War: What Is It Good For? by rumikotakeshi |  |
MERIDELL - The news has spread quickly throughout Neopia: there will soon be
a war pertaining towards Meridell. Neopian citizens everywhere are prepare for
this epic clash in various ways-those preparing for battle are stocking up their
weapon supply, paying increasing amounts of Neopoints to get extraordinarily
powerful weapons. The shopkeepers, on the other hand, are racking up Neopoints
by inflating their prices to enormous sums with rare Hidden Tower items and
the like, grinning coyly as they quietly rake in the cash.
So what are my plans for the war? Surely I am either one of the warriors or
the profiteers, either on the receiving or the giving end. In fact, I am neither.
I do not plan to participate nor in any way gain cash off of such a horrendous
act. In fact, the whole idea of "profiting" off of a war is absolutely revolting
to me.
How can I find something so set in Neopian traditions so repulsive? In fact,
if you even look at my trophies, you'll find that I have a Tyrannian war medal,
won after three 'battles,' partially due to the fact that I wasn't even aware
that there was an actual war going on, but wanted to try out the Battledome
1-Player. I'm slightly ashamed to say that I have fought a war, oblivious as
I was to the fact. I find wars in Neopia, or wars anywhere for that matter,
so unappealing for the simple fact of what they stand for.
Wars are started by conflicting minds, conflicting thoughts, ideas and concepts.
Wars are started because people, or in this case Neopets, think that they cannot
talk out what they are feeling-they instead think must express them in violent
and bloodthirsty ways. They think that the only way that they can get their
message across is by destroying their enemy and taking prisoners, forcing something
down other people's throats. War is the result of everything human and sentient,
of feelings of hatred and anger. War is truly humanity at its lowest form, unable
to express itself in any other way than brutal force and fiery explosions.
When I see everybody preparing for war with mindless grins on their faces,
it makes me sick-they don't really understand what they're jumping into, as
they buy highly expensive items without a second thought. They don't think of
what they're getting into-they don't think of the many lives perished at war.
No; instead, they think of the glory, the medals, standing over a field of defeated
enemies and holding their sword triumphantly over their head in a stance of
victory. They think of the benefits, small as they are, and inflate them so
that they are more important than their very principles. Only when they enter
the fray of war do they realise what they have gotten themselves into.
It is in the battlefield, they say, that heroes are made-yet at the same time,
for every hero, there are thousands who perish. There are thousands who flee
in the face of war, realising, suddenly, how easy it is for their life to be
instantaneously ripped away. There are thousands more who realise this, but
much too late. Not many people who have been in a war will tell you how great
it was and how much of a rush it was to beat the enemy, for they know the truth
of the battlefield hidden behind so many glorious stories, hidden behind the
ugly mask of propaganda.
Perhaps this is not the case for the Meridell War at all-certainly nobody will
be killed (the Battledome is a strictly faint system), but the whole principle
of bringing the concept war into what should be a peaceful environment for a
plot device of a story is certainly unacceptable.
Without a war, one may argue, there would be little opportunity for decent
battles in the Battledome. To this, I say: there are plenty of hidden characters
for 1-Player Battledome all around the site. All you have to do is look. Seek
and you shall find. If you somehow manage to find ALL of the character and defeat
them all time and time again, to that I say congratulations. This is a feat
not many have managed. Retire your pet and let him or her have a nice long rest
after being a warrior for so long.
You may fight the Meridell war, if you find the need for more money and want
to try and achieve that rare spot of heroism. You may fight the war if you find
that it will give you a purpose for the time being. But bear in mind that you
are fighting a representation, small as it may be, of something that is truly
no game; for in war, there is no winners: only losers. |
