4 40 Last of the Brohicans
4 40 Last of the Brohicans
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| Omarics final post to the Descendants of Draenor guild forums. |
The Softening
Herp Derp was gone. Id had high hopes that theyd change their tune, that at least one of them would show a shred of decency by standing in defiance of their teams decision to split from DoD. Loot is what matters most, more than any sort of human decency one might be compelled to demonstrate during a guild division on moral grounds. After all, why does it matter how we treat each other in a virtual gaming world, if well never end up having to account for our behavior? If this was really about raid size preference, they couldve walked away the day Azeroth cracked open.
The wound closed up. Those who remained could focus undeterred on the road ahead, hoping to get significant work done in 25-Man heroics...preferably, before the release of Firelands. I wasnt pleased with the outcome of the Herp Derp ordeal, but was relieved that it was over.
Of course, it wasnt.
---
Omaric was an old-schooler. He didnt have the tenure of folks like Klocker and Neps and Blain, but coming in at the tail end of The Burning Crusade still granted him the gift of sight, to see WoW as it had once been, in its raw, most unforgiving form. When raiding in WoW was an exclusive experience, where any instance you stepped into demanded discipline, patience, coordination, and skill. When you relied on your guild for progression, and there was no contingency plan for gearing. Omaric never got the opportunity to drag his bloodied knuckles with us through magma-drenched depths, insect infested catacombs, or a floating necropolis whose arachnid trash squashed you like a bug. But he still got a small taste of what it was like. Enough of a taste enough to grant him perspective. Or so I thought.
Omaric had no problem gaining ground in Descendants of Draenor. He planted his foot firmly into Wraths progression and kept it there, dividing his time between the 25-Man and his 10-Man membership in Eh Team. And when Cheeseus curtain call came at the end of Ulduar, Omaric teamed with Bretthew to lead the 25-Man progression team through both Tournament of Champions and Icecrown Citadel. No easy task, especially considering the opinionated crew we brought to the plate. Omaric came away from that experience with a new respect for players like Cheeseus and Blain, Leading players is hard.
Leading people is hard.
When the Eh Team bomb dropped, Omaric was in the middle of blast. Having been a raid leader, I assumed hed take ownership, make a call, shut it down, loop me in...something. Every single player in that group lost credibility with me in an instant. I vowed never to put them in charge of anything ever again. Recent events, however, caused me to reconsider the loot collusion story, as well as the major players involved.
Pawns on the Board
Omaric was one of the deniers, thrown under the proverbial bus during Bheers grand confession. Id known Bheer longer than Omaric, and simply defaulted to trusting him. This was a mistake. Over the last few months, I gained a profoundly new perspective of Bheer. For someone perceptibly distraught at playing a part in sweeping collusion under the rug, Bheer demonstrated little remorse in pilfering the guild vault or indulging in self-righteous statements like demanding I be the one to apologize. He was also quick to finger Crasian as the core conspirator, even though I knew the truth (and got a confession of my own). A moral compass spinning out of control, coupled with an apparent vendetta for Crasian, made little sense -- unless, of course, one might consider an alternative motive: revenge.When I met Bheer face-to-face, witnessing his girth with my own eyes, my suspicions were confirmed. People were cruel. I didnt have to ask if hed been bullied as a kid. Its common sense. What isnt necessarily common sense is how the effects of bullying manifest in you as an adult. A lack of trust in others. The inability to open up about problems, out of fear of ridicule. Doing whatever you can to ensure you are included in the group, desperately avoiding being cast out, being alone. No wonder Bheer approved of my "guaranteed raid spots for Elites" rule in Wrath, then masked his disgust for the change in that same rule under the pretenses of "loyalty". No wonder he went with Drecca in Herp Derp, where his spot was guaranteed and safe. To Bheer, I was just another bully, just another person in his life telling him his place in DoD was in jeopardy. His spot was never in jeopardy, but the horse blinders of his bullying years narrowed his focus to the most important issue: removing threats to exclusion.
