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Online games and MMORPGs are here to stay. That’s a fact.
Like any world, be it virtual or real, there’s politics. And in an online game, this is specially true.
Here in this country, politics is governed by the rich and powerful. These kinds of “trapos” or traditional politicians rule with guns, goons and gold. They have so many promises, they kiss babies, visit the wakes of the recently dead and even contribute to drinking sprees in the “kantos” (sidestreets) especially during or near an election period.
How come they’re “everywhere” whenever they need something from the masses?
Is the same true in an online game? Click below to find out…
WHERE IT BEGINS
The quest for power is so great in an MMORPG that people often employ other dudes to “pilot” their account. Some even make a decent living out of this. For some games, especially World of Warcraft, there are even both legal and illegal outfits where you can “Power Level” your character or farm for a fee. In some regions, especially cliques in Internet Cafes, some groups often ply the “internet strips” to offer services similar to the above.
Where am I getting at? The point is that “power”, more often perceived to be the highest, the strongest, the richest or the most famous, is a goal commonly shared by many so that they can get followers to “do their bidding”. Much like a “Galactus-syndrome”, to me.
While some with good or benevolent hearts try to achieve power to become servants and achieve even greater goals like forming the best guild while trying to empower others to achieve their own individual goals. But sadly, some just want to either rule the race, the faction, the server or the entire game.
These perks come with being on top or number one – especially in either online or offline rankings. The system of ranking, levels and general “digit-crunching” is essentially a tool so that the gamer always feels that there’s still light at the end of the rainbow. The better games are designed with this in mind, rather than giving content in the low to mid-levels, “Life begins at 70″ is a common phrase you will hear amongst WoW players. That’s the beauty of that game – which, hopefully, is mimicked by Perfect World.
At any rate, wherever you are in the MMORPG “rat race” the lure of power and politics is always there.
FACTIONS
It’s always normal for factions and enemies to develop in an online game. In a game such as RF Online - which is designed as a 3RvR (Three Race vs. Race) model, it is perfectly okay to see the Accretia always hate the Cora. What’s sad is when those within the same race squable and fight for ultimate control of their race. Loyalties fall and their strategies suffer as a result. Tsk tsk tsk.
The poitics start within guilds. There will be vocal leaders or even those who “pretend” to be leaders. Like what I always say “respect is earned, not bought”. Some feel that if I invest a lot in an individual or a group, I’ve “earned” their trust and loyalty. Not!
This very notion creates rifts within the organization. People will rally behind individuals and sooner than you think, the entire guild will disband or the group will leave and form their own. I’ve seen this happen A LOT in the 4 years I’ve been in the industry. All would’ve been solved if the parties involved just talked… sigh…
The next time this happens to your guild, ask yourself “what was the root cause of the dispute?”, “was it a petty thing?”. If it’s something that you think is trivial, speak up and let one of the leaders know. In the end, you either have to take a side or be in the middle of a war between hot-headed avatars!
When politics threaten the end of a guild, talk to the other members. Ask them if disbanding the guild or leaving en masse is the wise thing to do. This may just weaken your group and bring your competitors to the forefront of MMORPG-World-Domination.
We don’t want the resident “Galactus” bullying us, do we? Take note that even monkeys can play video games… rawrr!
Strength and Honor!
GM T
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on employing pilots/ bots/ buying power levellers:
mostly it is because the game itself is flawed. the key to achievement success (in ragnarok at least) is to invest time in grinding. the equation is easy: he who spends the most time playing wins. the adik is the strongest. so some people try to overcome human limits by employing pilots/bots hack. the koreans seem to LOVE the mind numbing grind. it’s just stupid.
now if the game itself implores people to succeed not because of time spent on the game, but on skill or creativity or social charisma or whatever… you have already eliminated the third party problem and the problem people killing themselves, abandoning RL just to advance or the worst thing that could happen to your game: a zombie town, where everyone is a bot and social interaction is at the minimum.
WoW tries to eliminate the grind factor in the expansion, gold is so easy to earn, levelling to 70 is peanuts (if you compare to korean mmorpg), pvp gear can now be gained at the players own pace, raids are now 25man at most.
the very essence of an mmorpg is it’s open-endedness (which can be the very flaw in itself)– there is no actual goal, you make it yourself.
Thanks for the comment dude. I really can’t figure why the Koreans love the grind. Sigh.
Anyways, while MMORPGS per se do not have goals, individuals and groups playing it do. These goals differ such as “I want to be rich” or “I want to be the character with the best gear”
Agree?
Peace!
