I think this is right, but it connects also to the nature of games as such in affording the player formalized modes of advancement and accomplishment, which is what 21st century but not 20th Century culture appears unwilling to offer men.
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Like, what makes someone an NPC vs a PC is less about their interiority (which is outside the game in any case for a PC) than about whether their winning means anything to us.
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Dungeons&Dragons became prominent as fantasized male camaraderie/masculine accomplishment when feminism&modernity made male identity formation more contingent;as with Gamergate,more recent culture clashes often about right of males to camaraderie&accomplishment *even in fantasy*
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To call someone an NPC is to say that they’ve given up masculine purpose even in fantasy, I’d say- have given up even the sublimated/vicarious/ersatz desire for conquest and personal myth. Which is precisely what contemporary (but not 20th Century)mass culture tries to do.
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Men have no kosher avenue for status acquisition today (at least, not a masculine avenue). This dovetails nicely with BAP's impending age of piracy.
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Here’s a crazy thought: The masses don’t care about the NPC meme whatsoever nor did it really struck a nerve with the cursed checkmark community but Twitter is hammering down on it anyway so it doesn’t go anywhere near the Overton.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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*walks outside* Me: Hey... know about this NPC meme? Are you one? Twitter is banning it. *gets maced because girl has no idea what I’m talking about and I’m not Chad enough*
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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