I played the original NWN on AOL in the early '90s, and I encountered a very similar situation. A very cozy social network had arisen of "nice" people who chit-chat roleplayed but did little else. The game itself was limited - a new character could easily max in a day and push through most of the stock content during that time. So, most of us kind folx (I was definitely one) spent their HOURLY fee (yeah, they charged by the hour back then) typing at each other and acting as chaperones for newer players. It was a safe, comfortable, static, and ultimately dull world. The user community was hardly growing. There was no PvP - hard to believe an MMO without any PvP - but it was exclusively enforced by social convention.
That is, until a player named Beelzebub (I can't recall his actual spelling) showed up and turned the universe upside down. Although PvP was mostly unexplored, the game mechanics allowed for PvP, and Beelz was merciless. He didn't talk to you. He was utterly silent and deadly. He'd ambush you, wipe you out in just a few rounds with a selection of spells (cleric/mage was the nerf in that game) specifically geared towards PvP, and then vanish. He wasn't "mean" in the sense that he embarrassed you or targeted you in any way - he was faithfully running a lawful evil character.
The furor that arose from his actions was overwhelming. I was one of the most heated, calling for his banning, rewriting the game mechanics, blah, blah, blah. I was overruled by the "NWN*" players (near-employees who provided technical support and performed in-game magic to fix problems) and Beelz continued on his merry way. Eventually, guilds arose to both oppose and support PvP, more players joined, and a thriving community developed. From stagnation came creativity and a new lease on life for NWN.
I literally hated Beelz at the time, but I look back now and I realize that he was like the Mac's hammer thrown into the huge screen in that famous 1984 commercial. He provided a spark, a new way of thinking about your character and your interaction with the game world. The old way didn't crumble; in fact, the "pacifist" guilds took on new vigor because they could exist as a foil to the PvP-centered guilds. NWN had had a strong community before Beelz, but it favored conformity and predictability. Those are fine and good, but they're not the pillars of an exciting, adventurous, growing world.
When a single player is despised by a large portion of an MMO, it probably means that player is doing something right.
---Jason
