Breaking the lore

[jRuutu 2,466]

If you browse the VHL forum you might quickly notice VHL has been around a long time! For example, in the "General Discussion" - section you can find posts dating all the way back to 2013.  One of those threads is the following. The thread tells a story about two VHL members meeting on a bus.  They did not know each other outside of VHL. One day they sat next to each other in a bus when one noticed the other was browsing VHL and some other hockey league on their phone.  They contemplated whether they should say something.  Luckily they did, they exchanged a few words by the sound of it, and because of that we have this little fun story.  

 

The point of this article is to focus on the exact moment when the other VHL member realized they were sitting next to another VHL member. Throughout the history of VHL not knowing who the users in VHL are really has been a key factor in how users around VHL interact. The "anonymity" has allowed users to share thoughts and ideas they would not maybe share on other platforms. The users can also do the opposite and remain in the shadows and share very little about themselves as they focus more on their players, which could be the opposite of how they operate on other platforms. Some GMs might feel like they can take more risks as VHL is a game that should be played, if a move backfires they can not really lose face as nobody knows who they are really.  These few examples would be drastically different if you would have to face the VHL members out in the real world.  When the VHL member realized they were sitting in a bus next to another VHL member many thoughts must have run through their mind: "If I say something; do I now need to be nice around the forum?", "Are personal messages in VHL now somehow more weird than before?",  and of course "Should I jump off in some other stop than I usually do?".  

 

The lore of VHL, the knowledge, the belief, is that you will never meet anyone you interact with in VHL because you don't have to. You should not know where another VHL member lives. You should not know what another VHL member looks like.  What the VHL member did on the bus that day is and was wrong. They broke the code, they did something that is taboo. They called out another VHL member in a real-life setting.  By doing so they started a snowball effect that we can feel around VHL today. What used to be a bathroom for mostly males is now a bathroom for everybody.  There is still writing on the walls, but fewer curse words and the font is a lot nicer. The smell is still pretty bad, but you can sometimes smell a flowery scent of some kind. Nowadays, the sounds of farts are not enough to let those around you know you are feeling bad or good, you need to also say it with your words.  These subtle changes in the aura and vibe of VHL tell a story of two different times. In my opinion, it was better when VHL members knew very little about each other, VHL members had more in common in those days.

Edited November 5 by jRuutu

[jRuutu 2,466]

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Edited November 5 by jRuutu

[Daniel Janser 2,184]

On 11/5/2024 at 7:49 PM, jRuutu said:

They broke the code, they did something that is taboo.

Shit! @Morcar80, @leandrofg and I are in trouble...