It encourages social interaction with strangers which fosters community. You can rail against it as inconvenience, but at the end of the day it is the reason for the difference between modern mmo communities and the community of vanilla EQ. It is a simple truth of life, the more independent one is, the less interest they have in others. Sure groups and guilds offer social interaction, but the associated exclusivity inherently discourages further casual interactions I the same way that independence does. Don't get me wrong, i think highly of independence and self reliance, but neither of those encourage community.
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