I just had an amazing experience in Dark Souls today that really made me glad to be a part of that game, as a player.

TLDR I got unexpectedly tipped a humanity in Dark Souls and it was awesome! but you really should read the story. :)

Ok, so I'm a level 40 cleric and I currently rock a +5 Mace which works pretty well on the enemies I encounter, but is generally worthless in PvP against anyone with better equipment. I spent a bit of time today building up 20k souls to buy the crest to get me into the Darkroot Forest, home of Alvina (see white cat in the inset pic). She's the Forest's eternal guardian and contracts players that intrude on the forest to defend it from any other player not in the covenant. She gives you a ring, that when equipped will randomly summon you to another person's game as a dark phantom. This person has to be in Alvina's part of the forest and HUMAN, Hollowed players get NPC player class humans who are pretty fucking tough at my level. By the way, I LOVE Alvina's voice work. It's like Eartha Kitt sexyness with a backdrop of actual feline purrs and growls. IT'S AMAZING! As a defender it's my job to kill intruders, however... I'm horrible at PvP and usually die pretty quick my only consolation is that I don't lose any souls if I am defeated. I do want to acquire at least five kills as a defender to get the rewards that Alvina dishes out, plus it's a really neat concept. The large majority of the forest's intruders are seasoned veterans on their 2nd or 3rd run through the entire game. Alvina doesn't discriminate against player level when she summons you. I think I got summoned about 12 times in about a half hour. I was in a few of the same veteran player's worlds multiple times. Most of them bowed (which is great!) as my hollowed corpse disintegrated in front of them after one volley of spells or weapon swing, and most had a summoned partner with them, so it was usually 2 on 1 against me. Sometimes, it was a group summon and there was another defender around, in any case, I am woefully under prepared for the situation. I do my best and try to be clever, but usually eat it pretty quick. The game announces who is being summoned to who's world, so both people know who is in there world.

Anyway, so I'm summoned to Outlander95's world like three times. First time, he smoked me like a pro. The second time, I come in shield up, but I don't attack, just to see what would happen. Circle around with shields raised for a bit and then he stops and drops something on the ground and backs away. I cautiously approach what he dropped, keep in mind, this is like my 5th summoning as a defender on my first run through of the game. I don't really know what's going on, it could be a trick for all i know. I'm surprised that I can pick the object up and keep it in my inventory.. even more so that it's a HUMANITY, something that I always am needing and in this form I can never lose it to death. It was a tip! Made all the other deaths so worth it! I checked his profile out and he has 800 points in Dark Souls, he's a vet, he's been in my shoes before and he's paying it forward like he should. Made my gaming day! So, Outlander95, good on you! Keep doing what you're doing! Cheers!

Yeah, I'm having a completely wonderful time in Dark Souls so far. Mostly, I can't wait to finish it so I can run through again with a better idea of what I need to do, etc. I love that this game is structured in this way, for me it's great and I'll surely pay it forward in later run throughs when I figure out how to make getting humanity not so much of a problem.