So let me start with my thesis regarding MMOs: Drama is everything. Nothing else is more important. Now before you close the page with a grunt-like "heh," let me qualify that statement.
I've played Warcraft for 3 years, most of which was spent in a guild known for "zero drama." Seriously, we fancied ourselves as beacons of humanity in game overwrought with unnecessary crisis. Looking back on it, we were just diluting ourselves. There was plenty of drama to go around, it was just shallowly hidden. People circulated rumors and lies the same as any other guild. Likewise, we also vented, spoke our minds, and made honest complaints. The problem was, the first group and the second group were lumped together in the mind of the GM, and engaging in any of this was grounds for expulsion, and your name being dragged through the mud. Thus, if you had anything disparaging to say, constructive or not, you were forced into the shadows.
Let me say, I wasn't a saint, but I was a justified sinner. I was an officer and I went along with this line of thinking for more than two years. I really only began to question it when the guild's demise was imminent. I took a look at a guild that crumbled once, was rebuilt, and was now crumbling again. I asked myself "why?" Then it hit me, rather than let the drama out where it can be dealt with, we hid it away and let it fester and destroy us from the inside. I came to realize the Greeks had it right from the start, drama is not something to be internalized. You need to let it out, have it out, force it out if need be. Otherwise, the pressure builds, and when it explodes it takes everything with it. Catharsis isn't just a fancy word, its necessary to a social groups health.
If I haven't lost you yet, let me reiterate; I'm not a saint, but I am a justified sinner. I committed a grievous sin against my guild. I committed it twice. The second time, I lost the friendship of people I cared about. I took my philosophy well past its current incarnation, and adopted a "fuck it all" attitude. The worst part is, I had already left the game when I made the decision to commit this sin. And when confronted, rather than acknowledge it, own it, I attacked my accuser and made him think the worst of me. My GM, my friend.
But I was justified in my sin. Why? Because my WoW career was spent wallowing in an atmosphere where everything was off limits. I was convinced of a philosophy I now reject. I was repressed, and I repressed others. And when I snapped, I snapped hard. I became cynical and jaded, and to my detriment, I sinned grievously.
These are the memoirs and confessions of a justified WoW sinner.
User Comments
"Drama", in an MMO, is impossible to avoid. How can it be avoided when you're playing with other people? I understand people don't want to deal with it, but come on, you're not in a single player game! You take the good and the bad, and this is an interesting post. Drama's gonna happen, suck it up. Otherwise you'll just be forcing your emotions and/or problems inside you, and then BOOM.
Have to agree with Ascension08, alot of ppl tend to say, well...its just a game, however i nderstand when ppl come together the same thing happens whether it be 'in-game' or not. the fact that one man[GM] decided it could be otherwise is crazy. Hiding in a cave does not make the world go away. the term 'Sinner' however should not be flung bout lightly specifically if its about yourself. Seeing as you are the only sane one there that could no long deny certain things, so be it. In my eyes what you did will ultimatly turn out for the best. Best of luck to ya, also gratz on being a real person....and not a mindless WoW guildy
This whole thing REEKS of "taking shit to seriously"....seriously.
Anytime a bloody game can create a situation that costs you a friend...it would seem to me that one should review what the purpose of a game even is. The whole reason drama EVER happens in these games is directly tied to people putting WAY too much stock in them. The whole guild concept really pushes the limits of intelligence. I've seen people fill out applications for them...and thats just plain dumb.
When I play a game, I play a game. I do exactly the things which tie directly to my own personal enjoyment...and leave everything else at the door. Jesus, all this talk of repression and sin and drama makes me think you were working a second job instead of playing a game.
My advice is to quit MMO's for awhile...and never return until you've played single player stuff long enough to burn out this whole...weird...work thing you've been doing in your video games.
Gishgeron I'm not sure if you ever played WoW, but the game requires large groups to help each other for up to 5 hours straight in the high end dungeons... 5 hours + 40 people = some drama. Its unavoidable.
I've played WoW, I've done raiding. It just so happened that the Guild I was in approached the game like....a game. None of us were treating it like a second job. They logged on, started a raid up...and picked a dungeon. Nothing ever took 5 hours either, and the best part was that we didn't have a ton of loot issues.
Again, the only time you get drama is when you start treating these games like they are real life. I never endured any of that because we all treated them like games. If you didn't get loot that night, oh well. We weren't running the stuff for loot anyway, it was all in fun. Didn't even use a DKP system, just rolled on stuff. There isn't one thing about any raid encounter in the game that is difficult enough to warrant some kind of crazy super fights over....most of it is pretty simple stuff.
But, I guess thats the difference between the people I play with and the people everyone else does. Frankly, everyone else can keep it. I'll go back to consoles before I ever start having to worry about morality and society issues in a video game. I deal with enough of that junk at my house and at my job...I'll have none of it in my recreation as well.
My Story: In my last guild, i was an officer. I got on quite well with the GM and other Officers. About 6 weeks after BC, we had about 5 members way above the rest of the guild in progress, the GM argued with one of them because they wouldnt help out the 60s-67s doing instances things got heated and one left, then the other 4 followed including the second in command of the guild. Effectivly losing all the top hardcore members.They created a new Guild...many remaining guild members secretly despise the GM for provoking a guild split(me included).
on another occasion the GM insulted an Officer over an argument about Shaman as DPSers, anyways the Officer went nuts at the GM and let out a burst of critisisms of the GM(including the above incident), a whole list of them, then /gquit. He took 1/3 of the guild with him. And created a new Guild.
There was alot of bottled up anger in that officer. Loyal to the Guild i stuck with them, they promoted new officers to replace the fallen, and recruited new members.
The GM was becoming more distant to the guild his RL commitments (he was a professor teaching at uni) were keeping him away, the guild was in a tense situation, basically a hand ful of officers ran the show for months, the officers loyal to the guild and the GM. the tension eventually snapped taking a full half of the guild off to create a new guild, fustration at the pace of raid progress and the absense of the GM finally broke the guild. the remaining guildies left leaderless.
The shattered remnents of the Guild split up and spread all over the server, joining their ex-guildies in their new guilds in most cases. I quit playing my character, Loyal to the end, i'd never lift my characters swords in another guilds name.
i logged in about 8 months after i quit to talk to old guildies and see wat happened after, turns out the GM had a stroke, not cause of the game (stress related according to him)....
Man, it's a game. There are 9 million people playing. Get some new friends and move on.
O man u r a n00b. I saw this on the front and from what i read, drama in a game is affecting someone's own emotions in real life. If that's correct and this isn't an article relating to a fantasy perspective of his character through empathy, then I'd have to say you he is one of the biggest noobs i have ever seen.
A guild is define as: an organization of persons with related interests, goals, etc., esp. one formed for mutual aid or protection. You are overthinking the whole concept of drama caused by this, the Guild will prosper regardless of who is coming into it, or out of it as long as everyone shares the same ineterests which is why you form one, to farm, go on raids, and attend PvP.
I'll end my comment here. Abdiell is a noob, go work on your micro and RPG theory.
lol people act as if WOW raids are actually hard and require skill LOLz.
I've witnessed plenty of drama in WOW, and I can't believe the crap people pull...over a game. It's gotten to the point where I've lost all interest in big guilds, random people, raiding, and pugs. I play with a select handful of online and real life friends...and pretty much ignore everyone else on my server. Because they literally sucked the fun right out of the game for me.
Login or Register to post a comment