I bring this up because its surfacing in various places in the scheme and design of individual conflict. I think there's very little supporting overarching 'game culture' in framework, so people are making their own roleplay and plots and putting that personality and roleplay above the enjoyment of everyone at the table.What kind of place is COGG to you? Do you play in a world that is a WE or a ME environment?
For most of you the answer will be a ME environment. What’s the difference – and why does it matter?
ME or I centered game spaces and work places are very much the norm. They are characterized by cultures that are high on fear and low on trust. People don’t feel or believe they can speak honestly and contribute ideas and opinions freely. There are organizations that preach teams but many team members operate as lone wolves.
In ME based environments, individuals feel they have to protect a perceived turf, and leaders are perceived as ineffectual or autocratic and self-protection is the dominant feeling. Anxiety, frustration and resentment are the common emotions found in ME centered environments.
WE focused environments bring out the best in each other – at every level. WE-centric leaders are characterized by caring, courage and vision and to use the old expression, walk the talk. Environments that foster WE centered behaviors encourage diversity of thought and expression of feeling. They encourage risk-taking and tolerate “failure.” WE cultures support sharing and discourage territoriality. They are dedicated to fairness and the achievement of the full potential within everyone. Confidence, passion and satisfaction are the common emotions found in a WE centered environment.
I get that there's no human resources of Arad and there's no common goal. Conflict is inevitable as we move towards faction play.
I always stress one facet of COGG, however, is that we are cooperative by design. Woodworkers and metalcrafters, metalcrafters and leatherworkers, skinners and leatherworkers, warriors and scholars. Adventurers and warriors. Everything is designed to be better together.
Of course I'm going to pull it all together into one context.
Recently we had a high level combat area released to the public (with very little fanfare) but a lot of excitement. The staff populated it with coal, too! This sparked a massive conflict centered around, you guessed it, ME Culture. Individual high achieving dominating characters were dominating content without involving others, or using it to drive self-protecting and efficating motives. Communication was terrible, and gathering groups just resulted in mistrust and frustration.
Everyone who has participated has been privy, at one level or another, of highly selfish behavior in the game environment derived from this latest launch. I'm not afraid of the coal being taken away or not having steel. I'm afraid of rampant toxicity and feeding into it.
I just want to say, before we are a game, we are a community. We should be, a community, that agreed to get together on one table to play a game for fun. I urge us to move towards a WE community.
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(This is a joke)
In light of this, I am starting an in game company to boost morale and together-ness in the community regardless of intended faction.
Every weekend I hope that someone will openly invite the community to set aside differences and gather to discuss current events, feelings, to gather around a campfire to sing campfire songs and just remind everyone that we are people first.
Please look for recruitment notices to "Second Chance" to stay in the loop for all your appropriate work culture meetings. Bagels will be brought every Tuesday.
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This post sparked a lot of discussion and I'm really appreciative of everyone who chimed in. I'm sorry for disrespecting your roleplay, and I hope that it came across that I had good intentions. I'm sorry it came across judgy and preachy, I am inherently a judgmental person. I hope that we can remain civil and on good terms.