Best Server Community Sin--Wait, Nevermind

[Phragmar]

I take it all back.

I take it all back, and I regret I didn't have to go to the Rants and Flames forum to find it. I want to tell you about an experience I had today, not so much to complain--well, to complain a little; it can't be avoided--since I really don't have any involvement in it, but rather to get some insight and make the story available to anybody interested.

I've been leveling in SRo lately, with varying amounts of success--the usual routine for a low level non-twink getting started. I met a high-level Ench there (Rilen, you're awesome) who was kind enough to keep me loaded on crack and generally just be a really terrific presence in the zone. He was camping AC--I didn't even realize that AC spawned in SRo too, but hey, you're never too old to learn something--and kept a hill occupied today from 6ish this morning until even now. It's been great having him there.

I gated back at one point to sell and turn in, and then I came back (this is about a half hour ago I suppose) to get a refresh on the crack.

When I got there, Rilen was surrounded by members (Jomama, Freckie, Snump) of Vesica Dei--which I understand is a pretty reputable guild. I gave Rilen a hail and he told me that he had died, and they had jacked his camp and were sitting there trying to take the AC (which still hadn't spawned).

I told them that I'd seen him all day, since I've been on and off, trying to explain to them that it's pretty discourteous to take someone's camp after he dies, and they responded by telling us that the rules said they had the camp--which, assuming the spot is exactly where AC would spawn, is technically correct--and they threatened that they would screenshot the conversation and petition if anybody interfered.


Really? I'll confess that at that point I lost my temper, since I remember grinding a lot of unpleasantness on live, and to his credit, Rilen took it a lot better than I did. He had other people in the zone volunteering to get involved, but he took it in stride, even though I could tell he was very upset.

... Really? I just can't help but be really disheartened to see this behavior, especially from high-level members of a well-respected (or so I thought) guild. It honestly turned my stomach, but I'm trying to keep this from turning into a rant (I know there's a forum for that). I really had gotten the feeling ever since I've been playing on this server that the whole server community had a kind of kinship, and understood that our toleration of each other is what makes the server successful--you can't have an MMORPG without the MMO.

I guess I just expected... courtesy. Humanity? Understanding? Now I could understand if they had walked into an empty zone and someone suddenly showed up and claimed a camp, but when there's a high level corpse there and the other people in the zone say its owner has been there all day, I'd have a hard time denying it. I'm not the nicest guy in the world, but I can't help but feel like jacking somebody's camp because he died and the rules technically permit it (if they do) isn't very different from charging a poor person 0.1% under the usury rate in interest just because he's in a bind. Sure, it's legal, but it's still ... evil.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not so naive as to think people are naturally good and will innately cooperate and get along, but I have to say I'm disappointed. The whole thing has made me reevaluate the server, honestly, and it wasn't even my camp. Classic is a difficult enough experience on its own, but if you add to that a strong likelihood of having to deal with. well, this--or worse, having to be friendly with people who would do this in order to participate in end-game content--in that case, I'm having a hard time justifying to myself that it's worth it.

So I guess that's my question, abstract though it may be. Is it really all the same? All the same camp-stealing, kill-stealing, loot-ninjaing, hate-filled animosity from live? Am I going to make it to level 40 just to have someone single-handedly turn 24-hours of hard work into a waste? It's a different perspective for me, I'll confess, since I think it accounts for a lot of why games like Everquest can't be made anymore, but maybe I was more optimistic over a few good experiences than I should have been.

That's all.


[If a mod decides this is the wrong place for this, feel free to do whatever you feel is best, but I want to say up front that this is where I feel it belongs, on the basis that most of the new player threads go in this forum, and that's a consideration.]

EDIT 2-24-11: It looks to me like this thread has outlived its ability to generate meaningful conversation or rational debate, and instead descended perhaps irretrievably to the point at which the bulk of the responses are flames or insults--yes, by Vesica Dei members, among others. As much as I think the discussion itself is meaningful and timely, I fear moderating this thread in the future would demand more work than someone is willing to dedicate, so I have to recommend at this point that it be closed or moved, possibly both.