I posted this almost two years ago for this very same reason. It bears repeating as we have had a lot of players join us since then. Enjoy...
The Master of Your Domain!
At the risk of sermonizing I would like to discuss, as the title suggests, taking personal responsibility for outcomes. As we get an ever-increasing influx of newer players, especially those in the younger demographic, it becomes increasingly important, as veterans, to do our part to instill in them some of that accrued community culture. Part of that culture includes the epiphany of sorts bestowed upon us through experience whereby we realize that everything that happens to us in game is a direct result of decisions we ourselves make at critical junctures during a flight. To put this more succinctly, we are all 100% responsible for what happens to us, no one else, under any circumstances, ever..
Don't believe that?
I suggest in the hanger we are all equal, potential energy waiting to burst forth into the MA. We all have the same planes to choose from (relative perk balances notwithstanding). We all have total control over what country we fly for, whom we fly with, where we fly, how we fly, when and even if we fly. The moment we select a plane and takeoff the outcome of that flight becomes the sum of all factors resulting from every decision we make starting with plane selection. If you get gang-banged, vulched, HO'd, rammed, cherry picked, bounced or just plain outflown, it's a direct result of decisions you made starting with which plane you chose and the manner in which you chose to fly it.
I know that is a tough pill to swallow, and those who haven't had their epiphany will still be mired in the murky sea of denial that is what I affectionately term , "The hapless victim syndrome", but it is true. There are no hapless victims in AH, if you truly believe you are the victim of some dastardly tactic, scheme, maneuver, legitimate or not, you are in denial..plain and simple. To put this even more harshly, every negative outcome you experience in the game is entirely self-inflicted...
Once people accept that they are the master of their own virtual fate in the skies, certain things will start to happen. There will be a lot less whining, there will be more mutual respect, there will be a greater sense of purpose with each flight, and ultimately, if understood by a great enough percentage of the population, a much more positive gaming environment for everyone. Therefore, everyone will have a lot more fun and we will attract and retain more new players/customers.
I think the problem and thus the impediment to attaining the epiphany for some is a stubborn reluctance to place value on the quality of their experience on the individual level of each flight all the way to how they approach the game in general. When goals are set that have nothing to do with the intrinsic value of each flight there is no culpability and mutual responsibility for actions and resultant outcomes. That is the biggest difference that separates this genre of the past to that of today. Each flight is sacred if one truly quests to grow, in terms of self-fullfillment, in this genre. Each flight is an unique opportunity to learn and develop skills through infinite variety of experience. By not accepting responsibility for outcomes you are robbing yourself of your fleeting chance to learn from the decisions you make and the subsequent carefull observation of the ensuing cause and effect relationships of those decisions and outcomes..Please don't be a perennial victim...Make a conscious decision to be The Master of Your Domain!
Zazen
