Generation Greed
I encountered an "looting mechanism" within SWTOR.
Within a group, if you find something, the group members have 3 options :
- pass
- need
- greed
that's it.
There are no other options available.
I found this for the very first time - I honestly didn't know about it - at one Games Com when I played a beta of Neverwinter Online.
I truly didn't know what to make out of it - I didn't understand what it means. I needed some time to understand it, because - as I said before - I hadn't experienced this "looting mechanism" before.
Now, in SWTOR, people complain, because others are trespassing an unwritten rule saying that "Need" should be ONLY ONLY ONLY ONLY for equipping the own character. For nothing else. Even for the situation that it is not possible to play Droids, they say, they'd still put people who do "Need" for dropped Droid Parts onto their ignore list - or even report them (a few people appear to be really hard-headed about that).
Within SWTOR, these rules are nowhere actually written down.
Now, why did I call this entry "Generation Greed" ?
Because I believe that with calling an "looting behaviour" just "Greed" , something went wrong. And nobody noticed it.
Greed, from my personal - and I do hope, for most other people's as well - ethical standards is something bad. Greed is something that can destroy a society - well, yes, practically EVERYTHING; depending on how it is brought into effect.
- Exploiting of natural resources
- Industrial waste intocxicating citizens
- using lesser quality stuff for building houses which collapse with the slightest blow - and keeping the thus higher profits (this is the usual way the "building mafia" uses)
- Mafia in general
- Banksters
- Slavery (why use someone you have to pay for his work when you can use someone [a Slave] for free ?)
There are more than enough examples why Greed is bad. It was originally even called one of the Primal Sins of the Catholic Church.
And now Blizzard - I read it was Blizzard - came, and made Greed to become something actually good.
If you want the loot, then just "Greed" on it. Not "Want", just "Greed".
"Need" is something restrictred for your character only. And even worse, ONLY for your characters stats - "Need" on an item that has "Cunning" (I'm still speaking of SWTOR here, since i don't play WOW and I never did [it] ) is forbidden if your character's main stat is "Strength". For example.
"Forbidden" in the sense of these unwritten rules.
And since "Need" is so much restricted for actual use,
"Greed" is therefore the FAR better choice !
It's because "Greed" makes you get - if you are lucky - virtually EVERYTHING !
with "Greed" there are no restrictions whatsoever !
With "Greed" you can have items for your Companions, too ! Or if you want to "test out" an Strength-based item for your character who needs Cunning - go right away and "Greed" on it !
So, now, "Greed" becomes something
good. It isn't bad anymore. Greed isn't anymore destroying nature, risking people's lives, intoxicating lungs and food, Greed has actually become something very, very good in MMOs.
Gordon Gekko would be very, VERY happy.
The table has been turned.
Greed is something people have learned to rely on. In MMOs.
Let's hope that they are able to distinguish what they learned in MMOs from what's going on in Real Life,
like the almost proverbial "but I'm only hitting pixels !"
But I fear that the
emotional impact is far too basic, far too much low-level for this learning lesson :
The person gets reinforced all of the time with the message of "Greed is good" - reainforced by the daily group questing in MMOs. Greed is - in my opinion - too much of an
primal motivation that it could be easily
unlearned for RL at the switching off of an Computer.