Culture Clash

If there's anything the internet teaches us, it's that we're usually more alike than we are different in this 21st Century. Ambitions, goals, likes, dislikes--I'd say our desires are pretty universal.

But from time to time we still need to do a reality check & remember that we're NOT all alike in ALL ways.

For example, it's easy to forget we're all different ages. Some people can be extremely young (chronologically speaking) & have "old souls" that the anonymity of the internet magnifies...so you tend to forget age differences. And degrees of education don't seem to matter so much sometimes. A player can be a high-school student & still be miles ahead of me when it comes to game strategies & tactics. (Ok, yeah, sometimes I feel like I'm playing checkers in a room full of chess masters!)

Especially on the net, it's easy to forget we're not all from the same place. In KTDARPG, we're from different cities, different U.S. states, different regions & different countries.

I recently caught myself guilty of the "we're all alike" assumption. What I forgot was that people react differently to game scenarios & tactics depending on their cultural background too. I admit I'm not the most well-traveled of people; I've only been outside the U.S. a few times in my life. But I work for a major university that prides itself on its cultural diversity, with thousands of students from all over the world on campus daily. So believe me when I say that finding myself making automatic assumptions was...disturbing. I owe at least one player a huge apology because of it.

Why kind of assumptions? Well...hmm...Let's just say, when you get outside your own culture, even gender reactions change. I forgot that part. How an American male/female interprets a situation or a strategy can be totally different than a male/female from France or Germany or Australia. A move or an attitude or a strategy I might interpret as "devious" isn't necessarily what was intended--yet I see it that way based on MY cultural background.

Ok, I'm not saying this right. Maybe I should just stop trying to. Maybe it's enough just to remind myself & my game-friends that we truly are all unique individuals inside this crazy game we play. And I'll offer two bits of advice: 1--Don't make assumptions. Things are not always what they seem to be. 2--Talk to your fellow players. Talking can lead to understanding which can lead to fewer misunderstandings & less arguing (and I'm certainly all for less arguing).

Now, if you'll excuse me? I need to go make that apology. -Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"