Introspection - on a Tailoring Level

There's something about running around Orgrimmar that brings out my inner "hall-monitor." I'm just physically incapable of turning off /Trade and /General chat, and that means I'm subjecting myself to all the inane blather that goes along with it. This isn't another rant about Barrens Chat; oh, no, that's too easy. Rather, I found myself looking deep within, really asking the question, "how much does the behavior of people around me influence my own behavior?"

It's considerably more than I would like.

This is the part where people like to hear examples, so - Okay, I'll oblige.

For some strange reason, the number of shirt patterns I have on my Warlock, Malarea, became a focal point for me over the weekend. No, I don't know why. I started thinking about how many different kinds of shirts I could make, and in how many different colors, and I even made a couple of jaunts to trainers for the few purchasable patterns I was missing. Then I flipped over to my cloth-hoarding bank toon and sent Mal several stacks of each kind. I grabbed a couple of stacks of wrapping paper and created a macro to advertise my services in the Trade Channel. Then I parked my bony ass on a rock near the Mage Trainer in Org and started fishing for my Baby Crocolisk.

Two comments below my ad, this statement caught my eye:

[2. Trade] Troublemaker says: epic fail at making money, malarea

O.o

I whispered him, "do I know you?"

No response. Hmmmm.

I whispered him again. No response.

In the meantime, I've had whispers from several people and not only have I unloaded several shirts, I've also made a Tux for someone's bank alt and two Festival Gowns. So what's the problem? Well, I'm not really enjoying myself. Instead, I find I'm really hoping for an answer back from the Troublemaker so that I can not only refute his "epic fail" statement, but also explain to him why it's a bad idea to poke at people who are enjoying their own immersion. Then I realized, I'm not immersed! I'm not even paying attention to business anymore! Why do I feel so compelled to alter this kid's behavior?

I've always known that any online game includes two types of people: those who enjoy the game, and those who enjoy ****ing with the people who enjoy the game. Most of the time I'm squarely in group 1, but even I have been guilty of unprovoked jabs at others. Of course, some might say that including 3 or 4 "z's" at the end of one's name IS provoking, but I'll not belabor that point. I've been known to offer help and advice to the players who ask for it politely. I've also been known to call out the moronic, and be down-right ugly to those who whisper me things like "GIMME GOLDZ" or "SUMON ME PLX."

So, starting today, I'm making myself a deal. I don't have to /ignore in order to ignore. I play this game for me, not for the people from group 2. Oh, and I also play it for those who need shirts.