Community | Vlad Says

My column is month is going to be a little different because, as I write this, the release of NOLF 2 is only a few days away and by the time you’ve read this many of you will have played it.  So there’s really nothing that I can say about NOLF 2 this month, except buy it if you haven’t already.  Since I’m caught betwixt and between NOLF and NOLF 2 this month, I’ll try to cover some of the areas concerning the NOLF world in general.

The first thing that pops into my head when I think about all the good things surrounding NOLF is our very tight knit community.  I seriously doubt that you could find another group of gamers on the Internet as devoted to their game as are we NOLFer’s.  The time and effort put into NOLF by the Webmasters, the server hosts, the forum posters, the clans and even the casual players is truly astounding.  Almost everyone with whom I’ve had more than just casual contact, from either playing or discussing NOLF, has turned out to be a wonderful person.   Here are two examples, from the many that I have, that illustrate that point.  I live in New York and a few days after 9/11/01 I happened to find myself in a server with only one other person, whose name I can’t recall.  We started chatting and the subject soon turned to the events of that horrible day.  As we talked, I found out that the other player lived in Israel and was, unfortunately, no stranger on the subject of terrorism.  I asked him how he dealt with day-to-day living.  I thought that the possibility of bombs exploding nearby or of having to avoid errant gunfire must be intolerable to live with.  Yes, he said it’s hard but it’s not intolerable, you just have to keep on going about your daily business and normal activities and not dwell on negative thoughts.  I said, “ Ok, but is it really that easy? “ He spent 15 minutes telling me variations of that simple concept.  I took his words to heart and I came away from our conversation encouraged.  Now, one year later I understand how absolutely correct his words were and how much they’ve helped me get through the past twelve months and how much they’ll help me in the future.  The interesting thing is that I still don’t know if he was an Israeli or a Palestinian.  What I do know is that it was one NOLF’er helping another NOLF’er at a difficult time, so thank you to my friend in Israel and may you always find peace.  I’ve met two other people though playing NOLF that have had and will continue to have a positive affect on my life.  These people, from two different countries outside the United States, and I are in the process of evaluating a potentially very profitable business concept that we may become involved with.  Had I never played NOLF, I’d never have had the opportunity to meet these terrific people or to find the wonderful business idea that we are now discussing.  To them I say, “ Thank you for the continued support and I hope that very soon we’ll be able to share our little idea with everyone in NOLF! “.  I could fill the rest of this column just by listing the names of everyone that I’ve met through NOLF who I now consider to be good friends, it would be easy for me to do, but boring for you to read so I’ll just say, “ Thanks everyone, it brightens up my life just knowing you. “.   

This will be a very short list.  The NOLF net code, that’s it.  I told you it would be a short list.

I wish that this were as short as the section above, but it isn’t.  There have been times, not many but more than I care to recall, when someone or something has made me question why I’m as devoted to NOLF as I am.  A person, or an event, that gets so out of control that it make NOLFing an unpleasant experience.  The people who are, through immaturity or design, obnoxious and rude in the servers are my first candidates for this ugly section and you know, or should know who you are.  You are the troublemakers who enjoy ruining others players fun by trash talking, not leaving servers when politely asked to do so, using someone else’s name to tarnish their reputation, swearing uncontrollably and using racial epithets to make your point.  Trust me when I say that you won’t last long in NOLF, because you will be found out and severely dealt with.  Almost every host tracks your IP number, and exchanges those numbers with the other hosts, and you will be banned from all the good servers.  And as more hosts switch to version 1.005 your days of joining a game through Game Spy are numbered as well.  My advice to you is to get with the program and stop being a pain in the neck or you’ll find yourself unable to play with anyone other than the newest of the newbies.  My final addition to the ugly list is are the flame wars that flare up from time to time between the clans.  These fortunately don’t affect NOLFer’s outside of clans and it’s one very good reason for not joining one.  There are people in every clan that I can think of who like nothing better than to start trouble by posting outrageous comments and observations about other players.  Unless cooler heads prevail, an all out flame war is frequently the result.  There’s nothing more ugly in NOLF than these unnecessary outbursts of spewed venom.  People have real feelings that can get hurt and anyone who’s considering posting negative remarks about someone else should realize this fact and think twice before they post derogatory statements.  People who do have legitimate grips with another player should be able to express their problems to their clan leaders who should handle it.  Your leaders should be able to talk with the offending player’s clan leaders to resolve the problem without a flame war.  It’s also necessary for clan leaders to police their own clans and to discipline, or weed out, unruly members before flame wars start.  It’s just a game that’s supposed to be fun people, so let’s treat it that way. 

I can’t wait to write next month’s column and talk about NOLF 2 for the first time.  I hope we all enjoy it and that it’s as much fun to play as NOLF.  Let’s also remember that NOLF isn’t dead and that with a few good breaks we’ll all be NOLFing and NOLF 2ing for a long time to come.  G2G, CYA