At the risk of going off on yet another tangent and stealing Meara's thunder ...
Quote:
This game is not just about yourself, but to help other people as well.
While I most certainly agree that this "game" has more to do with friendship and community interaction than simply attaining some end result (I get asked by non-gamers all the time how long it will take me to "beat" it, lol), I honestly have to admire that Kramer did something for himself. No, that doesn't mean I condone being an *** and stepping on everyone else around you in the process, but it is, after all, your money, your time, and your life. Everyone deserves to make sure that they are actually enjoying the game, even the leaders.
I consider myself a leader of Fable Unity. For the longest time, I thought that meant I had to do things for others and devote all of my time and resources toward helping the members. I also thought it meant I had to solve their interpersonal conflicts, too. And I further felt at times that if I didn't do certain things, no one else would. I felt guilty about thinking about doing things for myself, even though I most certainly did help myself and worked to acheive many of my goals. I got so wrapped up in being a "leader" that I forgot how to be a "player".
You know what happened? I got burned out... fast. And I have talked to several other leaders in various others LSes that also took so much upon themselves, that when they could no longer do it, their LS fell apart. In essence, they subjected the LS and the members to only being successful so long as the leaders were there to do it all.
I had already taken time away from FFXI before (and had even quit once and given most of my stuff away), but this time I seriously questioned staying in the LS, and why I stayed in the game at all. When other events coalesced with my already existing inner turmoil... I quit the LS. When I did so, many knew I had been having some issues, but most were shocked at the rather sudden announcement. Like Kramer, I, too, felt that I had to be swift and decisive before people talked me out of it.
Over the next month, my playtime significantly diminished, but I kept in constant contact with the other sackholders, particularly Sophus. Through my communications, what I began to realize is that my perception of leadership was skewed. It wasn't up to me to solve everyone else's problems and do everything for them, but yet I was wallowing and shrouding myself in it so much that my discontent had very little to do with them ... and EVERYTHING to do with me.
My point is simply that a lot of players have similar conceptions of leaders as the people to solve problems and to do things for the members so they are happy. In their mind, leaders plan events and get them stuff, and leaders also kick anyone the members have problems with. Leaders are supposed to be self-sacrificing and members are supposed to reap the rewards of the leader's work. Hearing some of the criticism of Kramer, it sounds like some people are mad at him because he stopped doing everything for others. I'm not saying that you shouldn't question the method in which he decided to "help himself", but if you're simply mad because Kramer didn't get you such and such item from sky or Dynamis and walked out with his own gil from Dynamis runs... shame on you.
I challenge the community to think of leadership in a different way. I believe leaders are the EXAMPLE of what members can do when they work with others to achieve their own goals. Yes, in order to do that, you need to be helpful and work as part of the LS and the larger community if you expect to be able to meet your own dreams, but a leader doesn't have to put their own goals aside simply to do things for others. A leader shows members how they, too, can work on their goals and resolve their own inter-personal conflicts, but they don't have to do it FOR them. Like the old addage goes "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach him how to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime". The latter is the only way to be a leader and still not forget why you pay for and play the game in the first place.