Room 101 is a fictional place taken from George Orwell’s novel 1984. The room is filled with every horrible thing imaginable. Every disease, every murderer, everything wrong with the world is inside this room. However, for the purposes of this weekly article and as is done on the TV show, players are given the opportunity to rid the world of some of their own person, pet hates. There is no need to put things like cancer, genocide or Hitler into Room 101, they are already there. This is simply about things that annoy you the most.
Arkanto was the first person to message me about being in this week’s issue and he has made some good choices. As the person writing this article it will be my job to defend the items from being put into Room 101. To put things into Room 101 is to banish them from existence, so getting rid of something like flies might seem harmless, but that would have an effect on the animal food chain. The rules for this are simple. You can choose anything you like, however, one of the selections must be Bootleggers related.
So, let’s get down to it and have a look at Arkanto’s first choice:
1. Parents of Unruly Children
Reason behind the choice:
Ever since I was young myself I have found kids to be annoying, I don't have a problem with that as people probably found me annoying when I was younger. The real problem I have is with the parents, the kind who will sit there and allow their children to act like little bastards in a public place like a supermarket. It isn't hard to get a kid to shut up but they just act as though it's fine and everyone else finds their little sweetheart somehow endearing. It's just plain ignorant.
Argument against:
Sometimes I do feel for parents of unruly children. Nowadays there seem to be hundreds of conditions in young people that never existed 20 years ago. There is autism, aspergers, OCD, ADHD… the list goes on. If you have a child that is affected by one of these conditions then they could be quite a handful. However, the majority of unruly children are little bastards as Arkanto says. It is quite difficult to defend parents who let their children get away with murder.
So for parents of unruly children…
2. Facebook
Reason behind the choice:
I think that a growing number of people would feel the same way about this. I'm sure most people at some point have been interested enough to make a Facebook account, I used to use it but recently my online time has dwindled down to maybe popping online once or twice a week to like some status'. It's a fad that's given far more credit than it's due. Forums have been around for years with people making topics (basically statuses) with people replying to them. In the past these forums have been and still are considered to be nerdy but Facebook for some reason seems to be able to blow this off because it's focused around your own ego rather than a community. It's filled with annoying people who claim not to use the internet because it's nerdy but stay on Facebook pretty much 24/7. They should have their precious Facebook pulled out from underneath them and see that life will continue to go on.
Argument against:
Facebook would be considered a somewhat controversial choice in my opinion. For the amount of people that use it, it must be deemed popular. However, as Arkanto has pointed out, there are a growing number of people who seem to distance themselves from the social network. I think at its most basic use Facebook is brilliant for family members to stay in touch when they live spread across a country or across the world. It’s nice to be able to see photos of cousins who live in Australia, when you live in the UK. It also has uses for businesses, websites, games, companies, especially smaller businesses, such as Bootleggers. All they have to do is a small status update to make their players aware of a change or announcement. Compared to email newsletters it is a lot easier and simpler.
However, there does come a point when people only use Facebook to communicate to the world. I don’t need to know that my brother is on the toilet, nor that my co-worker is eating a banana for lunch. It’s the same as Twitter in the regard that it is overloaded with useless, pointless and meaningless information.
If I were to be arguing for getting rid of Facebook then I would also question their use of the word “friend”. A Facebook friend is can be anything from your best friend to someone who saw you one time in a public place. Honestly, I care not for most of the people that I went to school with ten years ago and I care even less for my Grandma’s gardener, who actually tried to add me on Facebook. I met her once and said “hello”. It ridiculous!
I think for the sanity of the world, and to wipe the smug look of Mark Zuckerberg’s face…
3. Bootleggers - Rankism
Reason behind the choice:
Everyone knows what rankism is and if you're unfamiliar with the term then have a look in the Game Forum and I'm sure within the first 4/5 pages there will be a topic about it. When I say this should be put into room 101 what I'm really getting at is the constant debate about it. I see it as a perfectly valid part of the game. To refer to it as though it were racism implies that it discriminates against someone without a reason, however we do have a reason and it's people's rank. Rank influences how OCs work, how many bullets it takes to kill/get killed, if you can own a crew. So why shouldn't it be reflected in someone's % in an OC? I think it's about time this issue was put to rest in room 101.