The dysfunctional relationship between Crasian and Bheer made more sense every moment I reconsidered the story. I knew they didnt get along. But Crasian was popular, well-liked, and one of the best-geared, best-played DKs on Deathwing-US during Wrath. And, being roommates with Bretthew strengthened that popularity within DoDs circles. What kinds of conversations did Crasian and Bretthew have about Bheer behind his back? A kind of paranoid insecurity must have set in. As Crasians popularity increased, Bheers place in Eh Team grew more tenuous. The constant clash for melee dps loot added to the strain. Then, Crasian threatened to re-assemble Eh Team, sans Bheer. This devastated him, causing Bheer to grow so averse to the thought of Crasian, he couldnt even bring himself to read a private message from the guy.
Hed be willing to be do anything to be rid of Crasian. Perhaps, even, to embellish the collusion story and pin it on Crasian.
When viewed through this new lens, the yarn of Eh Teams collusion seemed far less hyperbolic. Did it happen? Yes. Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it borne of malice intent on wreaking havoc within the very fabric of the guild, the goal of which was to pull DoD apart, strand by strand?
Probably not.
But blowing it out of proportion seemed the most logical way to inspire me into kicking Crasian out the door. In this new light, Bheer seemed no better than Crasian. In the end, they were both loot whores. The difference was that Bheer was smart enough to get to me first, "helping" me remove the necessary pawns from the board.
Until I found out about his alt.
By day, Omaric played the elemental shaman Zuzax, but by night, he was moonlighting as a death knight named Raradina, helping a group of friends with various 10-Man raid achievements, acting as a filler when needed.
You get one guess as to which 10-Man guild he just happened to choose to help.
It wasnt enough that Omaric was helping them on the side, he had to physically move his alt from DoD into their guild in order to ensure they had enough players present to qualify for guild raiding achievements. Ill admit I wasnt pleased with his choices, but just as it was with Riskers, I had no business telling him who he could or couldnt play with.
I could, however, remind him of the dual-guilding policy, in place well before he ever set foot in DoD.
"Other players are dual-guilding, so this is really kind of a double-standard, Hanzo," Omarics voice was thick with disgust.
"If they are, I dont know about it. As soon as I do, I remove them."
"Well, you know about Insaynos two characters in Quit Your Job. Why arent you kicking him out?"
"Were not in competition with them. Were not a PvP guild. This is something Ive stated since the very beginning. The hard feelings come about when people put alts in guilds that compete with us. Lots of people have come to me over the years to ask if they can have an alt in a friends guild. Im not heartless. I take these situations on a case-by-case basis. But the general rule of thumb is, you dont do it if they are the competition."
"So Im being punished for choosing to play with my friends..."
Theyre not our friends. Theyre the competition. Get some ethics.
Before I could respond, Ventrilo exploded with the sound of Blains voice.
"Just MAKE a DECISION. SERIOUSLY. Ok? This has gone on long enough. We were finally able to put Herp Derp behind us, and now you are just DRAGGING IT BACK IN."
Wide eyed, I shut my mouth, just to see how far hed take it. God knows how long this had been pent up.
"I dont really care what you want to do, Omaric. Play with Drecca, stay in DoD...do whatever you want. But MAKE a DECISION. Sick and tired of all these distractions. It accomplishes NOTHING. If you dont like Hanzos rules, leave. But dont waste our time with this."
The rest of the officers and I sat quiet a moment while the dust settled from Blains mini-explosion.
"Alright, well. I guess that settles that. Thanks...for everything...I guess!" Omaric tried to stay chipper after the Blainslamming.
Pfft. He got off easy.
Omaric didnt quit the guild right away. He lingered in the roster well into the evening, struggling with the decision. Perhaps he was trying to convince ex-Eh Team members to go with him; perhaps they were trying to convince him to change his mind. Whatever the case, my pitch was done: Stay with DoD and be a part of one of the last few guilds on the server focusing on 25-Man content, or take the easy way out, with a handful of players that epitomized everything wrong with the gamer stereotype.
He was gone by the morning, marking the end of the third exodus of DoD.
The dysfunctional relationship between Crasian and Bheer made more sense every moment I reconsidered the story. I knew they didnt get along. But Crasian was popular, well-liked, and one of the best-geared, best-played DKs on Deathwing-US during Wrath. And, being roommates with Bretthew strengthened that popularity within DoDs circles. What kinds of conversations did Crasian and Bretthew have about Bheer behind his back? A kind of paranoid insecurity must have set in. As Crasians popularity increased, Bheers place in Eh Team grew more tenuous. The constant clash for melee dps loot added to the strain. Then, Crasian threatened to re-assemble Eh Team, sans Bheer. This devastated him, causing Bheer to grow so averse to the thought of Crasian, he couldnt even bring himself to read a private message from the guy.
