A Letter from Executive Producer Aaron Campbell

[Crell_1]

1) It seems a little discriminatory, though, to not even give a person with low virtues and less than good gear a chance. People should be given a chance. Sure, they may turn out to be crummy raiders, but on the other hand they may be really good.

2) The ones that would come across as elitists, for me personally, are those who do the stuff in #1. .. He did not have to work hard to get good grades. However, I can take pleasure in knowing that, while I may not be as smart as him, at least I got better grades.

If one of those raiding kinships have high expectations, then that is fine. What I'm talking about are PUGs where the leaders tell other people to be inspectable. People they don't even know. They judge those players based purely on appearance, and without giving them a chance.

As for #1 Yes. It's discriminatory, however, not all discrimination is inherently bad. We discriminate against criminals, we discriminate against age by not allowing people of all age to vote just to give 2 examples. It is reasonable that the leader should be able to feel that the player can pull their own weight and that the group has a reasonable chance of success.

As for #2. What virtues and gear show are a willingness to put forth the effort to prepare by being the best 'solo' player you can be. Are some people's expectations/minimum requirements too high? Yes. Perhaps they lack confidence in their leadership skills or just want an easy time. But I think you would have to agree that just because I asked every single person to be inspectable the entire time I was leading ToO pugs from Day 1 of launch that there wasn't anything inherently elitist about it. Sure, you may have thought that at first, but I think after a few months, you and the rest of the server who partook in GLFF during the time would have had a hard time justifying that stance after the first month or so. I'm even reasonably certain you yourself defended me against that very accusation of being elitist by asking for the chance to inspect people in the past.