GM T
yes thats what i said in the last part. people make their own goals.
like an entrepreneur, people want to succeed using the easiest means possible and the least time required. if the goal is power or being first in the server, botters and pilots are the best way to achieve this. other than grinding it yourself.
but to some people (like me) just hanging around with friends, trying to work together to kill a certain monster or just win in pvp is entertaining enough. if i spend good time havin fun, i’ve already succeeded with my goal.
hey GM T!
i agree with politics within the game… that’s why with my clan in PerfectWorld, we try as much as possible to do away with officers so that power-hungry people have no need to achieve any such status… sure, we have captains, majors, and marshalls, but only to be able have the power to invite other players into the clan and nothing more…
sure, we do the usual “watch the ALL CAPs, please” stuff, but that’s basically it… sure, we sometimes get to kick players out of the clan for being rude to other clanmates and other avatars in-game, but again, that’s about it… we really have no power…
but you say: isn’t that power already?? if you look at it, yes, it IS already power by itself, but powers that are only in use within the clan to make the clan cleaner [and meaner]… the point is, we want to do away with istambays and squatters which are very prevalent in other MMORPGs [most especially in pRO]…
but outside of the clan?? we are a very quiet and low profile clan there is… though one of the biggest in Dragon server, we still enjoy a level of anonymity other high-profile players and clan do not…
and what’s wrong with being a high-profile clan or player? you ask…
well, for one thing, we get to enjoy playing without the usual clamor for “kuya, enge po ng yuan” or the ever present “kuya, pa elp po” requests… and we prefer to maintain it that way…
anyway, i know this is just supposed to be a comment and not a full post, but hey! i can’t help it, ok?? hehehehe…
and to levin3d: dude, i agree with you… i, too, get satisfaction from seing my friends level up, or we get to kill a particularly annoying monster, or simply hanging out IRL…
Ciao!!
[...] T’s The Politics of MMORPGs talks about politics, not in real life, but when people play online games… he talks about [...]
Maintaining good relationships outside the game is key, Chris. That’s why meetings and EBs are important. Keep up the good work and more power to your clan.
GM T
One weird aspect of this is that certain players bad-mouth other guilds simply because it is not their guild. Too much competitive spirit if you ask me.
As for a guild imploding because of internal politics, I’ve never experienced that. Every guild I’ve joined usually die because of lack of interest, leaving me as sole surviving member and I’m not even the master of the guild. @_@
I don’t know if Galactus is the correct villain to use as personification of the power-hungry. AFAIK, Galactus is more like a sentient force of nature, like a living black hole, than a malevolent being bent on ruling everybody.
If power-hungry is what you want described, Sauron is a better personification. Remember the inscription on the One Ring: “One ring to rule them”. And the true master of the One Ring is Sauron.
In the context of the Marvel Universe, the best villain to personify that nature would be Dr. Doom.
Yeah… I guess you’re right fatman. You know your Marvel more than I do…
Let’s go to Latveria NOW!!!
Peace!
sigh. i agree that power is one thing that a person must work hard for. i personally believe that power or authority that is achieved through means other than the blood, sweat and tears, can easily be overlooked. since it is such an “easy” task to generate such power, people tend to abuse it, and would even have lots of followers because of the “resources” that they have. ironically, those who really deserved power do not have power, and if they have, many people would not recognize them as people in authority. sadly, people often tend to neglect the duties that come with their position in society..
Amen.
And MMORPGs are a mirror of real life.
fortunately, most of the filipinos havent discovered the beautiful game that is eve online.
man, in the game, corporations are everything and its extremely bloodthirsty system where money is everything. money for skills and equipment cause there are no levels and everyone is equal.
most people in the game strive for influence rather than power. coz power in the game can be bought.
I also hope such MMORPG would exist. More skills, less grind. But even if this MMORPG exists, I disagree that it would be third-party-program-free. There would always be cheaters in every MMORPG. Why? GREED.
I think there are only a very handful istambay and squatter players. As a matter of fact, some pRO players quit because of the costly top-ups. However there are A LOT of istambay-minded and squatter-minded players in pRO… about half of the population in my opinion.
@ valfogg: You just scared me away from Eve Online.
About what Henie said: Second Life might be one, although I’m not sure I like the commercialness of the game. Another MMORPG that fit that description might be A Tale in the Desert. Someday I might migrate to either of them or someplace where the society isn’t constantly going into upheaval every few months like pRO.
great and constructive discussion you have here. Maybe some of you might want to “guest post” here on my site, eh?
Just let me know.
Thanks,
GM T