No, Ponder’s analogy is correct. The WoW game does not stop, if I understand correctly. They immersed themselves into an ongoing game.
His analogy implies that people just stumbled across the memorial service, and decided “I’m not going to respect this, I’m here to kill very horde I see” - that’s equivealnt to a paintballer coming across the memorial service and hitting people with paintballs.
What happened here is that the clan got the notion of this service, and rather than simply playing as they normally would, they went out of their way to get on and organized at the exact time this service was being held, and sought out the exact place it was going to take place. My analogy is far more apt when viewed from the perspectives of the memorial crashers.
Yeah, but it’s even closer to this:
An enemy with whom you are at constant war announces they’ll be holding a ceremony at such-and-such time and place, within easy reach of your infantry. Do you attack? Within the context of the game, the attack was perfectly understandable. Isn’t the point of playing WoW to immerse oneself in its pseudo-medieval fantasy world in which combat is a daily part of life?
If anything, the attacked players should (and I expect they did) engage in even more savage retribution. Can you burn villages and massacre children in WoW? Salt the earth of your enemy’s farms? Publicly draw and quarter captured enemies and use their entrails to make balloon animals? If not, why not?
That’s a good addition.
Let’s add up the pieces that lead to this, though.
- I’m an avid paintballer. I have a busy workweek, and going to play paintball on the weekends is my release. I pay a flat fee to the owners of the field to be able to do this.
- A member of a rival paint ball group dies.
- Members of this rival group place said ad, but make no arrangements with the owners of the field for any special considerations or pay any fees for exclusive use of the field.
- As far as the owners know, this is just an ordinary weekend, and they even continue to accept fees from people for the right to plaly paintball on their field.
Personally, would I drop in on their funeral? No. But I’d damned sure be pissed, and it wouldn’t bother me in the least if others rained on their parade. I mean, come on, how stupid do you have to be to hold a memorial service in a paintball field in the middle of a busy weekend while scores of other people have arrived and paid their fee for a fun weekend paintball outing?
Isn’t engaging in mass attacks on one’s enemy something “normally” done, and if you have information about when and where the enemy is going to be, all the better?
I don’t buy this. It isn’t a real war, it’s a game. However, it was a real memorial - even if it’s nerdy, it deals with a real death and real people’s feelings. The game “war” does not deserve to be placed on the same level as an actual memorial with real feelings.
Well, it’s a game that happens to be called World of Warcraft, not World of Feelingscraft. If they were going to hold a ceremony in a warzone, there were certain minimal steps they could have taken:[ul][li]Move it out of the warzone[/li][li]Secure a temporary truce[/li][li]Post sentries and defenses[/ul][/li]
Failing to do any of these causes my sympathy to evaporate to zero.
Actually, I think it’s kind of hilarious, and were I the person whose “funeral” it was, I suspect I’d still find it hysterical.
But that could just be me.
Well I applaud the funeral crashers. Though it’s likely they did what they did just for shits 'n giggles, they also served a higher purpose.
Let’s say the ‘memorial service’ went off without a hitch. Then another guild would have one, then another, and then you know what’s next? Children’s birthday parties. World of Chucky-Cheesecraft. And no one wants to see that.
To continue my piecemeal thoughts: were I watching the proceedings from the Great Hereafter, and I enjoyed whupping some WoW ass while alive, I’d like to think I’d be jumping up and down, howling with glee, when I saw someone crashing my ill-advised online memorial service, and majorly whupping some WoW ass.
After all, it’s presumably what I liked about the game while I was still breathing. What better tribute?
After all this gnashing of teeth, I suspect this is what was going on.
Let’s go back to my paint ball analogy. Imagine the “funeral party” shows up all dressed in paint-ball fatigues. They start their “funeral”, only to have it crashed by a rival group. Chaos ensues, paintballs fly everywhere …
In other words, great fun, as a tribute to the deceased. Afterwards everyone involved, including the “rivals”, all go out for a beer to talk about how old so-and-so would’ve liked it that way.
Nothing wrong with that. However, imagine someone who wasn’t “in on it” filmed the entire thing and posted that to the internet …
Damn! If you could do all that, I’d buy a better computer and start playing!! 
After all this gnashing of teeth, I suspect this is what was going on. At least, I hope this is what happened, because this shows much better sense on the part of all involved than any other scenario.
Let’s go back to my paint ball analogy. Imagine the “funeral party” shows up all dressed in paint-ball fatigues. They start their “funeral”, only to have it crashed by a rival group. Chaos ensues, paintballs fly everywhere …
In other words, they all have great fun, as a tribute to the deceased. Afterwards everyone involved, including the “rivals”, all go out for a beer to talk about how old so-and-so would’ve liked it that way. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with anyone’s actions in this scenario. It’s all a tribute to the dearly departed.
However, imagine someone who wasn’t “in on it” filmed the entire thing and posted that to the internet …
You know, I really agree - I have no sympathy for the “victims” here - I was only advocating the point that the instigators were assholes, because of their intent to use their mommy-never-loved-me-and-bullys-beat-me-up-but-now-I-am-an-internet-warrior! assholery to try to harm other people, emboldened by lack of consequence.
Wouldn’t let you in the guild huh?
I was going to say “Didn’t date much in high school, huh?” but yours is funnier.
Why is this criticism coming towards me? I’m the one detesting nerd empowerment. “Internet tough guys” are weak and have been on the wrong end of sadism during their lives due to lack of power. If I were among them, why would I be criticizing that very thing?
Well… because we’re in the Pit, and taking gratuitous shots at other posters is allowed and to some degree expected.
Kinda like attacking funerals in WoW, now that I think about it.
Yeah, but I’ve been criticizing them for the exact behavior you’re ascribing to me.
They got beat up in high school, weren’t popular, but now they’re powerful elves riding wolves behind their computer, and become Internet Bullies, and act like a total dicktard behind their keyboards.
…and more power to 'em!