This is mainly directed at the german audience, but since my blog is read all over the world and i once decided to blog exclusively in english, i decided to write this one in english too. Take it as an overview of the situation for online gamers but also for the whole online society in germany. It starts with an open letter to one of the most quoted experts and also has some words for the mayor of my hometown. I really feel upset with where politicians are taking this country because they don´t have a clue about what´s going on.

Dear Prof. Dr. Christian Pfeiffer

For years you have been alarming us about Youth Crimes being related to Online Games. You have been bragging with the successes you had with your studies. Today I want to tell you this: You have NO idea what you are talking about. Your Studies are useless because you are not able to interpret the results in the right way.  You want those two to be related and how you present the results of your studies just displays that. You don´t understand what you are talking about and you jump to conclusions that just aren´t true. I don´t think you´re a stupid man, you probably wouldn´t be were you are today if you were, but…  it seems like your thinking is too simple on this topic, which has been one of your main topics in the last years. Here are some Facts:

Playing MMOs is socialising. World of Warcraft Guilds and CounterStrike Clans etc. are the modern local soccer clubs. People take responsibilities there. They have duties, like organizing or planing raids, just like coaches of soccer teams think about tactics and teammanagers make sure that everyone’s there when the bus leaves. They have to research the best servers or providers, pay the bills to use the servers as well as assuring that communication works properly by having a working Mumble, Teamspeak or Ventrillo Server for voicechatting. If it´s a game against other Teams and not against computer opponents they have to study videos of that team. Some do this for computer opponents as well to find a working tactic. If they are a more organized  guild and play a game with upgrades, they have to keep track of the loot system, that determines who has the right to receive an upgrade to his character when they win a fight. They have to do this for every fight and for every player – raids have up to 40 players taking part in a fight. (I tried to explain this basicly for people who are not involved in games, it’s actually not THAT easy, because it differs from game to game). All that takes time and actually explains why people spend more time with games. They actually don´t play most of the time they spend time with the game. Being involved in those processes boosts their “social competence” (I don´t like that term, but that is what a study from the United Kingdom stated and it basicly describes what I mean), just like someone taking a responsibilty at a soccerclub or in a ministry. It´s a honorary position, except that the general public doesn´t see the honor in it. You have to realize that doing something together with real people in an virtual world doesn´t make one an outcast. Modern business also works like that, it´s not wrong, it´s the way to go these days and you surely can´t stop it – you just make the gap between the online society and the real society wider.

Being treated as an outcast by people like you in the media makes one an outcast for “normal” people. By expressing your views on the media you push gamers to the edge of the society. Of course it´s not only you, but politicians seem to like you as an “expert”. People like you and all those Politicians who talk like “it´s a bad thing to spend your time online” make those people outcasts. These Statements create a pressure on those people that just shouldn´t be there. You (hopefully) don´t want to create that pressure and you don´t create it directly. But since you´re often quoted in the media, parents and other people who are not involved in gaming create that pressure. That Pressure leads to separation >> depression >> aggression >> ? (Do the math yourself). You feel that i get a little aggressive while writing this, but if you think it´s coming from playing a game i have to disappoint you – I don´t play any games, because I just don´t have the time for it. But I would if I had. My Aggression stems from the ignorance that politicians have when it comes to the online generation. The Target HAS to be to integrate players as well as the whole online society better into the society.  But you are pushing into a direction that creates a gap between the online society and those that are not part of it. There will be more and more people who spend most of their time online and you can´t stop the progress into this direction, whether you like it or not.  Friends, Family, Media… they all tell gamers it´s bad that they play. I know People who play and don´t want to admit it openly because people start talking about killing sprees and how people playing those games are, well…  losers. They do this because they are told so in the media, by people like you. They don´t know better, how should they? You´re the expert, they listen to you. You should alarm them about the splits in relationships to the real world, because if somebody stays within the normal society, playing one of the socalled killergames will certainly not make him a killer.

You certainly won´t feel good if someone tells you you´re a loser because of something that doesn´t seem wrong to you. You will think “They just don´t understand”, most likely spend lesser time with the people who tell you this stuff and spend even more time alone, losing touch with the real world.

My Hometown Nuremberg was scheduled to host the ESL Intel Friday Night Game on May 29 2009. Scheduled games were Counter Strike Source and Warcraft 3. Now our Mayor canceled the event out of political reasons. After the Killing Spree in Winnenden he said that it was unthinkable that an Event like that is hosted in our town. Ulrich Maly. You have no idea what you just did. Nuremberg FUCKIN HOSTED A FUCKIN WEAPON FAIR shortly after this killing spree. You didn´t cancel this. And now you cancel an Computer Game Event 3 Month after this killing spree, just because the guy had a computer and played a game that isn´t even that popular in the gaming scene? I have lost all respect for you – if you read this article and understood it you should know that your decision goes into the wrong direction. This would have been a good opportunity for people (and for you) to see that there is nothing wrong in gaming. This even would have been on a  professional level. We don´t ban soccer out of nuremberg, just because they foul each other every second weekend in the easycreditFrankenstadium. We don´t make them responsible if some young guy kicks another person against the ankle to hurt him. What do you think about having an open citizen forum on that topic on the date that the IFNG was scheduled in the Meistersingerhalle? I´m VERY disappointed by your decision and I´ll let everyone know that I´m disappointed with your decision. Not because I was looking forward to this event (I didn´t even know that it was going to be here before you canceled it), but because it´s ignorant of the real problems, pushes into the wrong direction and you think that an E-Sports event has to be cancelled when a weapon fair was still taking place.

We want you to understand us – you just have to try.