The Responsibility to Game.

I play World of Warcraft.

I've played for awhile--I've really lost track, but probably around four years. It launched in November of 2004, and while I know I didn't jump on that particular wagon right away (I was playing City of Heroes at the time, and still update my account occaisionally), it wasn't long before a friend of mine got me to try the game. Last December, I became the guild leader of the guild I've been a part of for awhile--the Order of the Ebon Circle.

We're on an "RP" server, Earthen Ring--which means that Player vs. Player action isn't the rule, and in-character naming conventions can be enforced (usually if there are complaints about a particular name), and that there is actually in-character role-playing going on somewhere on the server, sometimes. That isn't the rule, but it happens here and there, and is nice to see and to butt into.

So, we have RP events sometimes, but mostly we just talk in character when we happen to be running content together (or with other players who seem RP-friendly). We're small, but we've got help getting into end-game dungeons and content that sometimes requires 10 to 25 people to play through. People log on nightly, and I'm their leader.

So I try to log on nightly. I'm sometimes a little selfish with my time on WoW, and as much as I'd like to make people think I got my guilt-gland removed and the tender age of five, I feel bad that sometimes I can't help.

With the last expansion pack for the game, I started a new character--and after I began playing him, I decided to make him a "tank"--a type of character that can take gigs of damage, and keep the enemies off the rest of the team. I like playing and making tanks in City of Heroes, and I thought this would be a good way to help serve the rest of the guild--play a role that most people don't want to play, literally taking one for the team. That character has been doing that well enough, I think, but I still feel bad--particularly for my girlfriend, who after joining the game and the guild, began playing a healer. And now she's frequently talked into healing for our dungeon runs even though she's way too cool to actually get anything out of those dungeons anymore.

So, now my priority is my healer. He's a calm, temperate sort whose life is about service--an interesting divergence from my normal character personality. I'm learning to heal in dungeons, how to work with different party make-ups, and hopefully soon I'll have something to help the guild at end-game content again.

So I need to log on nightly. People need to see me around. They need me to take one...two for the team.

Good thing I really like the game. And the characters. And the guild.

~j