How would you feel about end-game gear only being useful for 3 months?

[Azurymber]

I live in a village, does that automatically make me not isolated and not part of the disjointed society?

Know what I did the other day? I bought my friend a present because he's been house-bound for the past week after going to hospital. He didn't ask for anything, it wasn't a special occassion, it was just me being nice. I'll gain nothing from it and I don't expect anything from him. In fact when he pays when we go out to go bowling or play pool I feel really bad about it and keep trying to pay my own way, but he won't let me. Same with at christmas, if people buy me things but I'm unable to give something back, sure I'm happy I've received something, but I also regret not being able to give something in return.

There are people out there in today's world that don't operate on greed.

But then yes it's also true that in today's world there's many more people that just want want and more want. Many MMO's nowadays cater for those people, always giving them more stuff, and those players stay with that game so they can keep getting more stuff, because it gives them a sense of superiority. In a perfect world that kind of thing wouldn't happen, but our world is far from perfect sadly

yes. in a village people know each other and rely more on long-term relationships. If you were to screw someone over or hurt someone and spend much of your life living around them it would negatively impact your future. You're brain realizes that and thus makes decisions unconsciously to rationally maximize your future happiness. If you've spent your life in a village reputation means more to you than someone in a city. Thus you're brain will have developed better ways of maximizing your happiness inside a somewhat closed community. If that makes sense.

The only culture/societies to display a majority of people willing to "share" instead of seeking relative gains were i believe tribes in south america and eastern africa that live in jungle-type areas and have almost no connection with the outside world. And even those studies were preformed by anthropologists and may not be 100% scientifically sound.

But its nothing about todays world. It's a universal and timeless part of cultured humanity. Its kind of ingrained into human genetics, just like reflexs are.