If you know me in real life or have met my ingame avatar there is a very good chance that you have classified me as either a) an arrogant S.O.A.B, b) an egotistical maniac, or c) a provocative elitist.
Long ago, I came to terms with the fact that I did a whole lot of "pissing people off". When I was a kid I always got myself into fights, I spent alot of my time taking "timeouts" during class in primary school and when I'm at the local pub or at a club it is not unusual that people threaten to kick my ass.
So now that we have this settled it's time for me to move on to the issue I wanted to discuss with you guys. Are you ready?
YOU ARE ALSO AN EGOTISTICAL MANIAC!
Yea, you heard me. You are, as much as I am, an ego monster lurking around, craving your next meal to feed your ego addiction. The following is a list of things I consider nothing but different ways of feeding that ego of yours in the World of Warcraft:
- Recognition from your peers when you flaunt your fully ilvl 258 kitted warrior of destruction in WoW.
- Showing off the fact that you just completed what you consider a major feat in the game(Achievements in particular but something as boring as reaching level 60 also counts)
- Being the "Go To Guy" in the guild who everyone loves.
Hell, even performing generous acts such as donating gold to a friend in need, boosting him through that low level instance because he asked you nicely is still nothing but an action feeding that ego addiction of yours.
A few days ago I posted a comment to The Greedy Goblin which I think fits nicely to todays theme
You seem to under the impression that
being a social = having low self esteem.
I've been reading you blog for a few months now and lately I've seen more and more of the "Anyone but me constantly seeks validation by being "special in the form of a) having the best gear, b) having the rarest vanity pets/mounts or c) Being super friendly and helpful
I am, to some extent, a social. I also seek validation, but by my peers(although admittedly I do not believe many to be of equal "raiding value" to me).
Whenever I meet a raider who manages to pull off the same dps as me, have the same situational awareness as I do or whatever, I automatically start seeking his or hers validation. I want the best of the best to realize that I am in fact one of them. I don't care how big an idiot he or she is. I just need the person to feed my ego.
The point I am trying to get through is that we're all socials. We're all egomaniacs seeking validation in different ways because - as you probably already know - our only difference lies in "what" soothes our ego.
You're a social, I am a social. Whether you want to admit it or not you love the validation you get from your blog, you enjoy your fanboys looking up to you and I bet you even love the players getting all riled up whenever you post something they disagree with.
You are a social.
So, Gevlon never responded to my post and I do not expect him to. But I do think I have a point with all of this.
Being egoistic simply means that you're human. I am sick and tired of hearing people refer to egoism as the evil in us. It's what makes the world function. If we didn't have people striving on helping others, donating their hard earned money left and right, the poor and "weak" would simply wither and die. And if we did not have people craving the to be acknowledged amongst the very brightest minds, technology would simply reach a screeching halt.
/Lite
Gevlon is actually
SvarSleta) using the word social and 'anti-social' to mean extroverted and introverted people.
From Wikipedia:
Anti-social behaviour (which can be spelled with or without the hyphen) is often seen as public behaviour that lacks judgement and consideration for others and may cause them or their property damage. It may be intentional, as with vandalism or graffiti, or the result of negligence. Persistent anti-social behaviour may be a manifestation of an antisocial personality disorder. The counterpart of anti-social behaviour is pro-social behaviour, namely any behaviour intended to help or benefit another person, group or society...
b) he's somehow saying that being introverted is somehow superior to being an extrovert. This is also wrong, they are just two different types of human personality.
c) he needs some prozac
Again, in your story the world of black and white again.
SvarSletAnd, I also don't completly agree. You say that even if you for example pass some loot to another player (Let's just keep it with examples from WoW) I do not think this boost your own ego. Being social is not another word for 'boosting my ego by helping others'.
We have someone in our guild, who passes all the loot to others. Like. Everything. (Hi Frag). Him being social and passing loot to the 'progression raiders' while he is one himself, does not make him egocentric maniac. No. It makes him mature.
Offcourse, I agree we all have egocentric parts in our soul. If we buy a TV, and not spend the money on poor children in Africa, you are egocentric. Is that bad? I won't touch that one. You might say, we earned the TV. DId we also earn getting born in a 'modern' country? The chance is pretty small actually if you think about the elite you are born in. We are all more intellectual then more people. The chances to be brought up in a rich and intelligent family is pretty damn small. Does this small chance give us the right to spend money on a TV while you could save 100 people with it?
Everyone will say: Yeah, I would save the kids. But they will never, ever do that. Some might. Most won't.
Earth is going to shit, globalwarming, war, hunger, economy going to shit. What do we do? We just keep on consuming like we used to, and do our daily work stuff. We are just a bunch of cows, walking around on the world, doing our things without real inspiriration. This is egocentric, we just do our thing, cause we know it works, and we know we enjoy it (somehow).
So, I hope I made some sort of sense, if not, ill just take my prozac pills and kill of my internet
-Kanro
"We have someone in our guild, who passes all the loot to others. Like. Everything. (Hi Frag). Him being social and passing loot to the 'progression raiders' while he is one himself, does not make him egocentric maniac. No. It makes him mature."
SvarSletRating these actions in terms of how developed/how mature a person is, is simply wrong.
What I can conclude from Frag's actions is that he simply values making his peers happy more than he values item progression on his avatar.