Join or Die

Don't Ever Take Sides Against the Corp Again

But ask a question in SAK chat and you usually get an answer. In fact, you usually get three or four answers, and though one or two of them may be different, they'll all be technically correct (most of the time). Ask about mining and you're likely to end up in a mining op somewhere, digging veldspar into jet cans with your buddies without having to worry about ore thieves coming along while you go get your hauler out of the station. Unless you're actively begging for money, people will often donate ISK to your account when you aren't looking. Lament the loss of your kestrel to the former secret agent you were supposed to "pwn" and it's not unlikely that a more experienced player will offer to come to your assistance (if you're not too many jumps away). I once sought help on a mission and then promptly lost my cruiser soon after we warped into deadspace. The guy I was flying with made me a present of a new one, with a better setup than the one I'd had before.

What do the pod pilots of Eve have to do with the Italians and Jews who came to America in the nineteenth century? With the Liberians and Ukrainians and Chinese who came in the twentieth? With whoever else may care to show up in the twenty-first?

Many of us got our space legs in Eve the same way those transplants to the United States got their foothold in America: with the help of an organization. An organization that serves the same purpose as the immigrants' associations, ethnic societies and even mafia families that still help those who are fresh off the boat survive their first weeks, months and years in America today.

Those immigrants' associations served - and continue to serve - an important function, one that's more than the social havens as we usually think of them. They're not just places to hang out and swap stories about the old country, places where you don't have to be bothered with trying to make your newbie English understood. Rather they're a kind of economic catalyst, places where a bunch of people who wouldn't have the clout to make it on their own can pool their resources, knowledge and efforts and survive together, teaching each other, protecting each other and contributing to the good of the group by making sure each individual is getting by.

Just like SAK.

In fact, whether it's a corp, a guild, a clan or whatever they call it in your favorite MMOG, player organizations that are broader than a quest group or an Eve gang serve the same economic function, leveraging the financial clout that accrues to a group but can't be harnessed by an individual just starting out in a coldly capitalist world.

I'm not just talking about the fact that even your uber-tanking level 60 World of Warcraft warrior would find it impossible to kill Onyxia without a lot of help. I'm talking about economic productivity here, and the fact that no matter what your level, most people can increase their earning power by working with others.

Let's look at it in terms of leveling for the moment. Nick Yee and the crew at the Palo Alto Research Center's PlayOn site have been collecting some great data in this and related areas lately. What they've found (not so surprisingly) is that guilded players ding faster. The difference isn't insignificant, either. A guilded player in World of Warcraft, on average, takes five fewer hours to reach level 20, six fewer hours to go from 20 to 40 and 24 fewer hours to go from 40 to 60, for a total savings of almost 36 hours of playtime in getting to uber. That's 36 more hours to stand around in Ironforge complaining about how hard it is to get a raid group together these days. If only there were a cigar vendor wandering around the Great Forge (who needs pie?), the picture would be complete.