u235

I play WoW. Recently a snippet of smack talk caught my attention. Some schmuck was complaining in global chat about a lack of attention paid to Rogues from Healers. The immediate slap-down came back as "Rogues bandage in Endgame, L2P". This was over a week ago, and I'm still thinking about how this applies to my life. Stangely enough it seems to have a wider impact than just a game, so just how does this become a global metaphor?

Work has been sucking hard lately. In fact the whole "team in a dungeon" analogy works fine. I'm part of a team, supposedly working together to conquer a significant project and reap rewards (bi-weekly paycheck). For the most part, after a series of near team-wipes (customer repeatedly threatening to cancel contract) the interteam acrimony has reached the level where team members are pulling targets at random and lunging at any positive feedback like ninja's over epic loot. To get my job done I've had to go rogue, jumping into the fray, putting out the damage, killing the issues that arise but getting little if any support from my team. For safety I try and skulk around, present but barely above notice. I sense traps (usually being set by my peers) and disarm them by proactive effort. Yes, life is an endgame, and while I'd like the support of the people I help, there's no rule that says I deserve any. Instead after a job well done, I'm the only one congradulating my effort and bandaging with a hearty glass of red wine at the end of the day.

The moral, I suppose, is that if you're going to break with the team to expedite matters then it's all on your own head. Getting things done fast solves the problem, but garners attention and resentment of peers who prefer to just slack along. It also means that if you want their support or acknowledgement you're better off waiting for a blue moon. Bitching about lack of respect or acknowledgement isn't just pointless, it demonstrates that you don't have an adequate grasp of reality.

Rogues bandage in endgame n00b. This is life, learn to play.