Deceased player statue

[Neira]

tl;dr, I don't think a player statue is appropriate, but a memorial like a headstone or butsudan that could have personal meaning to those who use it could enhance the gameplay for some, and I'm all for that.

I think something along those lines would be a nice addition to the furnishings. I wouldn't want something so specific, but a more general memorial, perhaps with the ability to add a name to it, would be a nice item and useful. Whether to celebrate something or to remember something, with or without the ability to edit a name on, it could be used as a furnishing for any FC to commemorate something important to them.

That being said, not to sound callous, but I don't think it's appropriate to make a public spectacle of a personal loss. I don't know if this is the same person or someone else, but I've seen another topic on reddit about someone that a FC was close to dying. I am sorry for your loss, and I've also lost a couple of people I met online(XI as well), but I find it incredibly inappropriate to try to inform hundred of thousands of people who didn't even know this person that you're grieving. Thousands die every day in reality, and sometimes it will affect us and sometimes it won't. But to go out of your way to try to impact others by something that they shouldn't need to be burdened by is morbid, as another user put it.

I like the concept of creating a memorial so that we, as players and FCs, can remember something important to us. But things like this honestly don't belong in public forums, and I hope to whatever powers that may be that no one will call attention to my own death when that time comes.

[AnnietheCat]

cut for length

Cemeteries also let it be known to hundreds(to maybe thousands) of strangers that someone is grieving. Seeing a funeral procession on a main road in your town lets you, a stranger, know that people are mourning a loss. You can choose to ignore them because they aren't meant for you, or you can complain about how their "public spectacle" is inappropriate. Which do most people choose to do? Everyone grieves in their own way, everyone has a right to grieve in their own way. And honestly, to commemorate a person that you cared for within a significant hobby of theirs would be an amazing way to remember them. For the people who loved them, they become a part of the game that they loved so much, and a world that they shared together. I think that's pretty flippin' awesome. Then again, I'm pretty flippin' sentimental like that. But we don't have to have similar tastes or mourn in similar ways. To be able to see how this could be a comfort to people doesn't require much in the way of empathy, and it isn't like every single player on each server will go one by one to read every single memorial. Everyone has their own lives. And even if it isn't for a real person, RPers would be able to use a headstone/memorial for IC things or for their characters to mourn NPCs. It's a very small thing, one that isn't mandatory, and one that would be appreciated by those who would use it.

[Neira]

Also cut for length.

I did say I liked and supported the idea of them adding a generic memorial for all players to use for any reason. The request should have stopped there.

[AnnietheCat]

I did say I liked and supported the idea of them adding a generic memorial for all players to use for any reason. The request should have stopped there.

But you did let it be known that you don't approve of the way some people choose to grieve since it's "making a spectacle of someone's passing", and it came off judgmental. I realize this is a soundless medium and it should be taken at face value, but a generic "memorial" isn't the same as the original request, which is for a way to commemorate a player. This was a request for something very, very specific and those who don't like the idea really didn't have to make judge-y comments about how people grieve or remember someone they cared about.

[Neira]

But you did let it be known that you don't approve of the way some people choose to grieve since it's "making a spectacle of someone's passing", and it came off judgmental. I realize this is a soundless medium and it should be taken at face value, but a generic "memorial" isn't the same as the original request, which is for a way to commemorate a player. This was a request for something very, very specific and those who don't like the idea really didn't have to make judge-y comments about how people grieve or remember someone they cared about.

People didn't need to bring such a personal request onto a public forum for a game developer with over 5,000,000(6m now?) copies sold. I'm not trying to say my post is any more appropriate than the original, but I don't believe it's any less appropriate either. This is a medium where we are (usually) allowed to voice our opinions, and I'm voicing mine. If it came off as judgmental, it's because of how strongly affected I am by this issue, but I am trying to keep my vitriol to a minimum.

Two to three months ago I was linked to a reddit post by people on my server, Diabolos, talking about someone on Hyperion who died. I just went through my history and double-checked, and it is indeed referencing the same person. I am sorry for anyone who is still grieving after a few months, and I've lost one person who made me feel that way as well. However, I don't really have any forgiveness for someone who is going out of their way to share personal misery with the rest of us.

The moment another person's grief becomes a grievance, inconvenience, or downer(lacked a better word, it's late for me) for those of us who haven't died yet or already been impacted by the loss, they have crossed a line. These individuals have personally crossed that line twice for me, and I bit my tongue the first time because it wasn't a repeat issue and it was on a very unofficial channel. But the second time, months later, compounded with the sheer audacity of asking for something so outrageous, is not acceptable to me.

I highly doubt that the individual who is no longer with us would enjoy knowing that others are being negatively impacted as a result of their passing, or knowing that the individuals they cared about are still hurting. But there is nothing positive to be gained from such a request here, it should have been sent through private channels or made neutral. If I was the type of person to contact moderators, I would have already asked for this topic to be locked or deleted, and I honestly doubt I would have met much resistance either.

I'm not the only person, on here or reddit, who has voiced my dislike of this topic, though I might be the only one to spend this much time elaborating on my views. This will be my last post on the topic though, as I'm pretty sure I've made my opinion and disapproval clear. If you or someone else wants to start a topic asking for a neutral memorial furnishing to be implemented for every player to utilize, I will gladly bump, like, and reply with approval to it. At this point though, I'm going to just let this topic drop.