not a naturally sustainable activity, we must summon the counsel and quickly bring change to this madness! If we don't do something now, we'll one day lose our precious dragons to the way of horses. Then we humans will never learn the proper skills of equestrainism.

 

 

 

No more leather trade! Leather is Murder!

 

 

 

 

 

All in fairness, this was an excellent read. I too suffer from bouts of consciousness, then I remembered that conscious is not cash efficient, and went on with my day. I am a vile, vile man. I even had once turned myself in to the Al Kharid securities, but they seem to had skimmed over prison provisions.

[lordkafei]

I think you would be happier playing Bejeweled 2 or Zuma.

[Simplydivine]

Great read, thanks. :P