In DUST - and probably in all MMORPGs - there seems to be several hundered players who are in the top few clans or guilds. They are the elite of the game - by a large margin - and they seem to play the game like it's a job. 

If there is a tournament, their clans will be the top few teams.

If you want to join them, the expectation is that you play the game like it's a job as well.

But how do these people find the time? What do they do for a living?

I'm just curious as to whether anyone has an insight into this.

I am not coming with an answer...sorry.

I just wanted to express my agreement sort of. I always wondered who are the people in e.g. "Paragon" guild in WoW who were getting world first achievement on practically every significant boss there was.

As a regular working person, I have potential time to play since 8-12 max.

I can imagine those people are students, unemployed, retired, home office workers with a relaxed job, people with enough money not to work,...

Originally posted by Mors.Magne

In DUST - and probably in all MMORPGs - there seems to be several hundered players who are in the top few clans or guilds. They are the elite of the game - by a large margin - and they seem to play the game like it's a job. 

 

If there is a tournament, their clans will be the top few teams.

 

If you want to join them, the expectation is that you play the game like it's a job as well.

 

But how do these people find the time? What do they do for a living?

 

I'm just curious as to whether anyone has an insight into this.

I played in these clans when I was very young. I remember my teammates like this:

#1. A few of them were just graduating HS. If they did have a job, if was something like a part-time stock boy. Understandable for a 16-17 year old.

#2. A few members of the guild were millionares. I remember one of them telling me how he had started and sold a CISCO-related network company for a few million. He had everything paid off, money in the bank, and time on his hands.

#3. Most of the players all had jobs. They were married, too. After they worked for 8 hours, they simply played. I think some of them might have had some marriage issues. No all, though.

#4. Some just lived at home with little to no responsibilities.

I'm sure most rely on someone else's income to support themselves. How and why they are in that situation, well, there are unlimited possibilities.

Edit; A few years back I was able to reach the top 5 guilds in GvG for the original Guild Wars. How was I able to spend 12-16 hours a day playing a video game? Well, my parents were spun out on drugs and didn't care.

Don't be so quick to judge the person as a basement dweller with no life. I'm sure there is reason behind their habits.

I played hardcore while I was pregnant. It's not that I was being lazy either. My nausea was simply so awful that I couldn't do anything other than sit or lay in bed. 

After I had my son I went back to being a casual player in MMOs. I really don't see anyone with a full time job keeping up with those guilds. 

As for who was in them? People with part time jobs, students, people from 18-20 who simply mooch off their parents without going to school or work  - and yes, sponsored people. They actually get paid to be in the top guilds. 

There are kids who ask their parents to sponsor a year long trip to Europe. Financially, I'd rather my kids want to stay home for a year with a $15/mo game. The mooching isn't that awful. They are taking some time off and enjoying themselves. Nothing wrong with that. 

Now, if they are 30 years old and still living with their parents without contributing financially - there is something wrong. 

I do have to disagree with the 'marriage trouble' bit. There were some couples who simply played the game as their romantic time together. That's what I do with my man! Nothing better than ordering in, killing some bosses and staying home :D 

Letss seeeee

There was a canadian guy who was handicapped and parents owned a salt mine.  True story.  Played 20 hours a day.

Another ex-military guy, again crippled/handicrapped  with insomnia..i never saw him offline.  One day after several months he simply disappeared

A few korean/phillipino  that apparently lived in 'gaming' apartment, dunno where they got the money to live.

And a Brazilian guy that sold drugs from his house and gamed 20+

Havent run into many parents basement guys, yet

Some may be programmers for NASA, some may have dropped out of high-school and can barely hold down a job, some can be youtube celebrities who do video tutorials on Origami.

The truth is if you walked into one on the street, you would never know it.

Our guild is a top guild in EQ. Where do I find the time, what time? I don't play more than someone else, we just play more focused that's all, we know each other, we min-max, everyone has maxed AA.

I don't get where people get this notion from that top MMO guilds play more than casuals, there are many casuals who play way more than I do, they're just not focused on min-max.

When they introduce a new level cap our guild has maxed their levels in a matter of days while other players take months. On average we tend to play less than other people.

Most people in our guild are just normal people with jobs who play no more than someone else would.

Since you use the word "clan" I assume you're referring to other games, I don't know how it works in other games, maybe there are people who play all day just to get to the top, in Everquest that's not how it works, you min-max and you eventually get to the point where you play in a top guild, it has very little to do with how long you play but more with how you play.

Actually you will find that a lot of them are in the military or some other from of work sucha s mining where they have a huge downtime in between deployment or seasonal work.

