With Kilanna now happily welcomed into her “new” guild, I wanted to reflect a little on yesterdays events and what they say about me.
Kilanna was invited to join her first guild by a real world friend on the day she was rolled, so it is very much part of my EQII experiences. I have very much enjoyed every part of the time and energy I have devoted to Kilanna and the guild, and hope to continue to support them either with the occasional group on weekends or perhaps her tradeskills. In addition, I have several alt toons that will remain in the guild and that I am very much enjoying playing. I am sure that they will continue to contribute to the guild even as alternate characters.
Before leaving the “old” guild I spoke with the guild leader to let her know the reasons for moving my toon. Over the 12 months that I have been part of her guild I have developed a relationship with her that I believe to be a type of friendship. As such, I was highly concerned about hurting her feelings. I have seen other people treat her in such a way that it has hurt her feelings over the last 6 months and did not want to do the same.
She and I formed a group so we could talk, and as I proceeded to openly and honestly explain the situation I was struck by the depth of my emotion. I know that we invest a lot of time into levelling our characters in MMO’s but it would appear that I have also invested at least some emotional energy into EQ II as well. My emotion was not about my character but rather about the relationships I have developed online.
To balance this I would like to point out that I have healthy relationships with my family and friends in the real world, hold down a decent job, have a comfortable home, and have no problem in turning off my computer for real world committments.
So my question is this – do I need to get a life or is this emotional investment to varying degrees part of the MMO ethos of community?
Heh heh, I like the “I would like to point out…” portion. It is as if we must justify our balanced social lives if we have an online life as well 🙂
Let’s look at the logos of the MMO world instead. People need an outlet, and a break, from the “real” world. This is nothing new–for centuries we have had literature, theater, games of physical (and mental) prowess. What is an MMO if not all of these, combined with the interpersonal relationships we all crave in our non-work life? This seems like a proven niche that is just being filled by a different media.
Grats on the new blog! I put your link on my list.
Thanks for the welcome and the comment Gaff:)
[…] a post on Dwarven Runes concerning relationships between people in an online enviornment, entitled “More Than Just a Game?” If playing an MMO, whatever title you perfer, fills the above defintion of “flow,” […]