Argument against:
This is quote an interesting one to think about. It’s not actually people being rankist; it’s the whole debate around rankism, and the debate about it that would be going into Room 101. So, if I were to put it into Room 101, then it would force everyone accept that it was a part of the game and no one would question it again.
For those affected by rankism it can be very frustrating, particularly if you are on a short time scale and no one with lower ranks is leading an OC. You sometimes have to choose between not doing an OC until later and being forced to do an OC for very little cash. When in truth, the high ranked players are usually the ones with more cash, and the lower ranked players are the ones with less cash.
But at the same time, higher ranked players will want to OC with players of a higher rank because they are trying to rank up faster. If you let an Assassin OC with three Dons, then the Assassin would gain a lot more experience than doing an OC with three other Assassins. Are the higher ranks simply asking for a higher price in return for what they are offering? Players are never completely forced to accept a low percentage; they can wait around to find a good OC. There is always a choice involved, but ultimately, should there be a choice?
Out of all five choices for Room 101 this one is the one that I’m struggling with the most to decide over. I think on balance that the debate about rankism is one that will never cease. There will always be players that are against it and players that are for it.
So, for the simple reason of getting rid of the debate entirely, Bootleggers rankism debate…
4. Little Dogs
Reason behind the choice:
No real reason for this one, I just hate little dogs. They bark a lot, shit on everything, and act nervous when it suits them and the moment the owner is out of the room they turn into a little Hitler.
Argument against:
The most annoying thing to me about little dogs is that they bark in a very ‘yappy’ sort of way. A loud, booming bark isn’t so bad, but a squeaky bark goes right through your head. Being small, they can also get under your feet and try to trip you up.
The argument for putting them into Room 101 is going well until I remember that I own a little dog, and putting them into Room 101 would get rid of him.
So, unfortunately…
5. Old People with Driving Licenses
Reason behind the choice:
Over the years I've heard countless stories in real life of old people doing stupid things in cars because they're no longer able to handle driving. I know of a lady who went around the roundabout the wrong way, crashed into some guy and broke both his legs while she walked away fine, driving along every road at 40 miles an hour no matter where it is and in the news I read a story about an old man who drove around the m25 of something silly like 16 hours. Given your reaction times slow as you get older and your judgements are somewhat impaired depending on your own circumstances, I think it is outrageous that these people still have their licenses without having to be regularly tested to see if they are still fit to drive. You wouldn't let an 87 year old man fly a modern jet just because he used too many years ago for the RAF, why would you let him drive a car?
Argument against:
Well, one of my Granddads is 86 and is still driving. So I would feel a little bit conflicted about putting this into Room 101. However, maybe he is simply a minority of old people driving that manages to stay out of trouble. An argument for having to be retested or monitored in some fashion every five or ten years after sixty is more sensibly. But I do not have that argument. I have to either save it completely or get rid of it completely.
It must be said that many young people are no better drivers than many old people. Under 25s are responsible for most driving accidents from what I remember reading. People pass their driving test at 17, grab a little sports car and start thrashing around like they’re Sebastian Vettel. But at the same time, driving tests are a lot harder these days, passing your test fifty years ago didn’t involve any kind of theory test, things change, the roads change, and I think this is where old people come under pressure and scrutiny. Old people do need to be brought up to date on driving, or failing that they should have their licenses removed.
I’m afraid for old people with driving licenses…
Thanks very much to Arkanto for messaging me about this. He gave some great items, excellent arguments and I was only able to save one thing from the dreaded Room 101. Four out of five choices isn’t bad. I’ve already got next week’s issue of this planned, where MysticWig will be featured.
If you’re interested in getting involved then send me a message. As long as I’ve got the information from you then I can write up the article even a week or more in advance. This way it gives me a lot more time to write more content, put more thought into the articles, and generally not leave everything until deadline day.
