A Question and an Idea

[Watchwolf]

I was wondering... and don't worry, it's mostly harmless this time.

A recent post and a conversation I had with the Redhead (Mrs Watchwolf for those who might not have guessed) got me to thinking. (Where's that danger music coming from...?)

But seriously...

We are a community. We've said it enough times. Some of the younger people here might not feel that way but somehow I get the feeling these are a very small minority.

When thinking along those lines I asked myself a question: What if something "happened" to one of my friends here... what if one of us came to some sort of harm? Would any of us have a way of knowing? Or would that person just drop off the radar and never be heard from again? That would basically suck.

I know I would certainly want to be aware if one of us were to come to any harm. Just to know, at the very least, and maybe to offer some sort of help or support to the family etc of one of our own if at all possible. And I would most definitely want people here to know if I were suddenly unable to be here for any reason.

Personally, I've been on the Internet since around '95. Internet communities were beginning to grow roots and people from all over the world were finding out they had a lot more in common that the media and governments had ever let on. The internet became a powerful tool for so many purposes, and far from the least of these, it became a home for a world-wide community of people who could see past inconveniences like politics and religion and see people for who they are.  A strange thing started to happen: People found out they cared, close bonds developed, friends were made... even relationships were forged. Few may know that this is how Watchwolf and RedheadTiger met in a now-defunct community called Firefly and eventually were joined.

Well anyway, I got to talking to the Redhead. I made sure she has a link to the Void and my website credentials so she could come in here and let people know if I was in the hospital or got run over by a truck or whatever. I figure there might be one or two folks here who might want to know... whether to mourn or rejoice I dare not venture a guess.

And so to the question: Well OK, two questions:

Does anyone here agree that the Void Community is close enough that most of us here would want to know what might happen to one of our own?  

And if so, have you]/i] got a way to make news known if you were not able to tell us yourself?

These questions got me to thinking about a solution.

I think each and all of us have at least one person in our lives who might have an idea how important this place is to us. And I'll bet we also have a friend here in the Void who we feel is close enough to trust with some level of personal information. With these two bits, we can form a network where no one will ever disappear and not be heard from again.

I think it might be a good idea for each of us who might not have already thought of it, to... well, to think about it.

And I was also wondering if anyone here thinks it might not be a decent idea to have some sort of central place to make that kind of information known? Now sure how or where... but that's what brainstorming is for. If it's an idea worth working out, maybe we can come up with a solution.

But at the least, would YOU want us to know if something happened to you? And if so, how?

[Maverick]

Well to answer your final question: Yes, I would. And I would like to ask you to be my confidant. If you want I will be more than happy to repay you that favor.
Good topic by the way.

Watchwolf and RedheadTiger met in a now-defunct community called Firefly and eventually were joined.

If this is not a joke, - and I think it's not - then LMFAO!!!

[Ghosty]

I personally havent given it a thought but i do have 3 other players of Void in the same town not to mention 2 in the same school as me and if anythign happened to me or them i know we would be about to inform the community.

The fact that this is a close community set aside the fatc that afew of us including me prefere to strangle some people across a table i do beleive that it is a good idea to keep the community upto date on situations that have happened here.

it is not unusual to have the annual post about a player breaking an bone or ending up in an accident and i think nows a good time to thank the players that actually post that stuff as it really does help. the players here do have strong bonds and someone will always miss soemone that goes ' without a trace'. Its nice to knwo the player is still about wether or not we have ever been face to face.

Ghosty

[Travesty]

Something I've thought about many times before. I've seen many folks come and go, some have just fallen off the planet whilst others have given some form of notice;  sadly a few times bad news has been delivered by friends of members.
In my case I live just up the road from Verm so I have at least one contact in game. But there are others who maybe do not have this so only through forging friendships with others ingame that extend beyond the sphere of just the game could they have any way of passing news on when needs be.
But, as I've seen, more times than I care to, folks do just vanish, and given the limited scope of only having email addies for contact, thus they remain.
With all the games I've played online, FL has been the only game where I've known people who have played together for years at a time, spent many long nights on ts chatting and interacting in so many ways, just cut and run.
Oh well

[Babieca]

I dont now anybody here, I dont live close to anybody that plays here or have played here. In case something happens to me, you wont know. I will just stop playing and stop posting. That is the way I would like things should happen.

Babieca is my FL name, but Babieca is not me, he is just a little part of me.

Others did the same .......Rest in peace.

[[Saint]-Blasphemy]

i believe having a void messenger would be the best to fit this situation.
i know it's little crazy and maybe hard , but applicable

think about it.

INTERNET VOID MESSENGER - we need someone to program it , like any default messenger , and all we will need is an extra dedicated server for void messenger and here we go.
Each one of us can have all his friends on that messenger which will allow a very good communications (updated ones).

Just my little crazy mind got this idea
maybe it fit , maybe im saying too much , my 2 cents.

Saint Leader
[Saint]-Heretic

[Watchwolf]

That is an excellent idea, about the messenger.

I wonder if it can be done, to have some sort of tailored Void IM...

Hmmm...

Would it really need a separate dedicated server? I bet Kahless might know... Could there be something to this?

[geromix]

Well i dont know much about the Void Messenger idea....,but if anything happens to me i just got my sis to give the message to u guys.

Only she knows that this place does matter to me.

[Zebulon]

Im going to throw my twopence worth in here.  No doubt some of us are members of a variety of "social" sites - My sister got me connected to Facebook.  Now here me out on this one.  I was a sceptic at first until Mrs Zeb started to make contact again with many friends from her sorority and folks from her college days and a variety of associated friend from her past and their families - the result of this is that we have "hired" a local coffee shop / live music venue for the night and its open to all of those who can come.  Now we are not kids so its not been one of those stupid "party invites" made by these mad teens who end up with unwanted gate crashers - its all been done separately through emails and by telephone. The point is that Mrs Zebs "friends list" now contains 30 - 40 plus members.  

I got onto Facebook and have found it a valuable tool for contact with my brother in Dubai as well as my sister and now even my Dad (who is seventy five) - its like a snap shot of who I am - pictures and groups and such.  The downside is that there is a great deal of "rubbish" applications that get sent to you but some of them are quite fun - Global Snowball fights and browser games like Mobwars and WW2 etc etc.  Asmo and Asmo's wife are on there as is Ruggs and Madderz.   My point is this  - Mrs Zeb, being on there is also aware (only too well) of my VOID fixation - so she would also be aware of my mates on VOID - SO .... (lets get to the point)  A Facebook VOID group - and I think Ruggsy or Asmo may have already set one up - so that if we were members then it would be easy to post in group and have our nearest and dearest inform those who cared about how we were should any unfortunate or even fortunate event occur.

So a VOID facebook group  - thats what Im getting at - with access for spouses, family etc  -
Your thoughts on this.....

[Maverick]

Aren't we already in a Void Facebook group Zebby? By the way I personally don't have the time, nor do I seem able to keep my interest in sites like Hyves and Facebook.

[Hash]

First of all, thanks for your interest Watchwolf.

But I'm one of those who are quite far away from any other voidian, and I don't know how could I help you, or how could you help me.
I'm a responsible guy and due to my position in AoF I'd never left Void without a big and clear announcement.
Every time I've been out of the radar I managed (or tried) to keep my partners informed. The only reason for me to dissapear is that I'm DEAD, and it won't happen, so don't worry...I'll come back.  

[-Wolfie-]

hmm i dont have any RL friends here, now i feel lonely

anyways, i probably wont be contacting u guys if i die...and my life is too good for that jk