Questions
by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
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Answers
by Jeon Rezvani, Author of Guild Leadership: Lessons from the Virtual
World
Books on guild leadership are all the rage in our current MMOG era.
Last year, Ten Ton Hammer’s Jeff “Ethec”
Woleslagle reviewed
target="_blank">Legend of the Syndicate, a book
chronicling the rise of “The Syndicate” into the
most prestigious guild in the entire world. Now the Ten Ton Hammer
staff has had the opportunity to interview Jeon Rezvani, author of
href="http://www.guildleadership.com/">Guild Leadership:
Lessons from the Virtual World, and ask his opinion on a
number of intriguing subjects, including guild leadership and real
world applications. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Guild
Leadership is definitely a solid book for anyone looking to be an
effective guild leader.
Ten Ton Hammer: Why did
you decide to write a book on guild leadership?
Jeon Rezvani:
A variety of factors contributed to my desire to write a book about
leadership: I remember having a conversation with my current manager,
wherein I jokingly mentioned that I should write a book based on the
leadership lessons that I had learned from online gaming. He had no
idea what I was talking about, so I related a bit of my history. He
thought that it was fascinating and said that I should do it.
Also, throughout my life, I’ve seen how the skills needed to
be successful in the online gaming environment have significant overlap
with the skills for success in the business environment (or really, in
any real-world environment).
In addition, I decided to write this book with the hope that I could
inspire gamers to purposefully leverage what they are learning in
online games (perhaps without realizing it) for use in the real
world. I also wanted to introduce the real world to a virtual
reality existence which is crafting tomorrow’s leaders.
Finally, while there are several other reasons for my decision to write
this book, one of the big ones was for my daughter (who just turned 4),
so that she could someday read about her daddy’s perspective
on leadership – which, for me, is not just about how to lead,
but also how to live.
Ten Ton Hammer: Is this a
guide on being an effective guild leader?
Jeon: Yes
– In part, this is definitely a guide on being an effective
guild leader. It elaborates on the fundamentals of exemplary
leadership, which are relevant to both real-world and virtual-world
leaders.
Ten Ton Hammer: What will
players gather from Guild Leadership: Lessons from the Virtual World?
Jeon:
Players will learn some of the similarities and differences between
leadership in online games and the real world. They will learn that
many of the skills that they practice and witness each day in online
games can and should be applied in the real world (whether they are
parenting, coaching, leading projects, etc.). They ultimately will
learn how to become exemplary leaders.
Ten Ton Hammer: In order
to write a book like this, you obviously must have some experience in
virtual worlds? Can you give us a brief biography on your online
experiences, your guilds, and how these experiences pushed you towards
writing this particular book?
Jeon: I
began playing computer games on my uncle’s Apple // computer
in about 1978. He was an undergrad at the University of Oregon and I
was 7 years old. My online gaming experience started with BBS games.
Initially, BBSs allowed only one person at a time to connect to them
– however, they quickly progressed to allow multiple
simultaneous connections.
From online games, I learned to think and act
“outside–the-box,” i.e., to do things in
ways that were different from what everyone else was doing. I also came
to realize that seemingly everyone was playing for himself in BBS
games. I began to communicate with other online gamers in order to
orchestrate our actions so that we could dethrone more powerful,
longer-time players. I quickly realized how powerful it was to mobilize
a group of people towards achieving a singular goal compared to doing
it alone. We collaboratively would take games by storm and dominate the
people who played alone. I played online games such as Trade Wars and
Proving Grounds and also started MUDding. During this era, I formed a
variety of “guilds” (though they weren’t
called guilds back then) such as “KOFM.”
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Jeon
played Vanguard when it was first released.
My gaming continued through middle school, high school, and college.
Graphical MUDs were just coming into existence, and I played all the
free ones.
The first real pay-for-play online game that I tried was
“Kingdom of Drakkar.” It was a blast playing with
my guild (“Fate”). I started playing that in 1993,
when I landed my first job out of college as a C++ programmer for
Dynamix, a subsidiary of Sierra. While I was playing
“Drakkar,” I also was heavily into MUDs.
“Sojourn” was one of my favorites (DIKU variant)
– and I enjoyed many hours with my group of friends there.
