As has been said by several people several times, how we act, what we say, what we do ingame reflects on the type of people we are in real life. As an example, I change countries, I steal kills, I don't give 6 calls, I HO and vulch. I make fun of children (usually those of other people), I taunt and mock. Someone suggested, quite accurately, that because of this, in the real world, I'm violent, abusive, disrespectful, and am nothing more than poor, white, trash. I'm stupid and lack any sense of values or decency.
If this is the case, and it obviously is, then how can we talk of ethics and codes of conduct when all we do is kill combatants and bomb civilians? How can we speak of morals and standards when we have none? Who among us has not committed murder in the name of the war effort? Who hasn't strafed houses in a town, or gunned down enemy troops transports or jeeps? Who hasn't demonstrated some behavior that is evil in the purest sense? Who hasn't killed simply for entertainment?
In an effort to bring myself up from the depths of inhumanity in which I dwell in the real world, I will no longer fire back at my enemies, I will not attack townsfolk as they go about their daily routines. I will not lob shells at bombers, I will not rejoice in the destruction and death which has become the norm in AH. I will aspire to become a role model and inspiration to all of those who realize, as I do, that there can be no separation, no distinction, between the game and real life. What we are, we do, we say, demonstrates who we are, both in the game and in life itself.
I ask those of you who are not so shallow, so hardened and cynical, so... fargone, to help me, to become shining beacons in the darkness of this horrible war, to light the path for others to follow. If by doing so, we can make the real world a better place, then we are fools not to.
Let the basest of animals continue to play the game as they do now. Let them reap what they have sown come judgement day. I am, from this moment on, a Keeper of the Light.
