Now i'm sure most of us have read this story before.
A member on F13, a forum for game-related news, recounted a recent conversation with an Australian online media recruiter about his hobby of playing online games like World of Warcraft: “I happened to mention I’d spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online game… He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100 percent because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc."
This guy isn't allowed a job interview due to his hobby-WoW. To the MMO community, this sends a message-we are discouraged to "do" this hobby of ours- this "second job" as the artical went on to say, because it detracts focus and "limits" us for some reason.
However, i have something i'd like to bring up about this event.
Federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Laws.
Discriminatory practices under the EEO laws (...)include:
Employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals.
Well there you go. A WoW player was denied a job based on a steryotype/assumption. Under the EEO laws this is illigal. So what does this mean for us?
As a community, we are being judged unfit for work. . When we apply for a job, our knowledge of leadership from being the Raid Leader, or a Clan Officer (and as many MMO players know, this is a legit credential) is being thrown out the door. The reasoning behind this is a completely steryotypical, and therefore unlawful. Why this person didn't sue is beyond me, but all in all the real fact stays- someone was denied their constitutional rights beacause they played an MMO.
