Guernication

My thoughts on games and the issues around them.

Author: Guernica

The first MMO I ever played was Star Wars Galaxies. Now don't  laugh - I know the game has a bad rep. But I love Star Wars and it was a natural choice when I decided to take the plunge into the MMO market.

It had been a long while coming. I had tried to start a SWG account some years earlier, just after SWG launched actually, but my PC at the time was dinosaur and could not handle the game (even years later I had to upgrade the memory in my dual-core laptop to run the game smoothly!) so I didn't even get to login. I went back to my Xbox and played that happily for a couple more years.

Eventually I had a newer, better PC though and, when I had some time on my hands, I downloaded the trial client and started my first toon. I loved the game. It was a revelation. I suddenly understood what all the fuss about MMO's was about. How liberating it was to create a character in a persistent world with a choice of characters and paths, no set end to the game to achieve. How addictive leveling was, accruing vast amounts of credits and XP, buying more equipment, building a better starship, then fleet. Starting a trading empire - learning to make the things people wanted and selling them at a profit. Wonderful stuff in this new world I had discovered. I kept on playing SWG for about a year and a half. I took a little break and then went back for a bit longer. I also discovered WoW on the way and have been playing that for the best part of three years now.

But when I look back, I realise that all the fun I have had, the things I have done, places I have seen (and money I have saved!) has possibly been consequential to me meeting one person (in much the same way as the entire Star Wars sage hinges on that one Star Destroyer gunnery commander who ordered his men to hold their fire on a certain escape pod). That person was whoever it was that invited me to my first guild.

I was asked if I wanted to join a guild by a strange toon. I  can't remember his name. It was all a bit confusing and happened fast. I had never been in a guild before. I was used to Xbox Live games of Rainbow Six where you blast the same dozen players for an hour or two, then move to another room. All I remember was he had some cool red armour. 'Why?', I asked, 'what's the point?'. New as I was to MMO's I was sensible enough to realise that reply might come across as a little unfriendly to the reader so I quickly reassured him I really didn't know what guilds were for. I was also a little insecure - 'can you get mugged in an MMO?' I wondered.  Suffice to say I did join his guild and it was the best decision I ever made in a game.

I made some good friends in that first guild. We eventually left the original group and started our own guild on another planet. We recruited new members, developed our town, and did whatever we wanted. Eventually some of us migrated from SWG to WoW to start another guild in Azeroth and continued to adventure together.

Now, all these years later, I am sadly no longer in touch with the guys I began to play SWG with. I am in a friendly guild though. We run stuff together, help each other with crafting and grinding. Even PvP together Sadly, I know I am lucky in this respect. I know that for every friendly guild like mine, with helpful, encouraging, tolerant, players, there is one full of asshats. I find them sometimes in PUGs. People who can't wait to tell you how great they are or how crappy you are. People who want to order you around or just don't know how to play as part of a team. I have even been in a couple of weak guilds in my time. I've seen leaders that don't want to lead and players that don't really play but instead use games as a kind of therapy, a way to vent their frustrations with the real world on people they will never meet face to face.

I was lucky, I think, that my first guild experience was so positive. I met a group of people that wanted to help me and that I could help in return. Oddly enough I had been playing for nearly a year before I even heard the word 'noob'. Being in that first group of friends has given me hope whenever I start a new game or join a new server that there is a decent guild out there. It may take some time to find. I may have to join and leave a few guilds to find the one that works for me, but the one I need is out there. For every fool, there's someone cool.

So if you're just starting a MMO and are finding it intimidating, or are in a guild and aren't getting any support from the other members, keep on going. There are decent guilds out there. There are nice people to play with who can make this recreational experience of ours not just a time-sink but a fun activity.