I start my new job today, so my blogging time might be severely diminished. I know, what are you folks going to do without my giant wall of text? Due to some alliance drama over the past week, on which I have been uncharacteristically silent (by request, mind you), I've held back most of my thoughts on the situation. But now that I've organized them, I want to put it all out there. I started writing a post this morning, and an hour later, it was about ten pages long, so I'm going to break it up into several posts over the next few days.

Are you ready... FOR THE DRAMA LLAMA?

That Guy

You know that guy who runs to trade channel and screams in all caps about someone being a ninja? It's usually related to a raid that was just run, or a dungeon, or quite possibly a crafter's trade. I spend a lot of time reading trade chat; I assure you, it happens about once every two hours. What is amazing is that as much as folks secretly love drama in all their little dirty places, that guy is usually shot down pretty quick with a bucket load of reason and rationality.

The thing is, once you come scream to trade channel about your woes, you immediately become that guy and no one likes that guy and your entire argument about how someone ninjaed your loot or cheated you on a trade or anything of the kind just becomes annoying, and a really great thing for which anonymous internet people can ridicule you.

In fact, it doesn't even matter how completely reasonable your complaint was. More than likely, it's the way you declare someone's ninjaness; how you announced it. If you're calm, rational, and handle it with maturity it will go over much better. After all, it's not a bad argument to say that the reason you are announcing someone's dishonesty publicly is to protect other would-be raiders or crafters.

The word Ninja is like the word Racist. Anyone can use it and cause a controversy, can stir up emotions, can get people rankled - but just because someone says it does not, in fact, make it true. It is actually a very serious accusation, and it should not be thrown around lightly. In addition, it should be TREATED as a serious accusation by officers. Don't blow the accusation off, or it will come back and bite you in the ass. Which is exactly what happened to us.

So therefore, why should you expect to be treated differently when you make such a big ruckus about a supposed "ninja" within the ranks of your guild? If you cannot be reasonable, rational, and mature about it, then let's face it: You are just a drama queen. Nothing anyone does will satisfy you except complete and utter vengeance and kicking the so-called "ninja" out. Even if you're wrong. Even if you misunderstood events.

That Guy in trade chat is usually shot down quickly by people offering rational suggestions for how he or she might have misunderstood the situation. Perhaps it was an accident. Perhaps the rules should have been clarified. If you want to see how reasonable the average anonymous person can be, watch the questions that result from That Guy whining in trade chat.

I have announced bad behavior over trade channel once, when one of the mages in our pug took all the dream shards and abyss crystals from our run, and at the end put down a port to Darnassus instead of Dalaran. I tried to whisper him and figure out if it was all a mistake. I followed him around Dalaran and told him to please trade the DE mats to me, because they should have been rolled for. He completely ignored me. When I finally resorting to announcing his behavior in trade (very hesitantly and maturely I might add), two of the officers from his guild whispered me, gave me abyss crystals, and apologized for his behavior. I later received an in-game mail from him apologizing for it too - he said he was having a very bad night, and acted very rudely.

Yesterday in trade someone told a story about how he brought his mats to a crafter who was advertising over trade. The crafter took his items, made the piece, and held the item hostage until the player forked over 100g. This crafter was still advertising in trade, and now everyone knew that if they wanted their crafted items, expect to pay a required 100g "Tip" - it's not a fee when the crafter doesn't tell you up front. The person who complained to trade channel was ridiculed non-stop - not because he wasn't justified, but because it took forever to get the facts from him, instead of just listening to him QQ.

The moral of these stories is that announcing improper group or trade behavior in trade channel is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be beneficial to the community as a whole - if you handle it properly, and release the information with dignity and maturity.

So if you want to start complete drama within your guild by screeching NINJA in your largest caps, be prepared for the backlash.

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