The human condition, character development and roleplaying

[bladeo]

I recently read an interesting [URL="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201409/the-last-true-hermit?printable=true¤tPage=1"]article[/URL] about the "North Pond Hermit", a man who lived for nearly thirty years undetected in a Maine forest, surviving off what he could loot- an odd character, detached from yet completely dependent upon society, evoking both sympathy and disdain. His story struck some chords with my own 7d2d playing experience. Beyond the looting and avoiding detection, it was his need for books, magazines and radio, contrasted with his own refusal to keep a journal. As of now, playing alone with no hope of finding another 'human', a journal, much less my continued existence, seems pointless, as if I've reached a plateau in my hierarchy of needs. I'd like to think that is a common and natural feeling, exacerbated by the game setting, which I believe could be explored in-game any number of ways through character creation, npcs, quests, etc. I'll leave open for consideration; but in ways I imagine- Perhaps a cargo drop will include a map or message that could lead me to them. Perhaps if I could build a radio with looping tape, a broadcast tower on a nearby city building and transmit my cliffside location- (~514N,1184W on "beer4" btw), other survivors may come; for better or worse, I wonder. Perhaps I could use my science background to research their behavior. With enough specimens, I might find they were attracted/repulsed/subdued/enraged by particular subsonic/electromagnetic/thermal/fragrant sources. A society might find that useful, if I could find one... I may go crazy in my own isolation, building castles from blocks of my own waste and mannequins to fill my court, only to watch them from my tower fall, again and again, to the relentless hordes... Or I may bury the dead wherever I go, if only to keep my humanity. I may just collect what writings I can find or create, make a repository; or build safe houses along the way, something with a purpose beyond my own survival. Maybe when I do finally die, I'll earn an epitath. I will have mattered, to someone. Back to the hermit. I suppose I too feel anxiety about a MP world, largely bc I don't want to deal with griefers and the like. Unlike the hermit, I don't want to steal from anyone, but I would like to at least know others exist and that I could come in from the wilderness and find them if I choose. I imagine a valid counter-argument is that in a post-apocalyptic world, people are jerks, therefore a bad experience is probably a more realisticly immersive one. My counter-counter-argument is that I already live in a real world like that, why would I want to live in a fake one even worse lol. That said, I'd welcome an invite. :welcoming: