In many ways MMOs are a virtual exercise in Social Darwinisn. While game developers try to create social opportunities to attract massive numbers of customers, game mechanics emphasize the struggle for ongoing rewards and better gears and the survival of the fittest. In the Free-to-Play model, survival of the fittest usually means those who buy the most advantages from the cash shop or those who are most willing to cheat by botting. Because many of the rewards are competitive, these unfair advantages tend to accumulate exponentially while those who play the game by the given rules can get shut out all together. Those who get shut out tend to remain as a sort of "middle class" in gaming, while those with unfair advantages form a rigid elite.

Lest anyone think this is another anti-botting rant, I'm saving that for another post. Indeed, one of the reasons I haven't posted in so long is that the last Granado Espada patch created so many incentives and invitations to bot, that for the first time ever I began to buy into the conspiracy theory that the game developers at IMC engage in the bot business themselves. After over five years of developing and maintaining Granado Espada, surely IMC knows that rewarding people for farming items, clicking on something, or repeating a skill will bring on the botters like a plague of locusts: yet in this (and future) patches, IMC rolled out the red carpet in almost every conceivable way.

Take "Alliance War". Doesn't that sound like the epitome of competition? Actually it's just a place where the most brazen botters can rack up points and take all the rewards that only go to the top three winners. These rewards enable the crafting of the highest level weapons in Granado Espada, and this situation has gone on for several weeks already. It's beginning to seem like IMC intended this situation. Only botters can get these rewards, which will be used to dominate non-botters in other aspects of the game. The message is clear: bot or your a loser.

This isn't the post on IMC's love song to botters, though. Rather, I'd like to raise awareness of the social ideology that's being encouraged here.

I run what is often called a "carebear" faction. I try to support people in their goals, I encourage players to help each other, and I try to make it possible for non-botters and International players without access to the cash shop to make progress in the game. In the past I've been in factions that focused on getting the most for their top members. The general members would be required to work at activities that supplied funds for the faction vault, which would then be use to buy items used by top raiders, and then the top raiders would enjoy the rewards of the top raids - and acquire the gears they needed to remain at the top of the hierarchy. One of the reasons I started my faction was to create an environment which fostered upward mobility rather than perpetuating a small elite.

I also keep in mind that factions are an aspect of a *game*. People are playing for fun and entertainment: they didn't sign up to join the army or submit to the discipline of superiors (unless they are sadomasochists - perhaps there are a few of those). But I personally believe people have the most fun when they are free to make their own choices. People in my faction help each other and treat other Granado Espada players as part of a community - I'm proud of that. While the price of freedom reduces our organizational abilities and prevents us from being top raid performers, most of my members get further in my faction than they would have in a more disciplined, but class-ridden, faction.

Sometimes people ask my why I don't try to recruit top raiders or why I don't screen members on the basis of their gears. The main reason is players that are already "imba" will owe the faction nothing. They will have no reason to help lower level members, having received no help themselves, and they will leave the faction as soon as they get a better offer. Thus, while my faction may not attract the top players in Granado Espada, it is good faction to be in: friendly and helpful people, low drama, and surprisingly stable. I would venture to say it's the largest faction in Granado Espada, in terms of active players. When measured by the terms of what I wanted to achieve, my faction is great success.

While I try to add members based on their ethical and social values, from time to time I get a member that doesn't belong here. These are people who are mainly concerned with optimizing the game for themselves. They might have real life commitments that prevent them from meeting the requirements of the top raider factions, and so they join the nice faction that will allow them to pursue real life priorities. But then top raider factions might notice that we're harboring someone who can buy their way to imba, and they make a pitch that the rich players can enjoy all the "challenges" of top raids without the niggling annoyance of having to work their way to the top or help other players. When one of my members who just joined the faction, rather than growing with it, starts looking for the best offer they can get, I don't try to stop them from leaving. They won't get anything out of my faction: they don't even understand it. The real world caters to elites, and pays for the privilege of their leadership, so it's only natural the virtual world should be the same way.

Not.

Okay, I'm an idealist. But to me, the most wonderful thing about a virtual world is I can pursue my ideals and see how they work out in a social environment. My faction isn't perfect, and it can't please all people, but it's mostly what I want. When there are problems, I listen to my members and try to learn from my mistakes. When we achieve things together, the whole faction celebrates - because they know we try to bring everyone along for the ride.

I'm happy with my faction.

Sadly, I've started to notice that some of the top raiding factions who want to poach my strongest members, have been espousing a rather creepy form of elitism. In effect, they attempt to convert "nice" players into self-important snobs. Weaker players are condemned as leechers. Helpful players are "babying" people who need to "grow up". The lack of discipline and efficiency disrespects the valuable time of the in-demand player. Poor players are needy free-loaders. Anyone who complains about unfair advantages gained through cheating, botting, and cash shop spending sprees, is just a whiny complainer. It's the elite players that make raids succeed - shouldn't the rest of the faction be aligned to their interests? (Somehow no one brings up that players join a stronger faction because they want to benefit from players stronger than themselves - who is the weak leeching player then?).

This "recruitment pitch" from a particular faction has started to bug me. Not because they are trying to recruit the players they want - that's completely understandable. What annoys me is that after they recruit (or "convert") their targets, they can only justify their departure by insulting the rest of the faction on their way out. They dis all their former faction-mates as lazy leechers and babies that "need" to grow up. Also, they assert that I, as a faction leader, "need" to make structural changes so I will attain the elitist models of all the other factions and attract more imbas. Factions that cater to the elite are the superior, factions based on freedom and egalitarianism are inferior.

