The MMO and the Military

Military MMO Players

It has been awhile since I was able to even login to Vanguard Spheres. It seems like just yesterday I was in Brad's office watching him demo Vanguard for us, just 3 days later I was deployed.

The Air Force just doesn’t like any website when the domain name contains the words "forums" or "Vanguard". Even popular guild sites are blocked from home and deployed locations. It is just one of the many obstacles military members have to deal with when trying to get information on an MMO, let alone play. I will chronicle a few of the obstacles we face.

Military people are just like civilians; we love our entertainment. MMOs provide a cheap investment for hours upon hours of entertainment, not to mention the escape from 12 and 14 hour days. MMOs fit the budget and are a lot of fun. They sell MMOs right on base, although they charge full sticker! We are just as dedicated and many of us grew up on EQ and consider ourselves hardcore gamers when we are not at physical training (PT) at 5am. However, point one comes up.

Point One: Deployments

Imagine, for a moment, going on a six month business trip without a cell phone or unfiltered internet access. OUCH! Yeah, we deal with it. For those of us who game, it is a reality that at sometime in an 18 month cycle, we will be gone for at least a six month stretch. It really puts a damper on your gaming. If you are in an endgame guild you pretty much come back obsolete and useless. Of course, if you have some good friends who box "you" while you are away, you can stay up to date, but you are still out of site and out of mind.

It is especially hard when you are a guild leader or someone who heads up a section of the guild, say clerics or enchanters. You now lose that leadership position inside the guild, and when you comeback, even if your character was boxed, you still have to catch up with the latest and greatest tactics. You have missed six months or more of “history”. You also have to hope that when you do come back, you are accepted back into the family. The real kicker is when you are home for two months and get “that call”. The one that says you are leaving again for an “undetermined amount of time”. I always loved it when our commanding officer would say, "We have been extended indefinitely". You just got back up to speed and are out the door and gone again.

Military deployments are different for the different branches. Marines can go on six month “floats” or deploy for a year or longer while sailors usually have six month “cruises”. The Army and Air Force just deploy. The problem here is when you are out on a ship, so many sites are restricted. It is a miracle in and of itself to have emails. My first cruise in Gulf War 1, it was 50 bucks for a 5 minute phone card. My, oh my, how far we have come. At least while on cruise, sailors and Marines have limited access to the web, but nothing like a den, bedroom, or barracks back at home.

Being deployed to “the sandbox” isn’t conducive for staying connected to the MMO world either. Soldiers, Marines, and sailors have access to high speed internet but it is so heavily filtered that it is difficult to email, let alone surf or game. There were some Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) sites that do have surfing, but then you were waiting in line for hours even with the 20 minute limits.

Now the Air Force on the other hand, well, let me say it like this to my fellow sailors:

Everything you hear about the Air Force, IT IS TRUE!

They really take care of you while deployed. There are not any 96 Man berthings (a giant room 96 sailors call home during cruises). I had to share a “head” (bathroom) with one other captain. The enlisted were peaved because they were two to a room and had four airmen to one bathroom. Rough, huh? The internet was high-speed but filtered by the host nation. Some days I could sneak on and other days it was blocked. Even in the best of conditions, while at deployed locations you can pretty much kiss MMOing goodbye.

Point 2: Family

This isn’t such a big deal for the single military man or woman, but for the married military man or woman, family time is at a premium. We don’t get to take the train into work at 6:30am and catch the 5:02 pm train back home to catch supper at 6. We have some long days, and this is not to slight the civilian population of gamers out there who work long hours either. I know you do, but when a soldier gets home from a 14 month vacation on a beach, the Mrs. will not want that soldier logging into a Plane of Time raid 24 hours after he gets home (and we all know we want to!).

Additionally, as military service men and women “work-up” to a deployment, their hours increase (sometimes ridiculously) and the family time is squeezed. Something has to give. Now I cannot speak for anyone but myself, but I am going to limit or cut off the MMO to keep mama happy. Personally, I would much rather spend time with my kids as well (more about this later), but in a nutshell, MMOs will not deploy with you, and neither will the family. So get that quality time in! If we neglect this, well all sorts of bad things happen. We have all heard stories of guys who got “the (video)tape”.

Point 3: “Muster” and Duty Section

I cannot speak for the Army on this one, but I can for the Air Force, Navy, and Marines. Now, the Air Force is wondering what a “muster” is and the sailors and Marines are laughing. All a muster is is a time where people “on duty” get together to pass along information and take roll call. DON’T BE LATE! This is trying, to say the least, because if you are late, oh it can be so nasty. These “musters” happen at the most inopportune times, like five minutes before you engage Blackwing.

This puts stress on the guild and the service guy or gal. Of course they want to kill the dragon but the trouble that looms isn’t worth it, and then the peer pressure from the guild rolls in and it gets worse from there. I have not had to muster in years, but if it is anything like it used to, it was a 15 minute affair where the poor young enlisted dudes had to sweep, mop, and clean the commodes. But sometimes, we just muster to muster. And that is something that is a real bummer when you are grinding XP.

THE SIDEBAR:

Oh, Yeah! We have not had one of these puppies in awhile. Just got back, myself, from an interesting "vacation" and let me say it is great to be back home. I missed my family and friends. You get such an appreciation of “home” when you have to go somewhere else. Maybe home is Oklahoma or maybe it is London. Either way, there is nothing like kicking back in your own home and just relaxing with family, friends, and unfiltered/censored internet and a cold adult beverage of your choice.

So in conclusion, military members face some distinctly unique challenges to playing MMOs. There are no save buttons. Things move on with or without us. We are a talented lot that knows how to make things happen. We like to have fun and escape for a bit. So here is to Vanguard in 2006. I personally cannot wait.

A little about the author:
I enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and was an enlisted sailor selected for E-6 and decided to fly in the Air Force instead. I am now a captain (O-3). For you non-military types, this just means I had six enlisted promotions before I switched to the Dark Side of the Force and have had three officer promotions. I have 14+ years active duty.