If you have the time, please read this.

[Ebon_Drake]

As much as we would all love to see this happen, (Myself included, I will happily take the time to help anyone on my server that genuinely wants to learn to be a better player and isn't just asking for a free dungeon run/handout.) It will not. There are a few people that are more than willing to help, I can guarantee that. More than likely you whom are reading this are one of them.

-But, (Yes, anytime someone uses the word but, you can pretty much ignore everything they said before it.)

The community as a whole is filled with too many d**s, jerks, and a******s for any actual change to come about for the better. I hate you, you know who you are, the person I spoke of in my previous sentence, for ruining the type of gaming community that I grew up with and enjoyed being around for almost 20 years now.


So, great read! Yes, more people should do something good like that, lets all try to make a change. Just, don't expect it to happen. Society has changed too much for the worse in my humble opinion.

I am truly and deeply saddened by what you as a community have become as a whole over the past 20 years.

[TetsuyaHikari]

I can really relate with this story in many ways. It was quite frustrating for me in the beginning when I played my first MMO (Ragnarok Online) because I was wanting to improve, but a lot of people weren't even giving me the time of day because I was a newb. I didn't know the battle mechanics for boss fights which they've run hundreds (or possibly even thousands) of times, I was still learning my character, etc.

So, I was left to only party with other "losers", but... You'd always have the elitist who would remind you that a group of losers doesn't make a better party, you're all still losers. As I did finally improve, I slowly began to become something I hated over time... I lost sight of who I used to be due to only focusing on who I was at the time, a knowledgeable player.

This caused me to behave in a rather immature manner at times, not wanting to give players, who were much like myself at one point, a second glance if they didn't know what they were doing. I felt as though they were wasting my time if they kept getting the party killed and such.

It's really difficult to keep a humble attitude after knowing how long it took you to get where you are today, you know? You can't help but feel like you're on a completely different level from this other player, no... A different league even. Here you have spent 1,000+ hours on a character, maxed out all the jobs, have most of them equipped with the best gear that the game has to offer, and this guy hasn't even put in 100 hours worth of playtime.

I'd be lying if I said there was never a sense of superiority when confronting someone like that. A part of you probably demands respect from that person so they will recognize your accomplishments and the time you've invested. It can be difficult to remind yourself you used to be a novice at some point as well and it only gets harder to remember the more you play.

You begin associating yourselves with other veterans and before you know it... You're part of the cool kids circle. Thus, the community becomes separated in what I'd like to call the 'Lower class', 'Middle class', and 'Upper class' players. Each category consists of new players, intermediate players (basically people who have dumped a bit of time into their character, but still have a way to go... The halfway point, I'd say), then the expert players that treat the game as a profession and study it. Much like the real world, it's very rare you'll see the 'Upper class' associating with the 'Lower class' individuals.

After hanging around the same group of people for so long, you begin to grow comfortable with them. There's also something known as 'dolphin evolution' which occurs. This happens when you've associated yourself with a group of individuals for so long, you begin to have their mannerisms, share their ideology, and even behave like them (sometimes even changing the way you laugh).

This is why it can be so conflicting if you should ever have to make a choice between these people you call your friends and helping out a stranger. You'll have to risk everything you've worked for and basically reconstruct yourself from the ground up if you help the stranger because in this group of elitists, there's no room for modesty or charity.

These days, I just try to disassociate myself from individuals altogether to try and avoid the drama which inevitably follows. I guess that sounds kind of sad when I think about it, but at least this way... I'm able to retain my individuality while communicating with a multitude of players instead of solely focusing on a particular group (i.e. Coil only FC/LS). Don't get me wrong though... I'm still impatient when it comes to players just simply not learning.

I can't tell you how many parties I've left in Brayflox because the tank keeps the dragon in the poison every time we try and fight it, causing me to eventually run out of MP. The worst part is, they usually want to blame me since I'm the healer. "Why didn't you keep me alive?"

Oh, I don't know... Maybe because you're a dumbass? I can't heal when you're draining all my MP, noob! So yeah, I do act like that sometimes, haha. It's just very situational. You can tell when someone is really trying and when someone simply just doesn't look like they care or want to learn.

[Diadumenos]

+1 for the read.

It's a game folks, more than that it is a MMORPG. A genre founded on community. Take some time and make a friend. Duty up for a lvl 10. Keep an eye out for the adventurer in need. Be "that player" from some random gamers memory that helped them when they needed it.

I tip my digital hat to those of you who are trying to make this a better community for all.