After the Conversion Experience, they forget the whole purpose of my faction was to oppose the elitist model. I don't "need" to cater to elites at all. If they all all leave because they don't get the most the grease, then the rest of the faction will deal with it. One of the virtues of loose organization is flexibility.

In the past I've tried not to be judgmental about people who leave my faction. However, I think the justifications have become so denigrating, it's time to hold a mirror up and show what these putdowns say about the people that make them.

Are other faction members leeches? Maybe you have just forgotten who helped you get ahead. That's ingratitude and a failure of reciprocity.

Are other faction members coddled babies? Maybe they are just lucky to find friends who support their goals. Perhaps they will help others once they reach sufficient progress to carry a raid.

Are other faction members undisciplined slackers? Well, "slacker" is in the faction description. Perhaps they are smart to put their real life before a game. Perhaps they have enough self-respect to make their own decisions. Perhaps they would rather do the right thing for themselves rather than be ordered around and berated by self-proclaimed superiors.

Are other faction members losers? Our faction aspires to the top raid, and we've achieved most of our goals. Better yet, we try to bring the most members along for the achievement. We are WINNERS who sacrifice a few minutes of raid time and some organizational chaos for the sake of enjoying what we're doing.

Are other faction members doing the "wrong" raids for their level? Just because you're "middle class" or even "lower class", that doesn't mean you can't aspire for better. A few high level loots can enable players to make the transition from raid follower to raid leader. If the faction "needs" more imba members, this is the way to get them. These are the players that will have a reason to give something back.

Are other factions always complaining about not being able to buy cash shop items? Some International players have no access to the payment methods for cash shop credits, and some people are just poor. In fact for many people earning a huge income and spending days at a time in Granado Espada are incompatible. Perhaps if you are rich in real life, you have a tendency to blame to the poor for being lazy and shiftless - anything to justify your own privileged position. Do you think you're just better than poor people? Then you're a snob.

In short, your former faction members don't "need" to adjust to your worldview: once you join another another faction, you're out of the picture. Moreover, in my view, it is *you* who are displaying the less desirable - indeed INFERIOR - traits. Anyone who can't justify their decisions without putting down all their former friends is just a disloyal cad. Stop trying to weasel out of it - you're looking for a world that will revolve more around you. Whether that means more efficient play, more imba items, or greater "challenges" - it's just about getting what you want. A world that revolves around you is not "better" for anyone else except you.

What bums me out about this situation is people often learn their "scripts" for real life situations through gaming and play. I'm from a country that has fought hard for freedom and individual dignity, and we continually test the limits and possibilities of those values. While I realize the people that make up an online gaming community come from many different cultures and put emphasis on different values, I will leave them to implement their ways in their own factions while my faction showcases the best things my culture can bring to the table. Then let the denizens of Granado Espada choose the circumstances they want to live in. There is no need to IMPOSE a culture of discipline and elite privilege in-game or in real life: well...unless you want the "peasants" to grab their pitchforks and show the aristocracy just how "natural" their claims to power are.

I'm not going to name the particular faction that has been engaging in a recruiting process that evidently results in Master Race sort of talk and denigration of all that is Other. Indeed, I wonder if this same sort of ideological training ground emerges in all MMOs. As I remarked from the start, a tendency toward Social Darwinism is built into the game mechanics of MMOs, particularly in Free-to-Play ones where you can more or less recreate the Mafia (Rule of Cheaters? Cheat-ocracy?). Players do what they can get away with. There is nothing that can be done about dubious ideologies except point them out.

So I'm making a formal request to all faction leaders of Granado Espada: while you're recruiting people - particularly if you're poaching them from other factions - watch out for the way you frak up their psychology. There might be hard feelings no matter what, but there is no call to denigrate the rest of the faction on the way out. Some people will probably hurl abuse back, and this will only hinder cross-faction relations in the future. Moreover, in writing down some their Master Race screed, your new Recruit just might come to recognize that their former faction-mates aren't the problem - their own bigotry is - and have second thoughts. Or they will just become conflicted about right and wrong, and freeze when their new faction most needs them to do the right thing. Hey, if you convince someone Greed Is Good, they will be just as greedy with you as with me. If you recruit someone, they just need a pretext other than "I'll get better items out of those guys": something like "I'd like to try something different" will do.

I think every culture has a variation of the Golden Rule: "do unto others as you would have them do to you." Conversely, if you spew insults at people, you will eventually find yourself on the receiving end. How would you wish to be treated if you encounter someone who is elite compared to you? Someone who is smarter, richer, or just a bigger bully? Would you just accept this as the natural order of things? Or would you say "to hell with this crap" and do your own thing? Belittling the masses is not only mean - it's ineffective. Faction Leaders can improve the spirit of their own faction, as well as the game community as a whole, simply by encouraging their recruits to leave their previous faction on good terms. Also be aware of how your recruiting methods breed insults. Perhaps what most needs change is the recruiting script. If your faction is really the best for the Recruit, you won't need to inflate yourselves or disparage others.

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In other news, Granado Espada has a new Community Manager named Calleigh. I think the introductory post speaks for itself.