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Altre's Comic: Lead the Way
Altre, 2004-03-26

Leadership. It comes in many shapes, sizes, and flavors. Sometimes tasty, often bitter. In the universe of Mmorpg's, the guy in charge is often the one who determines whether your group gets mad lewt, or is eaten by a roving band of cannibals. Combat is the primary area where leadership seems most applicable in the game world. Anyone who has played a Mmorpg can probably remember an endless parade of incidents where a poorly organized group wasted a good many hours. Conversely, some raiding parties are carried out so flawlessly that you yearn to get back into a similar situation. What makes the difference between the two?

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Knowledge: A good leader is someone who genuinely knows the situation he is ordering his troops into. Beware the leader who evasively refuses to identify exactly how many Demons from the Ultra Hells that you will be facing, and whether or not they might like pie.

Experience: Not only should your leader know about the enemy, but they should have also fought them at some point. Otherwise, expect to hear the phrase, "Oh, I had no idea those Mad Goat Women of Trall could cast a spell that turned your guts inside out! Haha, sorry dude."

Intelligence: Even with a knowledgable and experienced leader, nothing will save you if he's a raging moron. Bluto the Grand King of the Westenfall leads his troops into battle, couragiously slaughtering hordes of the undead. Only to shout an order to his archer to launch the fire arrows into his own troop formation, thus burning everyone to a nice cajun crisp.

Most political systems in Mmorpgs so far are rather primitive. Poltics, and guilds, to a large degree still do not exercise a lot of influence over the game world. Their biggest application is to their individual members, and PVP. The leaders of these groups still require the three main traits of leadership to successfully carry out their tasks. In many ways, the requirements on the leaders of guilds are even greater than that on a small raiding party. If your Guild Commander is a complete flocktard, then the area outside your doorstep may soon be strewn with the rotting bodies of your entire organization.

Just like in real life, a good leader makes a world of difference. Things go well when you've got a bright dude in charge, and horribly wrong when the Grand Marshall of Idiocy takes the helm. Even with a great leader, it is still possible for disaster to strike. Namely, when an even better leader on the opposing side comes along. Of course, there's also that little thing called luck. The server might suddenly bug out, and you find yourself on the menu of about 20 Blood Drinker Trolls of the Complete Badass Valley. Level: Kick your ass. At that point, hope that your leader has another useful skill. Prayer.



 
 
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