You aren’t cool unless you hate WOW.
There, I said it. As a new contributor to the MMO blogosphere, what better way to ingratiate myself with the unwashed masses, than to get mad at WOW? I’m not good at jackass stunts. I’m not good looking. I can’t get you into any cool betas.
So… /sigh, I hate you WOW. I hate people that play WOW, and the people who developed WOW and continue to work on it, and the people who pay the people who make WOW so that they can play WOW, and the people who defend WOW, and the people who live in Irvine, CA (where Blizzard’s home office is located), and the people who go to Blizzcon, and the people who like WOTLK, and the people who hate WOTLK, and on and on and on. Can one person hate that much? I think so … I even hate the (fairly) hot chicks who dress up in WOW gear! Beat that!
Blizzard… I fart in your general direction!!! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!!!
But more than anything… to be really cool, I have to hate WOW players who try another game and decide they don’t like it. After all, that’s the epitome of serious MMO internet fashion these days.
What are these morons thinking? Go back to lala-land, you stupid, silly WOW carebears! I mean, why would you want to play a game that looks great on practically anyone’s PC? Why would you want to play a game with tons of community and mod support? Why would you want to play a game that had a great, fun treadmill system? Why would you want to play a game that offered more competitive PvP than nearly any other game at the time besides Guild Wars & DAOC? Why would you want to play a game with fun raid encounters? Why would you want to play a game that redefined the genre with innovative questing improvements, talent trees, and more?
Next thing you know, you’ll all be doing stupid stuff like shoping at Ikea and Wal-Mart. OMG I HATE U WALMART SHOPPERS!
Listen… I’m not a huge fan of the diluted, boiled-down MMO that WOW became (or even started off as, I guess). But, I have really, really fond memories of WOW. I spent a lot of time having fun with the game, and with familes and friends that played it. I wouldn’t touch WOW with a 10-foot pole today, but why hate on WOW just because other people are still finding ways to enjoy the game? In my opinion, it doesn’t hold a torch to a sandbox game like EVE Online, which I’m currently digging into, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate it.
In fact, I’m pretty damned glad that WOW exists, and that people are playing it.
True story for you. I have a brother IRL that’s a pretty casual gamer, and guess what? He never wanted to play UO with me. He never wanted to play EQ with me. Shadowbane? Frak no. DAOC? Hah – no. Can I blame him? Not at all. The barrier to entry in all of those games was just too steep. Despite all of my best efforts to get him to plan an MMO, he never did. Not because he was too cool for it; back in school, we played games like Diplomacy, Warhammer Fantasy, Shadowrun, etc. We went to Gencon together. We spent a year being Magic: The Gathering nerds. We played EA sports games on the XBOX all the time. But MMOs? Newp.
Then, WOW came around, and he thought it would be worth trying. After all, how could a Blizzard game be bad!? He got hooked, and since then, we’ve played EVE, LOTRO, and WAR together. We currently have a blast kicking into WAR and running scenarios and ORvR. What changed? Like all of Blizzard’s games, WOW was easy to understand and start playing, and after you got settled in, additional layers of complexity and challenge evolved to continue making it enjoyable. In fact, he enjoyed WOW from minute one, as opposed to other MMOs that made him immediately confused and frustrated.
Ultimately, my brother grew out of WOW, just like I did, but before he was an MMO gamer he was a WOW gamer. And after that, the much-dreaded, much-maligned WOW tourist. So hate on WOW and WOW tourists? I don’t think so. I can’t do it. WOW made an MMO gamer out of my little brother, and even though he sometimes begrudges it (we waste so much time online…!), we have a good time gaming together.
The morale of this story? If you think WOW killed the MMO genre with it’s relentless pusuit of the casual gamer, think again. WOW is the reason that the MMO genre is as vibrant as it is. WOW gamers are this genre’s lifeblood. They should be treasured, sought after, appreciated, and pursued… and guess what? They are. Any new MMO that wants to make money is going to appeal to that market.
So, don’t hate the tourists who venture out. A lot of them won’t like the non-WOW world, but a lot will, and let’s face it — games like Darkfall are an acquired taste. A lot of people who love PvP don’t even like that game. It isn’t bad; it’s just the MMO equivalent of lutevisk. No one in their right mind eats lutevisk, unless they grew up liking something that tasted so bad. I grew up on Ultima Online before UO even had a murder system, and really wanted to like Darkfall, but after getting a chance to eat the MMO equivalent of McDonald’s for so long, I can’t go back. I’d rather play WOW than Darkfall.
Looking forward, the last thing any of us should want is some set of tired, “purist” hardcore MMO rules that developers should follow. If that’s what you want, look for a niche-game like Darkfall or EVE online, but realize that even your “hardcore” games will have more people playing them, because games like WOW introduced MMOs to a bigger audience.
After all, the M in MMORPG stands for massively. If a game like WOW gets more people playing games with us, that’s a good thing, regardless of whether they’re hardcore or not. Lonely MMOs don’t tend to do well.
