Four years of our lives are spent dedicated to this thing we call “high school.” However, some days I contemplate whether we ever actually leave high school. There are so many aspects of life that end up being just like high school. In Mobile Strike, we have Protected States.
Protected States exist within their own bubble. You sit and you grow and you learn within the bubble until you are ready to be released onto the rest of the Mobile Strike and your State is made a Battle-Tested State. Protected States are unique in how they work and their dynamics, and in many ways, they are the high school of Mobile Strike. In the Mech Dimension even if we are in the Battle Tested States it can sometimes still feel like a protected state since Battle-tested ports are not readily available. So join us for some fun as we see how a Protected State resembles high school…
Mobile Strike High School
You download the game and you are launched into a Protected State. You are in awe of the bigger players within the State and ready to get building and learning so that you can one day be one of them. Freshman Year has begun!
You’re Stuck There
You can not leave High School and you cannot leave a Protected State. You are stuck there. Day in and day out, you go and you do your daily tasks, and wait for the day you are launched out into the real world.
You Can’t Wait to Get Out
Have you ever noticed that when you are in High School, you can’t wait to get out of High School? Conversations are dotted with talk of plans for the future and things you will do when you get out of High School. It is the same in a protected State!
When you begin in a Protected State much time is spent wondering and waiting with your State, hoping for the day you would become a Battle-Tested State. With a common statement being, “I can’t wait until we become a Battle-Tested State, I’m porting out the day it happens.” We are so ready to leave our Protected States — but just like in High School, when the day comes that we are ready to be launched, we often linger as we get ready to face the “real Mobile Strike world.”
You Meet the Same People in a Group
Group projects… I don’t feel like I really need to elaborate. In every group, you will have the Overachiever, the Ghost, The Slacker, and the Space Cadet. This doesn’t end: you will always run into these personalities.
In every alliance, you will have an overachiever. They will get most of the points for Alliance events, make sure everything is on track, and constantly be pushing buttons to ensure the success of your Alliance. You will have the ghost who shows up, disappears, and then when it is done, they magically reappear as if they were there the whole time.
You will have the slacker, who is there at least… but they are talking and not really doing anything while they watch the overachiever work. Finally, you will have the Space Cadet. They honestly have no clue what is going on… like, ever. The overachiever will try to help them (believe me, I know, I have often fallen into the overachiever category), but they will continue to be a space cadet. Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s just who they are.
Cliques Still Exist
Remember the Cliques in High School? Well, they exist in the Protected States as well. They are just called Alliances. Your number one Alliance? Those are your popular kids. The ones that are at the top of the food chain and everyone loves to hate. The jocks, for lack of a better descriptor.
Next, you have your Alliance of the uncool kids, but these are not just your uncool kids. They are the kids that make being uncool, cool. It’s an oxymoron, I know, but it works for them. Typically, they are one of the biggest rivals of the Jocks.
Of course, you still have your nerds. The nerds are some of my favorite people, these would be equivalent to the Traps in the protected States. Because of their sheer skill, they can cross-cultural barriers in alliances and hang out with everyone, including the jocks.
There are drama kids, these would be the State Chat Trolls. They are on a stage for everyone to see and make sure that they overdramatize everything. Finally, you have your shadow alliances. These are alliances that are not jocks, they don’t make uncool cool, and while they may have nerds, they are not nerds. These would be your “normal kids” in High School. They just want to get through the day.
Peer Pressure Still Exists
Peer pressure in high school can be unreal. Here’s the truth, though: peer pressure exists everywhere. In a Protected State, it can take multiple forms. Whether it is the pressure to join a rally, to buy a pack, to reach a certain power, to test, to hit that unshielded player, or something else, that pressure is still there. Sometimes it is still fun though, razzing a player to encourage them to hit that trap… you know, the one that has already capped you a million times.
All The Gossip
Gossip: it spreads like wildfire in high school and a Protected State. For some reason, everyone knows everyone’s business. I may never have spoken to the little trap in that tiny alliance that is barely a blip on the radar, but I know what she is doing on Line and half of her life story. Well, that is, if the gossip was correct.
SvS and Global Control Point are like Spring Break
Spring Break, Summer Vacation, whatever it may be, you’re freeeeeeeeeee!!!!! You get outside of the same four walls or borders that contain you for the rest of the time. Global Control Point and SvS is a source of excitement for many, but for the Protected States, it is their only chance to experience the rest of the Mobile Strike world. I remember starting in my own Home State and how excited we would get to port to Global Control Point and be a part of the bigger picture. It was our chance to get a “vacation” from our normal States.
The Relationships
Mobile Strike relationships. No matter how many times we say it is a game, not a dating app, we know the reality. We spend so much time with each other when we play this game that relationships end up forming. We know that trap is dating that lead and that player over there… they are definitely sending… ummmmmm…. let’s say graphic messages to another player.
Also, don’t forget about this player who is married but we know they are trying to get every girl in the State to send them “pictures.” You know what pictures I am talking about. In our Protected States, we see love triangles, the on-again-off-again couple, the couple that breaks up and tears apart their clique — we see every form of high school relationship in a Protected State and the drama that comes along with it.
The Drama
Where should I begin? Or do I really need to? We all see the drama. It is aired out on State Chat on a daily basis. From arguments to people rage quitting because “this State sucks,” it is rampant in a Protected State. We know that tomorrow those two will be besties again and the rage quitter will be rebuilding their account, but the drama is gonna happen.
The Reunion
At the end of high school, you graduate. When your State becomes a Battle-Tested State, people port out and make homes in new States. However, your Home State, or your Alma Mater, always holds a special place in your heart. In Mobile Strike, they are notated by a little spot at the bottoms of our profiles. While we may move on, we still love the friends that we met in our Home State. Even if, in reality, sometimes we still hate them. While many of the people from your Home State may move on and some do not play anymore, we still have our reunions.
We create rooms on Line simply to keep in touch with the people that have touched our hearts and lives. We get out of our Protected State and eventually we make new friends and lose contact with some of our old friends, but we always end up finding each other and finding ways to reminiscence about the people we played with and fought with.
A Protected State has so many reasons that it reminds us of high school, but we often wonder if we ever truly leave. We still see so many of these aspects after we move on — just in a new place and it may look a little different.
In what ways did your Protected State remind you of high school? Comment below with your stories, we want to hear them! Also, be sure to join us on Social Media for more community fun!
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