Just Another Brick in the Wall, Eh?!?!?

I don't deal well with hierarchy.

I like to think I'm an egalitarian type, except when I'm dealing with idiots. ;) I tend to like democracies in action, and as little vertical structure as is possible.

AAAaaanyhow.

I read a fair number of blogs and forums posts, and one thing never ceases to astound me: the willingess of a LOT of WoW players to submit themselves to rather militaristic, extremely controlling hegemonies, with mostly one way communications: Top -> Down.

If you aren't a leader, your opinion doesn't count, and you'd better keep your effing yap SHUT!

whu?

My best guess is this willingness is part & parcel of a more "harcore" raiding attitude, which is something I know I do not possess.

I am NOT passing any sort of judgement (honestly, I'm not!) but I am completely bewildered by it.

To me, the social aspect of WoW is one of the most captivating parts of it. Vent, /g chat, psts and especially the blogs. The interaction, the irreverence, the flow of ideas, emotions and general banter are what make this game enjoyable to me.

Having to sit in my chair, keep quiet, follow orders (that I may or may not agree with) and essentially submit myself to an electronic dictatorship seems as far away from fun as I can imaging. (at least while playing a game)

A part of me understands that, at times, it's nice to simply sit there and put yourself on autopilot and just follow orders. Another part of me understands that beating higher end content requires some serious dedication and , most likley, a fair amount of discipline (the attribute, not the spec ;) ) But to have the entire game revolve around this structure/culture is rather foreign to me.

Am I missing something? If any of you folks out there are a part of a rather martial guild, are NOT part of the leadership of that guild, and still REALLY enjoy it, could you help this n00b out? Because I'm either missing the point by a long shot, or there's a massive subculture in WoW that is REALLY into electronic S&M... lol