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Yes, it is ridiculous to compare what I am doing to protestors who truly put their lives on the line - just as it is truly absurd to think this game gives kids any real sense of the experience of warfare. That the immediate audience is limited is meaningless. How many diners were in the restaurant when a few blacks decided to sit down? How many were there witnessing the Boston Tea party? You get my point - the idea of the act is often of larger significance than the act itself. Getting press becomes part of the work and is a typical strategy of every activist organization under the sun.
The above considered, I would, however, make a strong defense of using Internet based environments for protest activities. As the web takes on further significance as a focus for human social interaction - (similar to the local shopping mall in the sense that this is the only place in most cities you still find large groups of people out of their cars) if you will - it is valid to consider such an arena as the Internet and computer games as new types of public spaces.
Granted, although one takes about as much risk protesting in a pretend game as on does killing or being killed, conducting this protest/memorial has very real risks (on the lower end of the scale I have been flamed viciously on various blogs, on the more frightening end of things I have been threatened with violence).
Finally, of interest to me is the complete anonymity of gamers, bloggers and letter writers to Salon alike. Quite curious - I have intentionally used my full name, provide a link to my website in this type of context. Are we having a real debate if all is anonymous? Perhaps off subject although if you are questioning my protest because it is online and on some level fake and/or cowardly - what does this say about what we are engaged in using this forum?
Mr. DeLappe, I have not called into question your courage or legitimacy. I never said that protesting in an MMO game was somehow inherently inferior to protest of any other form. I am not questioning your motivation or your resolve, in fact as I stated I am anti-war and am strongly opposed to the US + coalition presence in Iraq (and other countries). I am merely pointing out that regardless of your intentions, you are simply not going to see results in terms of gamers paying attention to your message.
People who are in the midst of having fun via a game are not interested in any sort of grand-standing. Especially when the grandstander is pronouncing things that most gamers are already well aware of... that people are dying in Iraq.
I think it is somewhat presumptuous of you to compare yourself to the American revolutionaries or civil rights activists. What, may I ask, is the purpose of your protest if the immediate audience, i.e. people playing the game, are not your /target/ audience? Your actions are not really raising awareness in the press or the public. That is to say, most people who would read about what you're doing are already well aware of what's going on and have formed their opinions and acted accordingly.
I mean no offense but as a gamer offering her experience and advice, I would say there are probably more effective methods of protesting than trying to catch the attention of uninterested gamers who are too busy trying to blow the crap out of pixelated people to listen anyway.