All of the other response that have house husbands or mom's basement are just being mean. I'm pretty sure that population is quite small in comparison to the working population (otherwise our economies will be like the Greek's).

The saddest part is that world 1sts are so important to players. I mean...is your RL so bad you have to be important/significant in a game? I just don't get the draw other than to say "Look at me! I'm so cool!"

I play to have fun, not be "top dog" in every category I can.

Don't get me wrong...I care in FPS games, where it's more meant for stat boards. But in MMORPG's? No, not at all.

Originally posted by Talonsin
As a person who spends a lot of time around college students I can say there are many college grads who took majors in subjects like history, english, homeland security, underwater basket weaving and such that once they graduate, they simply cant get a local job and they refuse to move to another city for jobs.  They sit home at their moms house and play games and if they are motivated, they get a part-time job in retail "until the job market opens up".  Seriously, how many college grads do you know who either dont work, work part-time or have crappy jobs that dont require a degree?

This is very true too.

I played in a Hardcore guild back in Vanilla and TBC (Stature Of The Gods - EU). Most if not all of us were Students or Unemployed. If anyone did have a job, it was extremely little hours. We had to be online for a certain amount of hours, raiding 6-7 days a week. It was fun due to the feeling of success, but in reality we were winning ingame but failing IRL.

Now i have a Kid, Coursework, Job, Wife etc. I really don't have the time to throw into hardcore raiding anymore.

Originally posted by CalmOceans

Our guild is a top guild in EQ. Where do I find the time, what time? I don't play more than someone else, we just play more focused that's all, we know each other, we min-max, everyone has maxed AA.

I don't get where people get this notion from that top MMO guilds play more than casuals, there are many casuals who play way more than I do, they're just not focused on min-max.

When they introduce a new level cap our guild has maxed their levels in a matter of days while other players take months. On average we tend to play less than other people.

Most people in our guild are just normal people with jobs who play no more than someone else would.

 

Since you use the word "clan" I assume you're referring to other games, I don't know how it works in other games, maybe there are people who play all day just to get to the top, in Everquest that's not how it works, you min-max and you eventually get to the point where you play in a top guild, it has very little to do with how long you play but more with how you play.

This post is completely different from the rest. I'm not entirely convinced by it. However, I think it's easy to think like this and have an unbalenced lifestyle.

The problem it that it takes a long time to 'max' your character out. The 'max' level has probably been imposed so that games companies can say that they are protecting players' health. It doesn't mean the max level ensures a balenced lifestyle.

Everything's relative, i.e - how many hours per day do you play EQ to be in a top guild? You might not think it's that much, but time yourself. When I play a game, time goes by fast.

Originally posted by Mors.Magne

Originally posted by CalmOceans

Our guild is a top guild in EQ. Where do I find the time, what time? I don't play more than someone else, we just play more focused that's all, we know each other, we min-max, everyone has maxed AA.

I don't get where people get this notion from that top MMO guilds play more than casuals, there are many casuals who play way more than I do, they're just not focused on min-max.

When they introduce a new level cap our guild has maxed their levels in a matter of days while other players take months. On average we tend to play less than other people.

Most people in our guild are just normal people with jobs who play no more than someone else would.

 

Since you use the word "clan" I assume you're referring to other games, I don't know how it works in other games, maybe there are people who play all day just to get to the top, in Everquest that's not how it works, you min-max and you eventually get to the point where you play in a top guild, it has very little to do with how long you play but more with how you play.

I'm not entirely convinced.

 

The problem it that it takes a long time to 'max' your character out. The 'max' level has probably been imposed so that the games company can say that they are protecting players' health. It doesn't mean the max level ensures a balenced lifestyle.

Everything's relative, i.e - how many hours per day do you play EQ to be in a top guild? You might not think it's that much, but time yourself. When I play a game, time goes by fast.

 

About 3 hours, 5 times per week, which to me is not that much, and I have an RA of about 80%, so I skip some days now and then. I see some casuals play 5 hours every day or more, so I don't think I play *that* much, most people sit in front of their TV for 3 hours every night.

Some people immediately assume because I raid that I have no life or that people in our guild have no life. The difference between peple who raid in our guild and "casuals" is that we are consistent, we raid every night for those 3 hours and keep very high RA (raid attendance), it's the consistency that allows us to progress, not the fact we play a lot. If you have people logging in at random hours you can not progress, most casuals play a lot, but are unwilling to log on from X yo Y, they log in at random hours and so they are useless to our guild, even if they play 10 times as much as we do.