I had server popularity at one point. Back when I played vanilla WoW, I managed to make a ton of friends on the forums simply because I worked in a call center and would always make constructive posts. I never quite expected it to cause me to gain server popularity. After all, I was just a 19-20 year old kid with nothing better to do while trying to explain to someone how to fix their modem/whatever. This netted me a bunch of unexpected fame in the game from both Alliance and Horde faction (as I played on Silver Hand). I was Alliance and made multiple OOC friends on the Horde faction. Back then, everyone just spoke to everyone and it was great. We would set up cross-faction RP channels using AIM (lol) and other chat programs. My character became quite notorious for falling in love with a troll! It was entertaining.
My popularity became something of an issue, though. My RL friends didn't quite understand how or why I became popular and didn't realize that I really didn't care. They grew relatively jealous of it and we all eventually stopped talking. Of course, I'd only known them for a couple of years at the time so it wasn't a big loss, but at the time I couldn't quite understand what I had done and why I had became that.
Faye is entirely correct. It was my presence. It was my desire to RP with anyone that approached me. I was always around because, at the time, I woke up, went to work, came home and played games all day. I had nothing else to do and had little care to do anything else otherwise.Â
It's kind of like a giant snowball, really. Once it starts rolling, it keeps getting bigger and bigger until it becomes overwhelming. I joined an incredibly notorious guild that was known for ganking players and whatnot, but they were good at PvE and I was good at PvE and I wanted to clear content. We did a lot of server firsts together, but I constantly received messages such as "Why are you with them?" or "I didn't think you could ever stoop so low." I thought to myself, "Who cares? I just want to play the game. What does it matter who I PvE with so long as I remain the same and continue to RP and include everyone?"
After a lot of drama I eventually bailed and played on Moon Guard for a while, then more or less quit altogether. I game hopped for a while, tried a few different places to RP on, and eventually landed on TERA where I was lucky enough to meet my current RP partner that I've had for a couple of years now.
When I moved to XIV, much like her, I decided to just keep low key and RP with whoever. I'm not entirely certain if I am considered popular, nor do I really let the fact bother me. I'm just here. If people want to hang/chat/talk at me, all they need to is ask me for my Skype or let me know they want to do something and I'll do it (provided I'm free). I don't really try to hide myself or keep to myself, and I do actively seek RP. Some nights it's perfectly easy to find RP, while others (especially if I'm on an unknown alt) it's ridiculously impossible (as some unlucky individuals I vent to know).
There are also times when the game and its community just bothers me a bit too much and I take a step back, which is when I go a few days without posting. I'm a firm believer in that when the game stops becoming fun/a game and starts becoming stressful/a chore, it's time to stop playing and take a step back. I don't feel like there's any shame in it. It happens. Lately, when I see big storms coming in certain threads, I try to just check out of them unless I am sure I can offer some sort of constructive posts.
I agree that cliques aren't wholly bad. In fact, I welcome them. I enjoy having groups of like-minded individuals to talk to. Even in my current FC, I have my clique of friends that I easily relate to. We often play other games together and joke around and just have fun. There are also members of my FC that I simply can not relate to. Does that mean I hate them? No. When I run events or RP, I try to include them--even if I don't necessarily agree with them or their style of roleplay. I'm here to have fun with as many people as I can, and excluding individuals simply based on a difference of beliefs will not only deter that, but I feel that doing enough of it will cause a ton of problems in the community as a whole.
My popularity became something of an issue, though. My RL friends didn't quite understand how or why I became popular and didn't realize that I really didn't care. They grew relatively jealous of it and we all eventually stopped talking. Of course, I'd only known them for a couple of years at the time so it wasn't a big loss, but at the time I couldn't quite understand what I had done and why I had became that.
Faye is entirely correct. It was my presence. It was my desire to RP with anyone that approached me. I was always around because, at the time, I woke up, went to work, came home and played games all day. I had nothing else to do and had little care to do anything else otherwise.Â
It's kind of like a giant snowball, really. Once it starts rolling, it keeps getting bigger and bigger until it becomes overwhelming. I joined an incredibly notorious guild that was known for ganking players and whatnot, but they were good at PvE and I was good at PvE and I wanted to clear content. We did a lot of server firsts together, but I constantly received messages such as "Why are you with them?" or "I didn't think you could ever stoop so low." I thought to myself, "Who cares? I just want to play the game. What does it matter who I PvE with so long as I remain the same and continue to RP and include everyone?"
After a lot of drama I eventually bailed and played on Moon Guard for a while, then more or less quit altogether. I game hopped for a while, tried a few different places to RP on, and eventually landed on TERA where I was lucky enough to meet my current RP partner that I've had for a couple of years now.
When I moved to XIV, much like her, I decided to just keep low key and RP with whoever. I'm not entirely certain if I am considered popular, nor do I really let the fact bother me. I'm just here. If people want to hang/chat/talk at me, all they need to is ask me for my Skype or let me know they want to do something and I'll do it (provided I'm free). I don't really try to hide myself or keep to myself, and I do actively seek RP. Some nights it's perfectly easy to find RP, while others (especially if I'm on an unknown alt) it's ridiculously impossible (as some unlucky individuals I vent to know).
There are also times when the game and its community just bothers me a bit too much and I take a step back, which is when I go a few days without posting. I'm a firm believer in that when the game stops becoming fun/a game and starts becoming stressful/a chore, it's time to stop playing and take a step back. I don't feel like there's any shame in it. It happens. Lately, when I see big storms coming in certain threads, I try to just check out of them unless I am sure I can offer some sort of constructive posts.
I agree that cliques aren't wholly bad. In fact, I welcome them. I enjoy having groups of like-minded individuals to talk to. Even in my current FC, I have my clique of friends that I easily relate to. We often play other games together and joke around and just have fun. There are also members of my FC that I simply can not relate to. Does that mean I hate them? No. When I run events or RP, I try to include them--even if I don't necessarily agree with them or their style of roleplay. I'm here to have fun with as many people as I can, and excluding individuals simply based on a difference of beliefs will not only deter that, but I feel that doing enough of it will cause a ton of problems in the community as a whole.
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