Hed be willing to be do anything to be rid of Crasian. Perhaps, even, to embellish the collusion story and pin it on Crasian.
When viewed through this new lens, the yarn of Eh Teams collusion seemed far less hyperbolic. Did it happen? Yes. Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it borne of malice intent on wreaking havoc within the very fabric of the guild, the goal of which was to pull DoD apart, strand by strand?
Probably not.
But blowing it out of proportion seemed the most logical way to inspire me into kicking Crasian out the door. In this new light, Bheer seemed no better than Crasian. In the end, they were both loot whores. The difference was that Bheer was smart enough to get to me first, "helping" me remove the necessary pawns from the board.
Helping Friends
Eh Teams habits were nothing more than typical gamer malfeasance. But of course, all of this perception came long after Omarics promotion to ranged DPS officer. That happened at the start of Cataclysm, while the blood of Eh Teams betrayal was still fresh on Omarics hands. I had no choice. Better to have a proven raid leader in charge of the masses, than to have an amateur lead them over a cliff. Omarics position was structured so he couldnt take advantage of the guild, even if he wanted to. Now, after seeing Bheers story from a different angle, I had renewed faith that Omaric wanted the best for DoD.Until I found out about his alt.
By day, Omaric played the elemental shaman Zuzax, but by night, he was moonlighting as a death knight named Raradina, helping a group of friends with various 10-Man raid achievements, acting as a filler when needed.
You get one guess as to which 10-Man guild he just happened to choose to help.
It wasnt enough that Omaric was helping them on the side, he had to physically move his alt from DoD into their guild in order to ensure they had enough players present to qualify for guild raiding achievements. Ill admit I wasnt pleased with his choices, but just as it was with Riskers, I had no business telling him who he could or couldnt play with.
I could, however, remind him of the dual-guilding policy, in place well before he ever set foot in DoD.
"Other players are dual-guilding, so this is really kind of a double-standard, Hanzo," Omarics voice was thick with disgust.
"If they are, I dont know about it. As soon as I do, I remove them."
"Well, you know about Insaynos two characters in Quit Your Job. Why arent you kicking him out?"
"Were not in competition with them. Were not a PvP guild. This is something Ive stated since the very beginning. The hard feelings come about when people put alts in guilds that compete with us. Lots of people have come to me over the years to ask if they can have an alt in a friends guild. Im not heartless. I take these situations on a case-by-case basis. But the general rule of thumb is, you dont do it if they are the competition."
"So Im being punished for choosing to play with my friends..."
Theyre not our friends. Theyre the competition. Get some ethics.
Before I could respond, Ventrilo exploded with the sound of Blains voice.
"Just MAKE a DECISION. SERIOUSLY. Ok? This has gone on long enough. We were finally able to put Herp Derp behind us, and now you are just DRAGGING IT BACK IN."
Wide eyed, I shut my mouth, just to see how far hed take it. God knows how long this had been pent up.
"I dont really care what you want to do, Omaric. Play with Drecca, stay in DoD...do whatever you want. But MAKE a DECISION. Sick and tired of all these distractions. It accomplishes NOTHING. If you dont like Hanzos rules, leave. But dont waste our time with this."
The rest of the officers and I sat quiet a moment while the dust settled from Blains mini-explosion.
"Alright, well. I guess that settles that. Thanks...for everything...I guess!" Omaric tried to stay chipper after the Blainslamming.
Pfft. He got off easy.
---
Omaric didnt quit the guild right away. He lingered in the roster well into the evening, struggling with the decision. Perhaps he was trying to convince ex-Eh Team members to go with him; perhaps they were trying to convince him to change his mind. Whatever the case, my pitch was done: Stay with DoD and be a part of one of the last few guilds on the server focusing on 25-Man content, or take the easy way out, with a handful of players that epitomized everything wrong with the gamer stereotype.
He was gone by the morning, marking the end of the third exodus of DoD.
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