There is a song that urges the listener to 'have yourself a Merry Little Christmas', and I always hated it for some reason. I think it partly was because it sounded so self-indulgent, so contrary to the spirit of Christmas which is one of sharing, and partly because my Mum would quote it frequently, as she embarked upon another project of her own. I still dislike the song, but I understand the principle better now and I myself would urge people who have no one to help with the Christmas Magic to create a little Christmas Magic for themselves.
Thank God for the internet! Over the past two decades, in the course of writing strategy guides for games as Freyashawk, I have seen how it can transform the lives of those who for whatever reason cannot leave their homes or otherwise perform the actions that most people take for granted. Since I became physically disabled, the internet became a lifeline of sorts, not only to allow me to shop for necessities but to distract me from severe chronic pain.
As is so often the case, it was an activity that my Mum condemned outright without knowing anything about it that was a salvation for me. Gaming saved my sanity. I wrote an article about it for Pain Management a number of years ago, hoping they would share it with others. I do not think they did anything with it. I probably should send it out myself because I believe I am uniquely qualified to write about the subject, not only as some one who is disabled, but as some one who, by virtue of writing strategy guides, came into contact with hundreds of individuals who were in a similar situation.
It is not only gaming and online gaming in particular, that offers individuals a wider canvas upon which to work, especially during the holiday season. Applications like Facebook, for all their flaws, give people who are lonely or isolated or otherwise incapable of face-to-face social interactions, the ability to share the joys and magic of the holiday season with the world.
Virtual realities never should be mistaken for the 'bricks and mortar' reality in which we exist, but in their own way, they can be as valid as any reality in terms of alleviating depression, loneliness or pain. 'Outreach' gained a much longer reach with the internet. For those who need the aid of 'support groups' and such, the internet offers them a way of communicating and interacting with others in like circumstances. For those who simply love to celebrate the magic of Christmas or other holidays but cannot leave their homes, there are many venues where one can participate in the traditional Yuletide activities, from finding and trimming a tree to crafting and sharing decorations and gifts.
I personally recommend the farming simulation games as the most satisfying and least stressful for those who are looking for a virtual reality that acknowledges the Chrismtas season. In the past four years, I have played FarmVille, Farm Town, CityVille, Lovely Farm, Fantasy Kingdoms, Castle & Co., Gourmet Ranch and Family Farm, to mention a few. Some, like Lovely Farm and Castle & Co. no longer exist. These games all have their own unique characters and personal preference determines how much a player enjoys a specific game as much as the actual 'playability' or long-term satisfaction that any game provides.
A friend of mine who loves food and cooking plays Gourmet Ranch religiously. It is a quirky game that focuses on bizarre Recipes that require amazingly creative Crops and Animals as ingredients. For me, though, it is Family Farm that dominates and offers options that are superior to any other farming simulation game.
FarmVille once was the giant among farming simulation games but it has lost much of its following for a number of reasons. It allowed too many external applications to load advertisements on its page and now takes an unconscionably long time to load. Often it will crash repeatedly before it loads. Furthermore, rather than offering one new option at a time, allowing players to explore with ease, it will bombard players with a multitude of new options. This is counterproductive, in my view. I continue to play FarmVille, but only in a very basic fashion. It is exhausting and frustrating now, where once it was fun and even magical. Furthermore, the very aggressive attempts to force players to spend significant amounts of real money on the game have become off-putting. This all is a great pity, because I invested over three years in the game.
What does Family Farm offer that other games do not give a player? For a start, crops NEVER wither. That eliminates stress. Other games attempt to force players to invest real money in farm aids that 'unwither' Crops or prevent them from withering. In Family Farm, every Crop is protected from the moment one begins to play the game. Another option that is lacking in many other farming simulation games is a significant 'loyalty' reward. Where many games do not ever give the player premium cash and those who do limit the reward to 1 unit of premium cash each time a player's experience level is raised, Family Farm gives 10 units of premium cash frequently to players who have logged into the game every day. Even before one is entitled to 10 premium cash, daily rewards will give smaller amounts until one reaches the point where 10 units are given. I do not know of ANY other game that is as generous.
