In most science fiction to which I have been exposed, humanity is always the plucky little upstart. We are painted as a civilization whose resourcefulness and adaptability are our main strength. Meanwhile, the alien races are always far more advanced than us in one way or another, and we must borrow their technology to keep up. I find this notion a little strange, considering its dominance in the genre.

Rather, I tend to think that humanity might be the most advanced culture in the universe and that our first contact with alien species will be rather disappointing to us. We might be the ones lifting barely cognizent cultures from the muck. If anyone knows of a science fiction novel with this premise, I’d be interested in reading it.

I have been writing mostly in my game journals to make up my ten paragraph quota lately. I consider that as a qualfying entry, considering how much my mind has focused on that hobby lately. When I say game journals, by the way, I mean traditional good ol’ fashioned pen and paper RPGs. I have been running a conclusion to a now twelve-year-old Earthdawn campaign and playing in a new DC Comics campaign with my friend Dan.

I think we’ve both honed our storytelling skills a bit, creating more episodic content in the furthering of the epic story arcs. Such a style is more pallatable to the adult gamer, as we rarely have time these days to digest a 8-10 hour session, much less keep track of all the finer details when things creep into bedtime.

Luckily, technology exists now for us to easily track such things. I have set up wikis now for every game that I am in. The only drawback is the time needed to type in and manage all the information. As a GM, this actually helps me maintain continuity, but as a player there remains the nagging doubt that it is all for naught. Our last game ended abruptly and all my note-taking essentially sits there unused now.

But for the Earthdawn game, the wiki is allowing me to link to important packets of information much the way the brain seems to ferret them away. It is a connection-based information medium, so when I am reading my notes on what the PCs are next going to encounter, I can immediately jump via links to the pertinent information on the villain or the town or the plot hook which led them to this point.

Along with all the number-crunching mini-apps that keep track of creatures and character stats, it’s all rather easier to manage than a pile of shifting papers and game screens. Perhaps it loses a little of its luster this way, but the workload decreases in proportion to the use of these little helpers and that means we can get back to the gaming experiences about which we reminisce without me having to dedicate time and brainspace unbecoming of a working adult.

On Saturday, I ran some instances in WoW with some of the guild members who I had not known before. Suddenly being connected to a conference call with strangers — strangers on a mission, but still strangers — intimidated me at first. I was in my robe, after all, which made it a little intimate. In a few minutes, we were all talking dorkinese which lessened the embarrassment a bit.

But after all this, I went to see Wall-E, Pixar’s latest animated film. Without spoling too much, the people in this film were flying about on chairs with screens in front of them, eating food from cups and communicating only via instant message with people sitting right next to them. It was a bit of a moral baseball bat — to steal a phrase from my friend, Mike. It sort of struck home* with me as just that morning I had essentially been doing the same thing.

Granted, I was talking to people God-knows-where and we were simply playing a game, but I’ve noted that same penchant for seclusion in myself and I felt shame. I am not entirely sedentary, but my recent enthrallment with games of all varieties has dulled some of my other facets a bit. I don’t know if it’s my girlfriend’s pending removal, but I am escaping pretty heavily within myself.

* Ugh, that… I apologize.

I really want to edit this one, but I won’t. Which is good for this exercise.