Thank Grog It’s Firday!!
No. That wasn’t a typo. I meant to type trowel instead of towel. For those of you who aren’t masons:
trow·el /ˈtrou(ə)l/ – noun
1. a small handheld tool with a flat, pointed blade, used to apply and spread mortar or plaster.
Of course, I am talking about the bizarre, ambiguous, and weirdly counter-intuitive world of anti-tagging. Much has been said. In fact…too much has been said…but, yet…those who “just don’t like it,” but can’t give a solid reason why, persist.
As I have proven time and again…there is no logical reason to freak out if your town gets tagged. I gave the proof in the very first entry of this “series” two weeks ago.
I made the point that you lose one half of a point of your XP bonus…even though you lose 2 stars. I erroneously posted that it was .5%…but that is not true. It is 1/2 of a point. Which in my case is waaaaaaaayyyy below .5%.
As I was challenged to “PROVE IT!” by a reader (you know who you are, smartcookie), here is the proof. Mind you…I posted this in the original…but, didn’t circle the % numbers to be obvious. So, here ya go, “smart.”
My “five star” rating… 919.40%
My 3-star rating (which returned to my 5-star three days later without me doing a thing), 918.90%
Now…do the math. 919.40 minus 918.90 is…….. 0.5. ONE HALF OF A POINT. That is .005% of 919. That won’t even move the meter a twitch on donuts earned by farming, or rat trap truck sales. or anything in the game that is important.
They are just MESSING WITH YOU. Three stars has no impact.
But…that isn’t the REAL reason that this group of people need to have their own special place of “fellow tag haters,” on this site. Nope. It is far less than that.
To quote a couple of the “No Tag Please” crowd…
smart cookie says: Again, it isn’t the drop in righteousness that bothers me. Nor do I sit and worry about it. I just don’t like it….Pics or it didn’t happen so no claiming you did it without proof! (UHM…Please read the original post, as well as what I posted above. Pics. Proof. Yes, Virginia…the earth is round).
Peterbecks says: I don’t care about stars or losing percentage. I just don’t like it. Same way as I don’t like my monorail in the road. It’s just a personal preference. The only church I like is a broad one where there is room for all.
This is not looking like it. (Funny you should mention church…because the way I see it, if we build a “church” that is just for people that believe what you believe...or don’t like in this case…we are in fact being exclusionary and promoting segregation. Neither of which is particularly “church-like” if you follow the tenants of the original church founders).
I think it is clear, that just like much of what we see in the world…we have completely lost perspective. Is this conversation important? Does it mean a thing in the real world? Nope.
I have made my point repeatedly, that coddling a small segment of players is not a great idea…no matter what the impetus for their whining. Case in point: I HATE characters with multiple realities (Young, Old, Dead versions of the same characters). But, I don’t demand a special place for “Looking For Neighbors Who Hate Young Homer.”
Why do I hate young Homer? I don’t know. I just do. Right? But do I demand my own special place?? No. That would be silly.
The NEED to segment yourself from the rest of the community is mean-spirited.
But, in the end…none of this is my call. It is Alissa’s. She runs the place. She has the ultimate say…and I would not blow up the section, even if I could, without her approval. Which I am hoping to get soon.
Me? I’d just like to see a place that says, “Get New Neighbors.” Period.
However…Does any of this matter?
Nope.
In a world that is coming apart at the seams…with tons of our friends being threatened by unprecedented and life threatening weather conditions as I write this, my guess is they don’t give a rip about tagging.
In a world that is once again being threatened by new fronts of war, in regions already decimated by the same…I am guessing those people don’t give a rip about tagging.
When homelessness and hunger are on the rise, in a world that seems to favor spending on tools of annihilation over building a real future for all, do the victims even know about tagging in TSTO? Nope.
When I attend the funeral next week of my dear friend, Terri, you can bet your patoot that I won’t stand up and ask, “So…do you mind if your virtual town, in a silly mobile game, is tagged?” Why? Because it is silly...and nobody with any sense of perspective would ever care.
Just like life, you get to play the game as you choose. If you want to freak about about something as silly as virtual tagging, to the point that you want to delete another player if they tag your town…that is your call. I just don’t want to hear about it. And I guarantee that you will not be my friend. That is my call.
What is so amazing to me…is that for the most part, a place born out of virtual addiction, and apparent obsession, still takes the time to keep things in perspective enough (at least a few of you) to do something that matters.
And, you did.
This term’s books and supplies were funded 100% by TSTO Addicts. If you were one of them…thank you so very much for your generosity. If not…what can I say? You had no part in these smiles.
As they are opening the cases of books and supplies, you can see the water collection tank we built in the background. TSTO Addicts…making a difference.
So…Back to the TROWEL.
A trowel can be used to build walls to keep people out, or to surround a community to help keep people safe and secure.
But a trowel can also be used to dismantle a wall, and to help grow a garden, that feeds everyone, regardless of borders, regardless of faith, and bereft of people who hate, “just because.”
If we are going to survive the future…with all of the divisiveness that is cropping up from real and virtual arenas every day…we are going to have to tear down a few walls.
Tolerance is an act of someone “putting up” with someone else’s choices. That’s a good starting point. But real healing, progress, and evolution come from acceptance, which goes beyond tolerance, to heal and build community.
Segmenting, exclusion, and deciding that one group needs to be segregated because they refuse to get along with others, is destructive and de-evolutionary.
I choose to use my trowel to tear down walls, and build gardens.
Because…this little girl couldn’t care less about TSTO Tagging.
I’ll take her lead, and chill out.
