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I guess my question is, does anyone here have any insight? Online games are relatively new, so I'm guessing there isn't any literature out there about online guild personality cults.
I've experienced destructive groups online, posted about this briefly on [
board.culteducation.com] in the past. The fact that they exist is a good reminder to focus on the behavior of a group and to not be side tracked by what their theme is, in other words, a seemingly innocent group focussed on online gaming can indeed be destructive too. I suppose we human beings have the ability to take most anything, any theme, any organizing focus, and create a cult group around it.
Because the net is a relatively new method of communication, might be easy for many of us to forget our usual boundaries and street smarts when online, important to keep our wits about us and use good sense. Critical thinking skills, assertiveness, and a good b.s. detector are vital tools while engaging in cyber space.
I was not part of a guild, but I was part of the equivalent in the gaming I did for several years, in my case it was gaming based on the World of Darkness series online in a chat room. A personality cult formed around the founder of the room.
One method I used to finally successfully tug myself out of the involvement was to visualize what was happening online as placed in my own home. Would I tolerate bullying, abuse, manipulation, and other such behaviors in my own home amongst fellow gamers sitting round a table? No way. So why was I allowing it through the medium of the web?
I also found it helpful to read up on how excessive online time affects us, how the anonymous nature and other aspects can cause many of us to trance out. While in this trance we are perhaps more susceptible to destructive input, we are vulnerable, we do not have good strong boundaries. Kimberly Young is one of several researchers and authors working in this field. Example of one her papers that includes some gaming examples is at:
[
www.netaddiction.com]
I've read about various hate groups that actively recruit through the net, I've also read about a destructive group that formed around a live action role playing game. I haven't yet read anything commenting on destructive gaming groups online. I've had some individual conversations online with folks about this, and if I had the energy I'd look into writing a book myself on this theme. Abusive bullying relationships certainly exist in online gaming communities, and in some cases this has expanded out to affect more areas of the participants' lives, phone contact, in person, their entire lives affected.
The online world still has an element of the wild, wild west about it. Important to keep our wits about us.