Some farming games limit energy. I never would play those games. FarmVille does not limit energy, nor does Family Farm. Unfortunately, Crops will wither in FarmVille, unless one pays a fairly large sum of money for an 'Unwither Ring'. Each Farm in FarmVille needs its own Unwither Ring to protect its Crops. This can become exceedingly expensive.
The political campaigns that have discouraged, threatened or blackmailed society into designating the Yuletide or Christmas Season as a generic 'holiday season' has affected many online games but Family Farm is refreshingly free of such constraints. It celebrates St. Nicholas Day and the festival of Sinterklaas. It celebrates Christmas with unabashed enthusiasm. That, for me, is an enormous incentive to play the game.
It is fascinating to watch the development of online games over the course of time. Family Farm began with fairly simple Crops, Trees and Animals and simple Machines that would convert their harvests into Products that could be sold for Coins. As it progressed, however, the Crops, Trees and Animals became more fanciful and exotic. The Machines underwent a transformation as well and became far more creative and interesting. There now are machines that produce Marzipan and Christmas Ornaments and the graphics are astounding. The Christmas Ornament machine, for example, features a Snow Globe at the top thar revolves as the Machine works to produce a variety of beautiful Ornaments.
Beyond this, another new option in the form of Crafting has been added to the game. FarmVille has had Crafting for a long time, but the Items one makes can be used only in trade or as materials to produce other materials for projects. In Family Farm, one can craft decorations that actually can be placed on the farm or used to Trim a Christmas Tree. It has been a great joy to be able to craft Christmas decorations during this Yuletide season.
In FarmVille, Christmas has been masqued through the use of Animals rather than the Holy Family. In Family Farm, this is not the case. There are decorations that feature Angels, for example. The graphics have an old-fashioned charm that is very refreshing in this decade.
One may play these games alone but 'groups' exist on Facebook to help fellow 'Farmers' and share ideas and responses to new options. For the most part, social interactions are positive, even if they may lack any profound social implications. In all honesty, though, how profound are many of our 'real' social interactions? We all have close personal friends but in our daily lives, how often are these the people with whom we actually interact?
Unfortunately, the internet with its instantaneous communications in a format that usually omits the old courtesies such as greetings and farewells has influenced real-life behaviour. Too often now, in supermarkets or on highways, people treat others with the quick dismissals and lack of common empathy that is the hallmark of internet communication. 'Friendships' are made and broken on venues such as Facebook in a second with the click of a button. If an individual can use another Neighbour for the purpose of a game, he or she goes out to find more Friends. When the attraction of the game pales, those 'Friends' are 'Unfriended' without any explanation being given. If a person does not like a so-called Friend's point of view on an issue, he/she may be 'Unfriended' summarily. I have seen it again and again. Idealistically, one would have thought that online communications would be a means by which individuals could be educated as to the opinions and perspectives of others. Instead, it is a place where individuals reign supreme in their own little accounts and wield the power of virtual life and death over all others, often with total abandon. Does the fact that a person holds a political or religious opinion or belief that is opposed to one's own make that person bad or evil or even unworthy of friendship? In the realm of Facebook or other forums, often that is all it takes to end a virtual relationship that was created with no more thought than that which officiated over its demise. Likewise, in the realm of reality, one witnesses behaviour of people surrendering to 'road rage' or making other instant judgements that can end in violence based on nothing more than a random gesture during an encounter.
Despite all of this, the internet offers power to the powerless and it can be positive as long as the user remembers that even virtual realities are inhabited by REAL people. It is wonderful when a person who has lost all mobility in real life can regain it in a virtual setting, when some one who cannot leave home at all can communicate with others throughout the globe and 'travel' by virtue of shared photographs, articles and personal journals published on the internet. It is wonderful when some one who once loved gardening but who no longer can tend to any real plot of land can plant and harvest crops and flowers and exercise creativity in landscaping in a virtual setting. It is wonderful when our celebrations of holidays can be as extraordinary as imagination allows without reference to the limitations of money and space that reality imposes.
I therefore wish that every one should be able to 'have yourself a Merry Little Christmas' this year and may 2014 bring even greater freedom in virtual worlds to those who have lost it for whatever reason in the so-called real world.
