So... second day 'on the job.' In that game I mentioned in my last post, in my guild, I got additional responsibilities to be both essentially the 'voice' of the guild, as well as a moderator. So, on top of being 'Master of Trades and Industries,' I'm also 'Spokesperson,' and 'Mediator.' A lot of hats to put on! And to think, not too long ago, I was simply a kid playing a game excessively everyday on my own. Well, I've been practicing and practicing at my three new jobs that - might I be clear - do actually involve other, real people on those other ends of the computer!
I've been constantly communicating with the guild leader, making sure we're both clear and understanding of my jobs, make sure that we're on the same page when it comes to guild rules, guild expectations, and so on, and I've been putting a lot of time and effort into this virtual job. I feel it's kind of like practice for an office job! E-mailing/messaging the boss, coming up with spreadsheets and tables, analysing data, dealing with patrons, and the whole nine yards.
Some of my standard jobs as Master of Trades and Industries including tracking market trends, tracking goods productions in each town, maintaining a steady market flow, notifying guild members about all of the above, and tracking the activity of guild members on an individual level. My other side jobs as Spokesperson and Mediator include alerting everyone to things that concern the whole guild, being the voice of the guild leader, explaining rules and expectations, making sure players aren't out of line in their posts in the guild forum, and making new posts in the guild forum, largely pertaining to my first job as Master of Trades.
Well, all of this was going smoothly (albeit a lot of work for one person!), but that was mostly because I have probably one of the laziest, uncommunicative guilds in the gaming universe. I essentially haven't had to interact with other players... since most of my posts and messages have been rather one-sided. Out of the 21 members, I'd almost think only three or four of us actually exist! Well, I just posted a long message talking about how if guild members don't start trying to follow guild rules and expectations, that there could be impending consequences. The guild leader and I have used this sort of language quite a lot without any sort of repercussions... ANY... at all. Not a peep.
Well, suddenly, I got a response! Hooray! right? Nope. The person who responded essentially said that they played the game to get away from rules and expectations and that they didn't appreciate the 'threatening language' I used in the message, speaking of consequences and such. Well... my heart just about sank. My thoughts were going at a million miles per hour and I felt like I was going to faint. "Did I just screw things up?! The guild leader's away right now, but what will he think when he get's back?! Did I really upset this person?! What are the other members going to think?!" And my thoughts pretty much went on like that for what felt like an hour, but was probably less than half that.
I then proceeded to write a reply to this guild member, explaining that I didn't mean for the language to be threatening, that I was trying to go with the theme of the game (empires, wars, iron-fisted rulers, and so on), and that the guild leader is a role-player, and that I was just following his lead. I submitted it, completely tearing myself apart while wondering how they would react to that post, and killing myself in anticipation. Well, luckily they responded before my heart exploded saying that they hoped it was just a bit of role-play and that everything was fine! Whew! What a relief...
So, I was panicking for nothing. Just a brief rush of irrational thoughts toward a situation that ended well and rationally! If I keep this up, I might have to get into customer support!
Err... nevermind. That would be an awful idea.
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