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Guilds and the shared player experience
Terra Nova has put up a terribly interesting (and terribly long) piece about guilds, specifically about how players build bonds based on contingency and improvement. I've recently brought two characters to 60 within a few weeks, so I'm currently juggling relationships with two new guilds. In doing so, I've basically gotten a firsthand crash course in what Thomas Malaby is talking about.A few researchers have tried to paint WoW as a "third space"-- a place aside from work or home where people congregate and socially interact. But guild interactions are almost on a plane all their own-- it's still a game, but there are elements of responsibility like a job. And there is camaraderie and even trust-- as you prove to your guild that you're able to tank that boss or keep that tank up, they come to accept you as one of their own, and you vice versa. As you begin to build levels together, your characters all grow from all of your actions, and that's where the pleasure of having and belonging to a good, strong guild comes in. However, says Malaby, endgame raiding (which is where I'm going with my guilds currently) is where the problem comes in. Instead of the advancement being vertical (XP for all), it quickly switches to horizontal (items for some), and the trust gets lost in that. Instead of all working together for experience, a guild can find its members competing with each other for items. A run through SM grants experience (and finished quests for everyone). But you can run MC many times without ever advancing that much, and that, says Malaby, is where endgame raiding doesn't serve guilds the way it should-- leading to the drama we know (and love?). In theory that might be true, but in practice I've found there's more to it. A guild (good guild, anyway) does more than raid-- they can help with instances, help you with quests for your equipment, and help you craft items to advance your character. It's true that turning enchancement over to items at 60 does split up a lot of guilds (one reason why so many guilds are looking forward to leveling to 70 together), but I'd posit that there are other experiences besides character advancement that can keep a guild together. My personal experience on this is split. I really enjoy endgame raiding-- even if I don't pick up a new item, I always seem to have a good time joking around and learning the game. But then again, there are times when I miss that feeling of co-advancement-- running SM and having everybody with you ding once while inside. Short of letting characters infinitely advance (something that Malaby says, rightly, would imbalance the game), there's not much else Blizzard can do about it, however.
How to Hit 60 In Style (Or Not)
Yesterday, my Orc Shaman finally hit "the most fun part of the game," according to one of my guildies-- yep, after long last, he dinged 60.Originally, I had hoped to do something really interesting with it-- hit 60 by discovering Stormwind, or finally downing Hakkar for the first time. But in the end, I happened to be in the middle of a Scholo run, and it rolled right up on me. Not that it wasn't exciting-- later that night I used all my new stats on a raid and picked up a great mace, and I couldn't wait to get into AV afterwards and finally put the beat down for real. And my experience wasn't as bad as Belle's over in the WoW Ladies livejournal group-- she hit 60 while AFK and offline.Fortunately, I have another character three levels from 60, so I'm just a week or so away from another chance to make the ding special (I think for this one I'm going to at least try to get my guild to take me to Onyxia for the occasion). Did you try to hit your 60 somewhere specific, or did you just play through until that yellow sparkle showed up for the last time? Or if you haven't reached the holy grail yet, got any plans?
1 to 60 in 48 Hours?
While browsing around the various WoW sites, I came across this guide from WoW Guru, claiming to show how to level from 1to 60 in only 2 days. It's basically a big list of grinding spots, but even if you pumped yourself full of Hunter S. Thompson-quality speed & grind-ed away for 48 hours straight, surely this can't be possible...can it?The various comments from players on the guide seem to be divided into whether this is feasible or not; some claim to have done it, other's claim it's impossible. All I know is, if it IS possible, then it sure as heck shouldn't be. I know powergamers will always find a way to beat the clock, as it were, but the level cap should not be able to be attained in just 2 days. Or should it? What do you all think?
