Ben Stein vs. Everquest

[CHusk2]

Hey everybody,

Roughly three hours ago I had the immense privilege of attending a lecture in the traditional Presidential series that takes place at my university. This year the key note speaker was none other than Ben Stein. His speech was amazing and profound to say the least. He covered a lot of ground regarding America's current and past economic status(s) and incorporated some great jokes into the whole thing.

When the lecture was finished he took questions from some of the students, and one of his answers immediately got my attention. He was asked how he felt about the amount of time developing young adults and children spend with media such as t.v. and video games.

Now here's where it all ties in. He responded by (essentially) such media had a "fantastically negative" effect on our culture and specifically cited Everquest, calling it Evercrack. His point was that these things are often taken out of moderation and waste valuable time that people could spend doing other productive things. This tied into some points he had made earlier about America lagging behind in science, math, and history. Mr. Stein made the point that it is very easy for games like Everquest to become addictive and take up exorbitant amounts of time, which is a massive waste of potential in many cases.

The reason I'm posting this is not to knock Everquest or Project 1999. I love everything about Project 1999 and I appreciate all the hard work that it's taken to get it to where it is today. It's unlike any other experience, and the people involved with it are truly unique and amazing.

I just wanted to share that story and propose that we all take a little while to really think about the amount of time we spend Questing and xping vs. the amount of time we spend working, studying, improving our minds, exercising, and experiencing new things.

Thank you Norrath, and may all of your quests yield plentiful experience both in-game and out.

Alkaiser Baneofmistmoore (30 Cleric of Prexus)