Games During the Epidemic

Dear Heroes,

Don’t panic. Don’t give up. Do your part. We will remember 2020 with 20/20 hindsight. The virus is well and truly upon us and if we are lucky it will be only our economies that are a little battered. We will be living through strange and unusual times for the next year at the very least. We will be changing the way we live and interact. In some ways, perhaps permanently.

I am going to repeat the very basic advice: right now it's up to all of us to be responsible and do our part to help slow down and if possible stop covid-19 outbreaks as they happen. I'm not a doctor, so follow the advice of your local public health authorities and or the WHO first and foremost. Still, a summary won't hurt:

• Maintain social distance. Maintain a 2 metre distance from other people if possible. Stop shaking hands, hugging, and kissing. Cover your heart or tap toes if you must. Avoid going out in crowds. Stay home if you have any disease symptoms. Don't go play games face-to-face if you have symptoms or if you think you've been exposed. Don't share dice. Play online more.
• Wash your hands with soap regularly.
• Be hygienic. Don't cough or sneeze on people.
• Don't touch your face as much as possible.
• Use a mask in public if you have symptoms and wash your hands after removing it. If there are not enough masks, leave them for health care professionals and more vulnerable members of society. If there are plenty, use them whenever you go to crowded places.
• If you have symptoms follow the guidelines of your local medical agencies. The symptoms usually appear 2–14 days after exposure and are most commonly fever, tiredness, dry cough, and shortness of breath. If you have to self-isolate or self-quarantine, do so.
• Avoid traveling if you can.
• Avoid touching public surfaces like door handles if you can.

These steps aren't only protecting you, they are protecting the vulnerable people in our lives and in our societies. All of our parents and our grandparents, our vulnerable and our sick. Our fellow people all over the world. Be responsible. Help others by taking care.

These are simple steps, but hard to do well. They are also isolating. Reach out to your fellow gamers. Talk. Share your feelings. You are not alone, we are all in this together, the whole world. When somebody gets sick, be kind to them. If you get sick, take care not to infect others. If you recover and gain immunity, consider volunteering to help with the effort.

Accept that this will be a long war. These steps will be with us for at least a year, maybe a year and a half, maybe even more. We will need to keep fighting until we have a vaccine and it is deployed. Even if we control the outbreaks in our communities we will have to remain vigilant against re-infection. Just like 9/11 changed air travel for ever, this will change travel and social customs for ever. I think we'll have to prepare for:

• a war footing to combat this virus, including sacrifices, quarantines, lockdowns, and rationing,
• a serious economic recession and a realignment of national industries to fight the epidemic,
• a collapse in the tourism and travel industries,
• more medical checks before and after travel,
• medical checks at internal and international land and sea borders,
• mandatory isolation and quarantines when crossing borders if we have any symptoms (I am fully expecting to be quarantined when I return to Korea in a few months),
• mandatory tracking of symptoms and check-ins after travel,
• depression, anxiety, fear, and grief.

Some of us will lose jobs. Some of us may be drafted (or volunteer) to fight the virus. Some of us may lose loved ones or even die. This will be a hard year. But we can make it. We're humans and by golly, we're tough.

• If you have to cut back on this patreon because your financial situation changes, I understand. We all understand. Please do not feel you should lose the support of the stratometaship community if you have to stop backing the patreon. Use this link to stay connected: https://discord.gg/K2HeAtx or message me directly.
• Keep playing games. Keep reading books. Keep watching shows. Keep talking to people. Be brave and remember, we are doing this together.

I am a humble writer of games and drawer of pictures, but I am also a human, and I am going to  do my damndest to help fight covid-19, however small. I will keep writing games and stories and making pictures ... I hope they will help keep your spirits up. I will keep listening. I will keep talking. I will keep supporting the health care professional, the civil guards, the quarantines and the efforts to stem this epidemic. I will keep sharing truth against conspiracy theories and laziness. I will do my best to help not spread the virus.

I know you are not here to talk about the virus and the epidemic. I promise you, I will not do so here. Here and on all my WizardThiefFighter and Stratometaship accounts I will keep writing and illustrating entertainment. Escapism to help cope with the anxious world we find ourselves thrown into.

If you are interested, I will document my personal thoughts (rarely and infrequently) on lukarejec.com and my @lukarejec Twitter handle.

I will repeat. We can win this war. Don't panic. Don't give up. Do your part.

Take care everyone out there.

Peace and health
—Luka

P.S. - I am not a medical doctor or an epidemiologist. My recommendations are based on documents available on the World Health Organization website. If you find inaccuracies or errors, let me know.