Time for my first rant. I’m going to QQ about people who QQ! How original.
Since starting my own blog I’ve begun to explore the WOW blogging community a little more. I’ve added a LOT of new blogs to my feed reader. Many of these blogs are fantastic – full of intelligent discussion about class mechanics, philosophy, lore, etc. These bloggers have a way with words that I can only aspire to come close to.
I don’t always agree with what people write, but that is OK. We can’t all get along, hold hands and sing songs of peace and harmony. Different points of view encourage discussion and growth in the community.
There is one point of view though, that I just can’t stand: The Elitist.
Stop thinking you’re special. Seriously. You’re not.
The Elitist is upset because a long time ago, in the good old days, MMORPGs were only for the uber leet nerds who had 8+ hours a day to spend playing games. You had to be a math whiz and spend even more hours pouring over the stats of your characters and strategies of fights. You had to farm the same content over and over, and grind until your eyes bled.
These uber nerds started on text-based MUDs and then moved on to games like Everquest. Even WOW in its beginning was accessible only to the Elite when it came to certain things.
The Elitists thrived on this. It made them feel like gods, and they were pleased that they could mock everyone else and call them n00bs.
But most people didn’t find that fun. Most people didn’t have that kind of time to waste in a game, because they spent their days in the real world doing productive things. And game developers were tired of making games that only a few uber nerds enjoyed. Basically, they wanted to make money. So they did something revolutionary: they made it more appealing to the masses.
Each time WOW gets more accessible the Elitist screams and QQs and threatens to quit. He says the game is too easy. He uses terms like “Welfare Epics”. And for the most part, he keeps playing.
So, to all those Elitists:
WOW is not your exclusive members-only clubhouse. It is Blizzard’s game and you can play it, or not. It’s not as much of a challenge as it once was because they don’t want it to be. They’ve realized that a lot of people like to play games, and they want those people to play WOW.
If you don’t like it, then LEAVE. Go back to your text-based MUDs. Or heck, why don’t you write your own game? If you’re really so much smarter than everyone else than just go design your own fantastic game and play it with all of your leet friends.
If you’re sick of being surrounded by all those dumb, casual nobodies then go create your own place where you can escape them. We’ll all have more fun. You’ll be feeling special again, and we won’t have to listen to you whine.
Blizzard is trying to make money, and trying to make the game accessible to as many people as possible. This has been an obvious trend since BC was released. They aren’t going to changes their minds. So… get over it, or go away.
You are just an elitist. Like those indie music snobs who completely disown a band after they become popular, muttering that they “sold out”. Like the wine tasters who rate down an affordable bottle of wine simply because it could be purchased by more than just the rich folk.
We all have elitist tendencies at times. It is normal to want to feel special. It is a character flaw, and like any other, we need to keep it in check. Everyone has their moments of weakness though, so I understand if a few blog posts sneak out here or there. Heck, I might even do it myself someday.
Just know this:
You can keep writing posts about how the game has gone downhill and you’re going to quit – but I’m not going to read them anymore.
. There was a little bit of trivia, some Peggle duals, presents, and general silliness.