Another favorite was a PVP (Player versus Player) MUD called Mortal
Conquest (as well as many of its offshoots), and the guild that I
formed (“Triad”) dominated the competition.
I decided to make a change in my work life and moved into IT
consulting. This was around the time that some of the first-gen MMORPGs
came out, including Meridian 59 and Ultima Online. I joined a systems
integrator consulting company, co-founded an investment club, and all
the while, I continued playing online games. EverQuest was one of my
favorites -- I joined a guild, called “Fires of
Heaven,” and we dominated our server (and, to be honest, all
servers at that time).
I eventually left consulting to form a new dot-com company, but the
timing wasn’t hot (the market was tanking with the dot-com
fizzle); but it was a great learning experience. I kept playing online
games.
I was recruited to join a start-up called Vector SCM (a subsidiary of
CNF, which was later rebranded as Con-way). I continued with MUDs and
other online games, such as Never Winter Nights (NWN), where I joined a
guild, called “ZAR,” and played with some of my old
college friends.
A “next gen” MMORPG, called Vanguard, was released,
so I tried it out. I formed a guild, called
“Primal” and then merged with another guild, called
“Pain” (I became an officer in
“Pain” and we dominated the competition –
and to this day, we still own most of the spots on guild leader
boards). But, after conquering all the content, we moved on.
I am 37 as I write this and it’s hard to believe that
I’ve been gaming for approximately 30 years and serving and
leading people in online games for about 25. As I previously mentioned,
throughout my life, I’ve seen how the skills needed to be
successful in the online gaming environment have significant overlap
with the skills needed to be successful in the business environment (or
really, in any real-world environment). So, my cumulative life
experiences pushed me towards writing Guild Leadership: Lessons from
the Virtual World.
Ten Ton Hammer:
You’ve listed a number of different bullet points that you
believe are crucial in understanding Guild Leadership, many of which
are centered around the idea of “the leaders of
tomorrow.” Do you really think that online leadership will be
a powerful tool that will help the youth of today find the jobs of
tomorrow?
Jeon: Yes, I
do believe that online leadership will be a powerful tool to help
today’s youth find the jobs of tomorrow if they learn to
identify, leverage, channel and apply those skills in the real world.
Ten Ton Hammer:
Won’t that require the majority of real world businesses to
know and understand what online worlds are all about?
Jeon: No,
though I’m confident that as the boundaries between the real
and the virtual become increasingly blurred, online communities will
grow stronger as social, political, and economic forces. This trend
will invariably cause real-world leaders to pause and take notice. My
hope is that books like mine are one way to introduce real-world
leaders to the potentials of virtual worlds.
Ten Ton Hammer: What sort
of audience did you aim Guild Leadership at? Is this a book written for
the MMOG player? Or is this a book written for people who
don’t understand virtual worlds? Or both?
Jeon: There
are hundreds of millions of gamers in the world who may find this topic
compelling and beneficial – as it ultimately will help them
“get the edge” and operate more effectively in the
virtual environment. Also, today’s and tomorrow’s
real-world leaders are intended audiences. So, this book was written
for both players (new and veteran) and for people who don’t
understand virtual worlds.
Ten Ton Hammer: On your
biography for the book, you note that you’ve actually led a
fairly successful career. How has your own personal gaming influenced
your life’s journey?
Jeon: As I
previously alluded to, my passion for computer gaming ultimately
influenced what college I went to, my major, my first job after I
graduated, etc. The leadership skills that I have learned in the online
world have helped me immeasurably in the real world.
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Collaboration
and goal-making are definitely key in exceptional guilds.
Ten Ton Hammer: Would you
do anything different?
Jeon: No. I
think that all of the experiences that I’ve had have molded
me into who I am today. I find that I often have learned more from my
failures or near failures than from my successes. So, because of that,
I wouldn’t do anything differently.
Ten Ton Hammer: Do you
think gaming has restricted you in any way?
Jeon: No.
Gaming hasn’t restricted me – it is my own actions
that restrict or enable me. I think that if I
didn’t leverage what I was learning from gaming, then I would
be limiting (and thus restricting) my potential.
Ten Ton Hammer: Do you
have any particular guilds that you think are exceptional in the online
space? Are there any guild leaders that you’d like gamers to
look up to?
