This is spot on. I tend to get really invested in thing so I have a hard time following this bit of advice, but I'll say it anyway: It's just a game. The stuff in the bank is just pixels. The gold is not real currency.

I don't mean any of that in the standard condescending, "Your situation and feelings don't matter and are invalidated," way. I mean that as a way of taking a breath and gaining some perspective. It all boils down to one thing, which the letter-writer already mentioned: a total waste of time and effort.

When I read the letter, I got flashbacks to the first time I encountered a brazen ninja, a jerk of a party/guildmember, etc-- in short, people who seem to get their rocks off on causing other people a headache. And I remember being told afterward by well-meaning people that it was all "just a game" and the loot that was ninja'd will drop again and, after all, it's just pixels, all that. Being pissed off and rather irrational at the time, I retorted that it was a waste of my time and effort; how can such people exist, anyway?

The kicker was when someone mentioned I was exerting further effort and wasting even more time by complaining about that jackass and this asshole and everyone who has offended me since. As hokey as this sounds, the hate and anger and resentment you're feeling only hurts one person: yourself. As much as you'd love to see some sort of retribution wrought upon the bad guy, some sign that justice exists, it's just not worth it. Even if you were to track down your former GM and give him a piece of your mind, at best you may be met with a "So what? What are you going to do about it?" and you're still frustrated at the end.

As Sunaseni points out, it sounds like you've found a core group of people in along the journey and they seem to be good, like-minded individuals. With your former guild, it's a harsh lesson learned but you'll never give yourself the chance to move on from it (and apply what you've learned) if you keep agonizing over it. You will be much happier and much better off in the long run.

Best of luck.