Virtual and Holy

A while back, the game I play now had a contest where they showed you very small details of locations and challenged you to find them. You had to send in screenshots of your character there. I got all of them because I knew instantly where all of the places (except for one) happened to be. One of the reasons I love this game so much is because I think the graphics on the scenery are beautiful.

I read this article about how a landmark in World of Warcraft is burning, parts being destroyed for the sake of gameplay. I understand the melancholy. We grow attached to game locations. Sometimes we use them as our base starting point. "I get here by going six places past THIS landmark." Other times, we have memories attached to them because of gameplay situations that happened there. 

However, and perhaps this is the weirdest part and maybe the first time this has ever really happened in recent memory, there are also places in games that we love for reasons we can't put into words. These locations just sing to us, make us feel things. In some cases, they trigger memories we didn't realize we had or fill us with emotions we can't quite connect with anything tangible. It's a true soul connection.

I had a place like this in Glitch. I honestly felt like this little section of the world was holy. When that world ended, I stayed in this location and waited for the world to blip out. Then I jumped and jumped as high as the moon. And even though I was sitting here in this chair when it happened, and even though that was a video game, part of me felt like I ascended. I suppose the part of me that was Glitchen that did.

I feel for the author of the article about Warcraft. I feel for any game player who has had to watch their sacred places burn or die or disappear. It aches and maybe to someone who doesn't play, that makes no sense. All I can say to people like that is I hope, someday, you find something that connects to your soul in this same way. It is an amazing feeling.