The Dark Elf video you linked is a costume/race from WAR not WoW.
Whoops! Meant to link to the Blizzcon elf hotties. Got my bookmarks goofed up, thanks for the heads up.
PS – Best not to ask why I have these bookmarked ;p
Most people have a lot of fond memories of WoW. I don’t think you really understand what the discussion is about – it’s about if the “tourists”, by zerging a new MMO and then going back to WoW, is a good or a bad thing for the genre.
It’s not about hating WoW players.
@ Petter
That first part is a bit of hyperbole… see, “So, don’t hate the tourists who venture out.”
I recognize that people are frustrated at the WOW tourists, and that’s what this is about, but it does border on angst/anger/etc. From Syncaine… “Not only are you not a WoW fanfoi, or even a FuN fanboi, you’re just a WoW tourist. So again, please don’t flood the servers the first month of launch and the forums the week after you ragequit. Just stay in candyland, enjoy the rides, and move on to the next fad when it hits. The MMO genre thanks you.”
Doesn’t sound like love :)
Heh – I’m not going to defend Syncaine’s choice of words, but he does have an interesting way of expressing himself. :P
But no, it isn’t love. As you say, it’s frustration. The whole subject is incredibly tricky.
My parents and I have played video games since the Apple][e. They still enjoy playing RPG’s and Diablo / Titan Quest / etc. They have always abhorred the idea of playing online games. It even took some convincing to get them to play TQ together. But after that it was all downhill when I explained that Oblivion is basically a single player MMO.
Even though I quit wow before BC, I got them to try WoW. Just because its the easiest to learn. Now they love it and keep asking me about what I’m playing… EVE. I don’t think they will ever play EVE (they still hate anything to do with PVP and death penalties), but they are interested in branching out at least….
Btw. the RP in MMORPG stands for roleplay, where is that in WoW :)
I thought you weren’t cool unless you hate Funcom. I tihnk you guys need to communicate more.
It`s LUTEFISK, not LUTEVISK, my good man. It`s like you never have eaten dried fish that has been suffocating in caustic lye soda for a forthnight. It`s a Norwegian delicasy who any self-respecting gamer should eat at least once. And if you survive this agonising torture which is LUTEFISK you can call yourself a HARDCORE GAMER.
I loved this article. I just had to tell you that! I have never figured out why there is a mentality among gamers, that they have to bash one game, if they play another one.
I love ALL OF THEM. Each and every game has something cool about it. WoW is an excellent beginner MMO. It’s great for folks who don’t have much time. And it has a ton of humor.
That’s the best thing about WoW. The humor. And that’s the best thing about this article! Thank you.
Where is the Role-playing in WoW?? are you kidding me??
I am not an avid WoW player, but I am a big time Roleplayer. The RP in any game is with the players! The only thing a game can provide is the tools. The dances, the emotes, the beer!
If you don’t have any RP in WoW, it’s because you never took the time to learn the lore, and make some of your own.
Hey! Read this and decided to post my two cents on the subject, since I find an awful lot of chaos on forums with WoW-haters. I don’t know the scenario or the identities of any WoW players, as they don’t know the identity of myself; however, I do realize a lot of them act immaturely. Due to the behavior of a lot of them, I prefer to remain on a RP server(I do, in fact, choose to roleplay). On those servers, the community is drastically improved, and thus the gameplay becomes much different. The players on RP servers, I have noticed, are also not inexperienced. They’ve played or are currently playing other games too. I, myself, started out in the MMO scene playing free grind-tastic games, and I had just left FFXI when I first tried out Vanilla WoW, tentatively. I was surprised when I found the joy of quests with actual rewards and a humor with references to real-life Western culture. I left before BC came out, seeing as the majority of my guild had went to try out other games, but recently, I have returned and have begun to enjoy it once again. Yes, WoW makes an excellent introduction to the genre, but what interests me the most is how Blizzard tends to raise the bar. It makes other MMOs want to become even more innovative, more interesting, and more appealing, in general. Indeed, the genre has become much more lively since WoW has come along.
Word. Haha, seriously though, i’m looking for a good mmo that the common folk “wow” fans wouldn’t want to get interested in. I like a good difficult learning curve, don’t get me wrong, orcs vs. humans started a huge thing in video games, and wow was great off and on, just personally I enjoy the smaller group of more unique players.. I miss FFXI and DaoC the most, DaoC back in the day! yeah baby!
i do not believe there is a simple answer to the question posed by this article, people may have had bad experiences on wow perhaps with people, guild drama, etc etc. maybe because as some people pointed out with that wow is a great game for people who are just starting to play mmos, easy controls and such,leading to people having a snobish attitude toward people who play wow.
maybe its because just want to feel superior to someone.
it could be any or all of the reasons listed/not listed, but still none of them seems to be a good reason to hate people who have a preference for one game over another. :-/