mirel yirrin
Ore Mongers BricK sQuAD.
8
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Posted - 2012.01.17 14:22:00 -
[1] - Quote
Just to introduce myself before I get into any kind of rambling psuedopsychological discussion - I've been playing EvE since 2004 with no more than a total of six months away in that period. Whilst I've sat in pretty much every PvP role since then, I'm primarily flown close support and battlefield support - Command Ships, Logistics, Recons and other force multipliers. I have also FCd on numerous occasions though it is far from being my strongest suite.
I have analysed and observed my own physiological behaviour during PvP, and I present to you my observations and thoughts in hope that it may prove interesting, or at least a worthy read.
I will first quote a section from wikipedia on the psychological phenomenon of Flow;
"Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mih+íly Cs+ˇkszentmih+ílyi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.[1] According to Cs+ˇkszentmih+ílyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task[2] although flow is also described (below) as a deep focus on nothing but the activity GÇô not even oneself or one's emotions."
I believe that all EvE pvp occurs within the flow, the time in which high reasoning ceases and the body becomes more closely attuned to the movements and activities of whatever you may be controlling in the game. There is an element of disassociation here - you are not quite yourself. You lose the ability to fully connect to your own needs and wants that it is as close to full disassociation as it is possible to be without straying into physiological disassociation achieved through use of Ketamine or other like drugs. And also a loss of the ability to reasonably track time is present. Flow is not just a single player experience, however, just as EvE pvp so often is. Groups of human beings working together can attain flow individually, and incorporate other humans into their flow space to achieve the flow goal. Sound like any fleets you know?
A point on physiological behaviours - I cannot speak for anyone else and it is here that I would love feedback on the matter, but my heart rate jumps as soon as my enemy does, as noradrenaline begins its work. I am sweating, cold and signs of peripheral vasoconstriction are evident. Muscles tremble, and unless I am performing the actual physical clicking of combat, and am being made to wait for something, I am almost clumsy. But once these are overcome I feel myself fully within the flow - or more correctly I do not, as I am doing things constantly. Attempting to perceive the flow results in a drop away from that mental state.
My pop-psychology aside - what are your opinions on the matter? Do Capsuleers flow? What is your body doing when you're pvping your socks off (keep it family friendly!)? |