For Great Justice!

Sick Of Healing

The healer, the generous, caring individual who set out to try to help others, is hated. Cursed. Failure is now supposed, expected, and when it occurs, you have demonstrable proof such an attitude was perfectly reasonable. Nevermind the 37 times you healed them before they ran too far away, nevermind the innumerous top-offs you gave their health bar before it reached even halfway empty. They go unnoticed, unrecognized, forgotten, buried beneath the transferred anger of another debt-developing fatality.

I don't need that. I don't need the weight of a responsibility I never offered or earned. I'm there to have fun! It stings that my charitable decision to take on such a beneficial power should result in such an intimidating experience. As yet, we are unable to sue each other within an MMOG - I doubt it can be far off. In the meantime, bitterness and public mockery are the payback.

I'm not going to play a healer again. Next time, I shall select a heal that boosts my chances. Let the others be damned, look after their own damn selves. There's no reason for me to put up with the suffering. No cozy super-consultant job awaits me, making this abuse worthwhile. It's every superhero for himself! And many shall die as a result of this.

It's too late for me. But it's not too late for future generations, our MMOG children. And people, I appeal to you, for the sake of the children, it's time to treat our healers with respect. People sue hospitals out of fear. Fear of their mortality. The failed procedure, the botched operation, the unsuccessful treatment - all reminders of the fragility of our lives, and how desperately we do not wish to lose them. MMOGs are not life.

It's OK to die in a game. Really. And sure, it's annoying, and certainly, it comes with an imaginary cost. But the person healing, the person who failed to rescue you for whatever reason, is actually a person. You didn't die, but they did get insulted. You suffered no real harm, but they did feel the barbs of your words. You're wounding these people. Mentally destroying them. And you need them. So here's the plan: The next time you are successfully healed, and each and every time, you thank that person. You tell them you value their healing touch. And sure, get cross, tell them you're annoyed - that one moan, that small whinge, will be lost amid a sea of gratitude and praise in their gaming life.

John Walker is a rogue journalist, a rambling man, roaming from magazine to website, writing about videogames before anyone can stop him.