Seven Deadly MMO Sins: Greed & Sloth

I meant to post this last Saturday, though it slipped my mind when I found out about Rozie. It certainly wasn't due to sloth... probably. Disclaimer time!

Sections of this article will contain references to actual players and situations that have occurred within an MMO. Ordinarily I'd let these sorts of things slide under the radar and allow the lessons to be learned privately (which is the ideal outcome for these sorts of things) however I view this as an opportunity to teach other potential leaders of the various pitfalls and possible solutions to these kinds of events.

No names will be used. Even if one were to guess who I am referring to, I must make it absolutely clear that I do not intend for them to be vilified in any way. Redemption is always possible and I do not wish it to be prematurely denied to them. Please keep this in mind throughout the following.

"Mine."

A quick update before we go on: Some of the sinners within our ranks have been removed since the last Seven Sins post. As always, I will name no-one, nor will I specify if they were shown the door or left of their own accord. Either way, it was always for the same reason: 

Harms Way was created with an ideal in mind; a safe haven for mature gamers who wanted a friendly place to experience what the game had to offer without having to deal with the ever-growing population of anonymous jerks. Anyone who doesn't fit in with that ideology usually won't find anything of value by staying with us, and anyone who actively tries to disrupt said safe-haven is dealt with.

Hmm, it sounds kind of harsh now that I think about it - however our main concern is for our members to enjoy themselves, we can't ever let an individual ruin it for the many.

• Greed: 

Much like its ugly cousin Gluttony, the sin of Greed is committed whenever a player becomes driven by what's in it for them, even if it ends up being a detriment to others. A good example of this is when a Battered Hilt drops in a Frozen Halls instance - one player rolls "need" with a publicly stated plan to sell it, and wins. The others in the group who could've used the upgrade now have to wait for the next hilt drop (which may never come) or fork out thousands to buy it off the greedy bastard who won it.

We all know that in a pug there are no rules - everything is fair game. In a guild setting though, that kind attitude is, and must be, completely intolerable. A guild is effectively a family; anytime you help them you in effect help yourself as they will likely be in a position to return the favour at some point.

A player who gave (or passed on) the hilt for another guild member has just done your guild an incredible service. Not only have they helped make one member stronger - which in effect strengthens the rest of your guild - but they've also reinforced the feelings of trust and loyalty amongst your members and, with any luck, everyone has walked away happy.

The guy who greedily keeps it for himself and walks away with a fistful of coins they didn't really earn doesn't belong in a guild, period.

• Sloth:

Sloth is a tricky thing to characterise in an online world. The entire basis for the game's existence effectively revolves around sloth.

To best translate this into MMO terms, think back to the old fable about the chicken (or whatever talking animal it was) who was making bread. No-one would help make the bread, but once it was made, all the other talking animals (it's a wonder any of us grew up to be even close to normal, really) wanted some of the bread, despite having done nothing at all to earn it.

There are loads of examples for this one, but I think this one says it best:

Any players who want to be carried by their guild, without having to do anything themselves (eg, study encounters, learn more about their class, etc.) as well as be given loot and basically being rewarded for simply showing up and doing close to nothing - these people are committing the sin of sloth.

Of course, Harms Way already punishes the slothful ones, even if you haven't noticed it yet. Our second gbank tab is reserved for enchanting materials and disenchantables. All of our members are frequently encouraged to put high-end disenchantables in there (green and up) so that we can disenchant them and put the materials back into the tab. Those materials are then used to give our members free enchants whenever they get a gear upgrade.

The catch is that anyone who doesn't contribute to the tab (by way of disenchantables or materials they find in dungeons, etc.) doesn't get any bread... er, free enchants. 

People who actively participate in Harms Way are the ones who benefit the most. Always.

Like I said before, Harms Way is not a particularly fun place for the people who are here just for themselves and it's all due to the fact that we don't reward people who do nothing without something being in it for them. We're like a family, we look out for each other and we all make sure we're having fun... what's the point of being in a guild if you're only in it for yourself?

Perhaps more importantly: Why would we want to keep you?

-Ahz

Seven Deadly MMO Sins: Lust & Gluttony

Earlier today I encountered a situation that got me thinking about the seven cardinal sins and how they apply to (or can effect) MMO games such as World of Warcraft. A quick disclaimer before we go on:

Sections of this article will contain references to actual players and situations that have occurred within an MMO. Ordinarily I'd let these sorts of things slide under the radar and allow the lessons to be learned privately (which is the ideal outcome for these sorts of things) however I view this as an opportunity to teach other potential leaders of the various pitfalls and possible solutions to these kinds of events.

No names will be used. Even if one were to guess who I am referring to, I must make it absolutely clear that I do not intend for them to be vilified in any way. Redemption is always possible and I do not wish it to be prematurely denied to them. Please keep this in mind throughout the following.

One of our newer members had managed to completely stun me today. Within the space of a few hours, this new member had very publicly committed five of the seven deadly sins.

I was immediately (and rightly) bombarded with complaints from other guild members, even though I had already cautioned the offending party in private. It seemed not enough just to rebuke the offender, but also to go into damage control mode for the offended.

In the end we laughed it off, but it did get me thinking about how the cardinal sins come into play in these environs.

• Lust:

This one will be well known by quite a few guild leaders and officers I imagine. I'm bending the meaning slightly here for use in MMO's.

Online relationships of any kind, be it boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, siblings or even just RL friends can cause quite a bit of disturbance in the overall harmony of what was once a functional guild.

For example: One of the well liked and valued members has a friend who is a complete tool (this has not happened in Harms Way yet, but it has happened recently). The guild leaders may find it difficult to rein said friend into acceptable behaviour due to the real life relationship.

I won't go into any more detail as this topic has been covered many, many times - most recently by the Drama Mamas over at WoW.com - and the solutions given there are as good as any I could provide and, much more likely, better ones.

• Gluttony:

Yet another one I need to bend the meaning for - in this case, constantly asking for more.

In most cases guilds will experience this in the form of a player who keeps asking to essentially be carried through things, be they quests, dungeons or even raids. Such players are effectively a parasite that latch on to a well-meaning guild and start sucking. The obvious solution is that the parasite should be removed.

Of course, there's a distinction between MMO gluttony and a guild member simply asking for assistance. The key to identifying a glutton from a desired member is all about their attitude. There's no clear line in the sand here, so it's up to your guild or raid leaders to decide the course of action.

I must stress though, don't be hasty to label someone as a glutton when they're simply asking for help.

***

Of these sins, so far I've only encountered Gluttony within Harms Way, and even then it was only from one member, so we're doing quite well on those fronts. Like I said before, the ideal course of action is to handle the matter privately and to give the offending party an opportunity to redeem themselves before grabbing your banhammer and swinging for the fences

Watch this space for more details on MMO Sins. Next time: Greed & Sloth!

-Reverend Ahz

Image by Solomon Russell