The wisdom of experience
by Eric Vice 
Sep 18th 2007 at 5:30PM
Keen wrote a great piece over on Keen and Graev's Gaming blog that really caught my attention. Obviously Keen has been "around the block" like I have and has his share of regrets just like the rest of us who have been chained to the MMOG genre for any length of time. He reaches back to some of the past games he's played and talks about some of the mistakes he's made that he won't ever repeat.
I'll make you read the article to find out his other two, but his first one is no not take an officer position in a guild on impulse and to give it a lot of thought. I couldn't agree more. More than a few of the twenty odd guilds I've been in over the course of my MMOG experience have crumbled because of mediocre or semi-committed leadership, or leadership that wasn't united in focus and direction.
Regrets are not something that need to stay chained to us that keep us from meeting our potential. Identifying our regrets help us to improve ourselves. What are your biggest regrets in World of Warcraft or in other games you've played in the past? What are you doing to ensure you don't make those mistakes again?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zor Sep 18th 2007 5:47PM
dont log on vent drunk if your an upset officer
>.>
oh the headaches
sorry Rax buddy
;)
Heliconius Sep 18th 2007 5:57PM
Duel your girlfriend before you spend 300g on her enchants.. and not after.
Ben Sep 18th 2007 6:15PM
There's another side to the Officer issue. All too often I've been offered an Officer position in a guild with the intent of "fixing" something (i.e. making a transition in guild style, getting raiding off the ground, etc). Don't accept these positions, period.
The state of a guild is, in some way, a reflection of the wishes of the guild. If someone says that they want change, and want you to take it on, consider carefully. If the members of the guild wanted things to be a certain way, why aren't they that way? If people wanted a certain focus within the guild, why isn't the guild already focused on that? The culture of a guild generally reflects the most mutually acceptable compromise of the differing desires and viewpoints. You may be able to change things, but you will almost certainly not like the results (and neither will the guild as a whole).
If you feel the need to overhaul the guild culture/raid style/etc, you probably need to rethink your priorities. Not that you need to quit and find a new guild, more that you need to think about what you're looking for in the game and how much you're willing to invest to get it. Take some time out. Diversify your playtime: I've often found that when I was really frustrated I would sit down, spend a few hours playing a single-player RPG and say "THIS is what I wanted. I was trying to make WoW satisfying like a single-player game is satisfying". That bit of context helped me go back to WoW with fresh eyes and appreciate it for what it actually is: a game that responds more to social experiences that individual ambitions. This is coming from a guy who has made a LOT of mistakes on that front.
Ragebull Sep 18th 2007 6:51PM
I'm starting to regret not dating my female friends just to make raid times. Man, this game has got me by the balls.
Note to self: Stop raiding... soon.
Rob Sep 19th 2007 4:35AM
Not to be crass, but the game will always be there, your sperm won't. Literally what i mean to say is enjoy your life first, game second. Your clock is ticking, you can't afford to screw up years (sometimes the best years) of your life doing WoW or whatever. If you are retired and have nothing else to do, dift story.
Vashnira Sep 18th 2007 9:52PM
Rolling allies as a start....
RogueJedi86 Sep 19th 2007 10:15AM
@#6/Rob
Actually, isn't it the other way around? Men are able to have kids until the day they die of old age. I'm 21 now, and I doubt WoW will still be around when I die in my 70's. I don't care how much you love WoW, you can't expect it to last antoher 50 years.