Relying on Trust

Take this post with a grain of salt, but I think I've kinda figured out why I'm not into WoW as much as a use to be. Yes, I'm bored with it (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...isn't that the defination of something?) but there is something else. It kind of fits in the real world too. Not sure I'm taking my real world emotions into the game or if I'm taking my virtual world feelings with me when I leave, but it's basically this...

I've lost trust in people. Granted, there are 1 or 2 people I still trust implicitly, but the population as a whole? It's never been good for me to trust anyone. I usually wind up getting burned. So i've slowly been drifting toward the realization that the only person you can trust is yourself. I think I've brought this depressing reality with me to WoW. It takes 40 people to successfully complete high-end instances in WoW. And not just 40 warm bodies but 40 people who know their jobs, have spent time getting geared, know what's expected of them, and can get the job done without causing issues. And all 40 of these people need to rely on each other... that's 39 other people counting on you to do your job and you're counting on them to do theirs.

WoW is classified as an MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online (booku peeps online at once) role playing game. As such, many of the aspects of the game physically required you to deal with people... to trust them... to group with them... and hope they do their jobs and not screw you. It's the one aspect I've never really liked. I'm a loner, a "do-it-yourself" kind of person. Physically working with others I've never met just doesn't work well for me. It's caused most my WoW characters to be abandoned when groups start become a necessity to advance further.

Now, for those that know which characters I play... yes I have a level 60 Hunter and a level 60 mage. But you want to know something? I didn't get either of those characters to 60. I abandoned my hunter around the mid 40s and my best friend Janell played it up higher. I abandoned my mage around level 50 and again Janell brought it up to 59 and a half. So why do I play now in a 40-man raid? Simple... I'm a much smaller aspect of the raid. There are usually 4 other mages there... and 1 out of 40 means I can blend in a whole lot more than 1 out of just 5.