Jeon:
Instead of calling out specific guilds (or people), I’d
rather describe the characteristics of guilds which I find exceptional.
To start with, the players in the guild need to be collaborating,
striving together for goals. They should have an inspiring vision for
what they want to become, should maintain a positive attitude, and
should be achieving results in alignment with the goals of their
vision. The players will be passionate about what they are trying to
accomplish and will be confident in their actions. They will
play with integrity and character.
In addition, they will put the priority on real life and maintain a
healthy balance between their work/play lives. Trust will permeate the
guild, which will have leaders that are listening and enabling their
members. Players will always be looking to continuously
improve, and risk-taking will be encouraged and rewarded.
Constant feedback will be flowing bi-directionally, and morale and
retention will be high. The more the guilds evolve, the greater the
emphasis will be placed on strategy. And, very importantly, they will
be having fun. These types of characteristics, traits, results, etc.
are a subset, IMHO, of what contributes to an exceptional guild in the
online world.
Ten Ton Hammer: Any
required reading for potential guild leaders?
Jeon:
Immerse yourself in books, conferences, articles, etc., to understand
the different perspectives that people have on leadership –
and then apply what you learn and what you believe in to the real and
virtual worlds. Figure out what aligns with your own personal
values and ideals and leverage what makes sense. You won’t
find yourself agreeing with all the “experts,” but
it is good to consider a variety of philosophies.
Ten Ton Hammer: What
would you like the standard media to learn from Guild Leadership?
Jeon:
I’d like them to learn that MMORPGs are breeding grounds for
learning and experiencing leadership. These virtual environments are
rife with opportunities for leadership exposure. I would like the
standard media to start looking beyond the “game”
and into the social, political, and economic implications that MMORPGs
are having in the real world.
Ten Ton Hammer: Do you
think MMOG are really suffering from a negative spin in the
media?
Jeon: I
think that there has been some negative press in mainstream media,
either from the angle that the games are too violent or that they are a
waste of time. I have had many years of first-hand experience on which
to base a very different perspective, which I am now offering to the
public.
Ten Ton Hammer: So what
are your favorite games? Do you have a favorite MMOG? A favorite all
time games?
Jeon: There
are a lot of games that I’ve really enjoyed over the years,
from Pac-Man and Ultima 4 to EverQuest and, more recently,
WoW. The most intense online gaming experience that I have
ever had was when I played text PVP MUDs like Mortal Conquest (i.e.,
what got my heart beating the most), and I spent countless hours in
Kingdom of Drakkar (a simplistic, top-down graphics environment). The
first time I logged into Neriak in EverQuest was a magical moment, as
was the first time I logged into a BBS text-game with my acoustic
coupler modem.
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EverQuest
and WoW are some of Jeon's favorite games.
Ten Ton Hammer: Why did
you enjoy those particular games?
Jeon: Each
game and era brought different aspects to my enjoyment, from the people
I met and interacted with, to the technological breakthroughs, to the
achievements and accomplishments, to the role-playing, to the learning
experiences they ultimately produced.
Ten Ton Hammer: Why did
you decide to donate all of the net profit earned by the book to
charity? Why not save it for a rainy day?
Jeon: One of
the goals that I’ve had is to direct increased energies
towards helping those that are less fortunate. I had a few specific
requirements in mind: I wanted to help the most needy kids (such as
those in Africa) and I wanted to ensure that the charity was
legitimate. This narrowed down the field to organizations such as
UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, Oprah’s Angel Network, etc.
I sought also to minimize administrative overhead costs, so when I
learned that Oprah matches the administrative costs as her annual
donation, her Angel Network seemed to be a perfect fit.
Finally, I wanted to donate all of the profit earned by my book to
charity to teach my daughter an important life lesson.
Ten Ton Hammer: Is there
anything else you’d like to tell Ten Ton Hammer readers and
your fans?
Jeon: I
sincerely want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this
interview. I hope that people enjoy the book and can leverage it in
their day-to-day lives. If you find yourself agreeing with or
identifying with the material, I’d appreciate your spreading
the word about the book (and
href="http://www.guildleadership.com/">www.guildleadership.com).
I would love to hear
your feedback.
