MMORPGs: Corporate Lifestyle Guilds

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I was having a pleasant conversation with a friend of mine on Ysera about his guild. He told me that in his guild, steroids striking up a conversation was perhaps the hardest thing there. Firstly, to say anything that was remotely humorous goes ignored entirely. Secondly, if you don’t turn up for raids at all, they will kick you out of it. Thirdly, the leaders of that guild (with their alts) will get the best drop first than the other members. Now, in an inkling of my knowledge on Sociology, this guild that my friend who I will refer to as the Persian was really a guild enveloped around a lifestyle mimicking corporations. Let’s go through this idea of the corporate lifestyle that this guild has gotten.

RE: Do not send off-colored messages through corporate email Guild Chat

Although I do not work in a corporate environment as of yet, I have keenly observed people around me who have worked in the sector of strict corporations. Regular emails from the Board of Directors often remind their employees to stop screwing around and get back to work. The corporate ideal of creating a sterile environment where the focus is mainly on the production of their employees is paramount. You know… the idea where if you make one devoid of any physical contact with the outside world, the higher ups will get the job done? It makes one wonder whether do guilds like these exist.

The deadly silence of the guild chat may have been a coincidence (it was 3am here and 2pm there) but the Persian mentioned that even during peak times and raid hours, the guild chat stays eerily quiet. The filling of joy and laughter of a game has evaporated completely when one enters his guild chat. He says that the only conversation he has ever gotten from the guild was “Where were you last night?”. Even if there was someone who gave a spill of laughter in the guild chat or Ventrilo, the leader would chuckle a little and tell them to focus again on the boss. The Persian said that the only thing that kept him enjoying the game and the people was both the loot and the whisper conversations, which were livelier and not as business-oriented as guild chat.

A small part of the corporate lifestyle has taken over in many guilds. There would be one or two leaders who would sigh at a true rapier of wit because they think it is a time waster, just like how corporation shuns away funny emails being sent in the office. Now, why is that so? I mean, corporations are bloodsucking parasites who do not care about you and only about themselves and their golden parachutes. Why are guild replicating that? I cannot give any sociological answer but, I can say this: Leaders of these guilds are emulating of what is being done to them in the corporate environment into an online gaming environment. Like I say, that was an assumption but others like “Greedy before the Needy” and “Quipping My Alts because I am leader” are other answers but, there is no absolute fixed answer to why this is going on.

I Have Done Gruuls, Karazhan and I Have 3 Kids

I know an old friend named Robb who was on Ysera (now in Kargath) who once belonged to a guild called Spiritus Mundi. I have taken a look at previous requirements from this guild to enter and it is like applying for a job. Questions like “Do you arrive home at seven in the evening?” and “How long do you play a week?” shows much of what is taken into consideration of when they want to let you into their so-called “Elite Group”. Intrusive questions from family life and how many children you have are asked. What strikes me as stunning was that they questioned on how many children does the applicant have because the question does not ask whether or not am I a good player. I am quite surprised they did not ask me to pee in a cup or tied a rock around my neck to see whether am I a witch.

Seriously, guilds asking questions about familial and personal matters? What does that have to do with me being a good player? Is juggling 2 jobs, having 3 kids and taking 4 hours of sleep not qualify me to at least let me enjoy myself in this virtual world? Seriously, are these questions even relevant to me being a member of your guild? Yes, I am looking for loot just like every Anduin, Thrall and Jaina but, seriously, these questions drive me to the wall to only ask: Are we running a guild or a multinational corporation with a billion dollar budget? Should you not be asking me whether I need help in getting some gear so I can further help the guild with my later contributions? Why did you not question the 14 year old kid who plays till 4 in the morning about his homework? He seems to be an awesome player but why did you not question him?

Hooray for the Rich, Screw the Poor!

Wall Street was offered a $750 billion bailout for screwing up the American economy. That stimulus comes from the taxpaying American public and so far, I still see these Wall Street executives riding in with their new Ferrari model (it comes together as a package) into work. And they say the economy is doing bad… for these people. You know what they say, when you’re rich, you’re stimulating the economy by having an all-expense paid trip to Paris with Golden Class tickets that have seats cushions smell like caviar and perfume while, a ballwasher washes your ball as you play mini golf. Meanwhile, the “ordinary people” are sitting at the back in economy class, taking in another whiff of the blanket that smells like beer farts and vomit.

Corporate Lifestyle Guilds on the other hand exploit these tactics not through how much gold you have but by playing the game of hierarchy. If you are not an officer, you are not allowed to come for runs until you have gotten yourself X number of epics. Even with the X number of epics, there’s got to be a few others who have gotten the amount specified and they still don’t get to go. Close friends of the guild leader or guild officers also get to go into the run with full greens. Even alts that the people don’t play often get to go. Why is there such a gap between the best geared and the decently geared? Hierarchy and connections. Why do these guilds do this? I don’t know but I can tell you to relate back to the first section of this blog and as you can see, everything in life that was supposed to be fun is shit.

If There is Anything Wrong, It’s that I Don’t Want Both Worlds to have the Same Problem

There is no absolute solution to this problem of corporate lifestyle guilds. Such guilds are not all bad but mostly, the idea behind this was that everyone was to get the raids done and that was what it was for. However, in such dire times, I think we do not need such corporate guilds. We have enough trouble in the real world to deal with and to come back and sit on our computers to see the same kind of biasness done on the virtual world. We don’t need people screwing with us in every corner of our minds. I want to play a game, not pal around with financial/loot terrorists.

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