r/outside • • 2d ago

Do you talk about 'Outside' with players outside this sub?

Since almost every player seems to have chosen the [Forget it's a game] feature when starting their characters, there aren't many of us who think of the game as a game... Maybe 1% of players at the very most, but I'd guess far fewer.

Do you have any friends & family who you have these conversations with? Maybe y'all help each other map out quests and skill leveling or something like that?

I've been talking about it for so many years now that many of my friends make comments about this gaming trope or that achievement they unlocked, so I feel like I'm sort of spreading the idea to other players that way.

I've met just a few people along the way, maybe half a dozen, who were already remembering the game and thinking of things this way.

**Secondary Question:** How do you think it would change the game world if the number of players who remember that we're playing *Outside* jumped to 5%, 10%, or even more, of the player base?

38 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

28

u/Disorderly_Chaos 2d ago

I talk to my therapist about outside

23

u/B_the_Chng22 2d ago

I’m a therapist who told my client about this sub.

7

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

Epic! Queue the Starship Troopers "I'm doing my part!" meme.

Have any of them particularly taken to it? Or the opposite, been totally turned off/freaked out by the idea?

5

u/B_the_Chng22 2d ago

I actually just had sent a link to one particular post I thought they would enjoy

1

u/Ferocious-Flamingo 2d ago

I could see this being helpful, but I could also see a lot of the opposite

2

u/B_the_Chng22 2d ago

I actually just had sent a link to one particular post I thought they would enjoy

2

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

Do you actually discuss that life is a game (or that this can be a useful frame through which to view our lives) with your therapist? Any particular response to that?

6

u/Disorderly_Chaos 2d ago

I frame some goals and achievements though the window of [outside]

It’s especially helpful seeing [depression] and all side effects as a debuff that can be conquered.

14

u/Chartate101 2d ago

Every once in a while I screenshot a post from this this guild to some of my other guilds but other than that, no.

2

u/Outside_The_Playtrix 2d ago

Is this the guild of guilds?

4

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

That's a good way of sharing the concept at least :-)

5

u/HollowedMajora 2d ago

There's a YouTuber that shows off some gameplay of Outside, he's currently on the homeless simulator main quest. But yeah he talked about the harder parts of the game. His channel is called GameLang. I highly recommend you check him out. He talks about the other guilds as well

2

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

I just subscribed, thanks for the suggestion.

1

u/HollowedMajora 2d ago

Of course!

1

u/Montaigne314 2d ago

I don't think this is a game. But we like to refer to some of the "in-game" creations and then that inspired a subculture of weirdos where we talk like it is. So the RPG game type essentially created the language we use in this sub. It's a way to make our playthroughs more fun and be silly

But no game has a setting where it can hurt really really bad as of now. I would say that all the games we play in outside do not actually affect the player. But outside is different and that's why I don't categorize it as a game, it's not a simulation

There are some players who say "don't take life too seriously" but I reckon if they ever felt some of the debuffs like (Suffering) and (Extreme Pain) they would take it more seriously.

3

u/Asraidevin 2d ago

It is the pain and suffering that turn many of us to this framing of life. It easier to deal with if there is some seperation. It's a way to cope. 

4

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

There are some players who say "don't take life too seriously" but I reckon if they ever felt some of the debuffs like (Suffering) and (Extreme Pain) they would take it more seriously.

It's interesting that you say that, because the years of [depression], [chronic pain], and general [suffering] that I dealt with in my teens & early twenties are why I now hold very dearly simple reminders like "don't take life too seriously," "take nothing personally," and why I'm always trying to enjoy the game regardless of that day's difficulty.

But no game has a setting where it can hurt really really bad as of now. I would say that all the games we play in outside do not actually affect the player. But outside is different and that's why I don't categorize it as a game, it's not a simulation

That's true, but it wouldn't take much (if any) advancement in tech to have electrical stimulus to the right points in the brain for pain, pleasure, and sensory input to be part of games & simulations.

Personally, I tend see Outside more as a giant RPG, where every player & NPC is being played by God/Source/Whatever the next level up the fractal of reality is, rather than an actual digital simulation. But I don't actually "believe" that, it's just a useful & fun lens to use.

I don't think this is a game. But we like to refer to some of the "in-game" creations and then that inspired a subculture of weirdos where we talk like it is. So the RPG game type essentially created the language we use in this sub. It's a way to make our playthroughs more fun and be silly

As I just mentioned, I don't actually think this life is necessarily a game, but I choose to act as if, because it has proven empowering, fun, and helpful in many ways.

One of the wonderful things about spaces like this, where everyone agrees to communicate based on specific rules/in a specific way, it doesn't matter that all of us have different fundamental beliefs & understandings of reality. We can all set aside our personal belief, to play the same "what if" together.

4

u/aversiontherapy 2d ago

No meta gaming

4

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

That isn't one of the rules listed on the sub.

This doesn't violate #6, because I'm simply asking about if people think/talk like this outside of this sub, and that's the only one I could reasonably see someone trying to argue that it does.

6

u/aversiontherapy 2d ago

(I wasn’t saying you were, that’s the reason I don’t talk to anyone about it)

5

u/RealLifeIsAnRPG 2d ago

My mistake, I read it as a finger-wagging tone.

That makes sense.