Thanks for the update Dalmont! And SkylordLuke, I've seen it all. I've seen some of the most upstanding decent people degenerate into a pack of raging WOW kids before. I've seen gaming communities turn on themselves. It's an ugly thing, and it does happen. So, like I said I hoped he was joking and glad he was. I just don't find humor in it.
You're right, it can happen. I used to play Astro Empires, was in a top-forty guild with excellent diplomatic ties with some of the top-ten guilds, mainly due to having some excellent diplomats on the team. There was about 30-40 of us at our peak, we fought several successful wars together, were well organised and everyone got along fine.
It all turned sour when a high-ranking member had a personal issue with a player in another guild in real-life, and we voted against helping out militarily in the game. The player took it that we'd all turned our backs on him and created a massive rift by forcing people to take sides. That caused more damage to the guild than any war we ever fought and was the reason several players ended up leaving the guild and (in my case) quitting the game entirely.
I enjoy the quietness of space because it takes me *away* from the petty politics of Earth