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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Have your guildies inspired you in real life?
by Josh Rose 
Nov 12th 2010 at 8:00AM
We all have people in our guilds who are better at WoW than we are. They have amazing reaction times, are great leaders, or put up amazing numbers on the damage or healing meters. But often we know little about the person behind the keyboard. Since my guild is full of mostly adults, we talk a lot about real life in guild chat and on our guild forums. Some of the stuff is merely about TV shows we are watching or books we are reading; seriously, we have a 15-page forum about MMA from all the UFC fans in our guild.
Occasionally, however, truly major life events are discussed, some of which are sad and some are inspiring. We have used the forums to say goodbye to a few members for reasons ranging from personal tragedy, to moving and changing jobs, to simply getting tired of the game.
Some of the stories inspired me to make changes in my own life. One of our guild members talked about his diet and how through exercise and cutting out some fast food, he has lost nearly 60 pounds. This caused me to start watching how much I was snacking during raids and got me back to the gym. Another guild member went back to college for his master's degree, and this led me to look into what it would cost for me to go back and get my culinary degree. Two of our guild members got engaged, and this led me to realize I had better start thinking about ring shopping before my girlfriend gets fed up with me.
Do you ever discuss important real-life events with members of your guild? Have any of their stories made you examine your own life? Have any of their advice or personal insights inspired you to make changes or tough choices in your life?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Eatbones Nov 12th 2010 9:20AM
I have this habit of naming all my toons with names that sound quite believable and could potentially exist in RL. My gm's wife liked my toons name so much she plans on naming one of her future children with the same name ^__^ It made my week
BigBadGooz Nov 12th 2010 9:18AM
Birthdays in our guild are celebrated in game. Usually people farm up rare
Boe items like pets and exchange them. Or if they don't have the time at least 1k gold.
Sintraedrien Nov 12th 2010 11:41AM
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/09/entertainment/et-warcraft9
This is from last year, but it is about a guildie.
Sintra E'Drien of the Ebon Blade, né Sindorei
Kevin P Nov 12th 2010 1:13PM
My wife was diagnosed with a pretty aggressive strain of breast cancer, and while getting through the chemo and treatments I was not around as much to raid, so I let my guild know...
After a run one night, everyone who was on went to the barber shop and took a bald head (Taurens cut their horns off) in a show of support and we took a SS of the moment.
- My wife doesn't even play.
This was a moving moment to me- that my guildies took the time/effort to put that together to make her smile (she thought it was pretty awesome) some even rocked the bald head until her hair started growing again... Thank you Steady Hand of Rexxar. You guys rock.
Dahlberg Nov 12th 2010 2:11PM
A guildie of mjne has had the year from hell. But is always upbeat no matter what. I've had a few real life meet ups with him since he dosn't live to far away. I've never seen or heard of him raising his voice or playing the pity card.
1) his father got killed in the line of duty
2) mother got diagnosed with breast cancer
3) him and his wife had a miscarriage
4) and he lost a really good job do to the economy.
Seraph Nov 12th 2010 2:53PM
I have a very close friend in my guild who is a US Marine. He's from Texas. I have also gotten to know his parents very well and they have become my friends, too. [He also got them into the game and they are also guildies!]
His mom is kind of the 'guild mom,' and she sent me postcards while I was doing my Basic Military Qualifications in Quebec. They really helped me carry on, especially when I got sick in the middle and felt like a failure.
lt_yao Nov 13th 2010 4:59AM
No. Unless you mean racist jokes as inspiring.
Centias Nov 14th 2010 6:53AM
I could say that my guild has actually had more influence on who I am than a lot of people I know in person. A few of them I've actually met, and a few I strongly look forward to meeting. There are certain people I've met that I will never fall out of touch with, even if the game goes away, and there are certainly those that I lost touch with and wish I could find a way to bring the connection back. I've made friends all over the U.S., several in Australia, and I'm sure numerous other places. I meet several really great people leveling my first character, several of which I regret losing touch with, but two of which I saw develop a wonderful relationship and eventually get married. I don't recall if I met them before they met each other, but I basically saw their whole relationship bloom. He lived in Scotland or Ireland, hard to recall which, but moved to Australia to be with her. Really touched my heart seeing them coming together. Many of my guild mates and ex-guildies that I keep in touch with are some of the best friends I've ever known. There are some that I've never even met and I would gladly offer them shelter and a place to rest their head at the drop of a hat.
There are those in my guild who I can talk to about anything, and I believe just about all of them know they can tell me anything. I've gone to them for advice on my problems and my relationships, and I've given my share of advice back. A guildmate I've only known for a few months or so has already felt like she could ask me for advice and opinions on a bad relationship she's been going through, and this is the sort of thing I would gladly do whenever asked by any of them that I've known for even a short while.
I really hope someday to have the seemingly impossible meet-and-greet with all of them, though we're spread so thin it would be quite the task to arrange it. Many of them really are like family to me now.
Unfortunately the couple I mentioned transferred to an Oceanic server, so it's hard to keep in touch, but this topic made me realize I need to check in on their server and get their Real IDs added so we can touch base. =]
Centias Nov 14th 2010 6:55AM
I should add that I've been in the same guild since I started playing just over 5 years ago. It's hard to not become really attached to these people. =]