So let's say you have a guild. Some of the people are good friends, you've known them for a long time. You know what they do in their lives, you know a little of their family life. You know about their pets! They raid with you, quest with you, arena with you.
Then there are other people who have been in the guild for a long time, but never make the list of people you think of when you want to explore new stuff. They don't particularly care about knocking over challenges, but are glad to come along to raid or pvp as long as their real-life connection is going to be there. These people are the other half of a "package deal". They have played enough to get to the max level, and they do like the sight of zomg epics. Who doesn't? So they volunteer to come with you, whether it's for your new arena team, or your raid. Some of these people evolve into actual gamers, people who get good at their role in a group, who understand the game and what they can do in it, and who socialize with the others. The others become SPHOs: sub-performing hangers-on. (Pronounced how it looks, rhymes with show.)
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