Not WoWed?
Ten million gamers can be wrong. How World of Warcraft has turned the nerd into the bully.
By Liana K, GamingExcellence
Posted November 13, 2008
|
|
|
Sometimes life gives you a synchronicity that makes you a teeny tiny bit wiser. One such synchronicity happened to me recently regarding the geekosphere.
I was halfway through a wonderful book called "The American Nerd: The Story of My People" by Benjamin Nugent. At the same time, I finally, finally, actively ventured into World of Warcraft.
These combined events taught me something: Ten million unique users can be wrong.
In American Nerd, Nugent outlines his experiences as a boy playing Nintendo with his friends, and deals with the day that he sold his console as part of his attempts to blend in with the grunge music cool kids. The book has a penitent feeling, and deals with the many subcultures in nerdom with an affectionate yet anthropologically relativistic approach. The haven-like virtues of tabletop gaming are extolled. Science fiction clubs are lauded. Even Kirk/Spock fanfic and yaoi get their moments, with a credible psychological explanation for why perfectly nice girls dig slash.
But in the non-judgmental, we're-all-friends-here environment within the book, we gamers didn't fare well. At first I thought it was just because the author had missed the huge leap gaming has taken since the old NES days. He criticized gaming for being an aggressive, isolating experience, with the focus oriented too much to the characters on the screen, and not enough on the real people playing. He still held up Nintendo as a light in the darkness, but I dismissed that as nostalgic bias.
Then I gave WoW a spin... and felt like I was a freshman in high school, at risk of being shoved into a locker by school bullies. I was getting my first direct taste of "ganking noobs". Or, more accurately, being the noob at risk of ganking.
The first thing anyone starting WoW needs to understand is this: You are a stupid noob. No one in the game world really cares about stupid noobs. You are a nuisance, and should expect to be mocked. Humility is expected. Grovelling, followed by a peppering of ‘lol's to express your virgin nerves, is encouraged and derided at the same time.
The only redeeming quality you have is that you will, after the investment of hundreds of hours, have reached a basic level of competence. You will then be able to participate in raids and help facilitate guild leaders rewarding their buddies with the best loot, at the expense of those not in their clique.
There are guides for ganking. Web forums applauding it. The general belief is that if you select a PVP server, you have it coming... only I wasn't ON a PVP server, and I still got screwed with. A friend of mine who met her husband on WoW - I'm not kidding -- pointed out that you can't gank in the starter zones. Clever jackholes work around this by luring noobs out of starter zones where the ganking isn't flagged. I accidentally stumbled into an area far above my level just chasing a spirit wolf in a horribly executed follow quest. It's really easy to stray.
There's a problem with that. With 10 million users and counting, World of Warcraft isn't an arena for hardcore, informed gamers. It's a casual cash cow without a proper noob area, and by slaughtering people who are still trying to figure out WASD, gankers reassert the social order of older jocks picking on younger geeks in the hallways of the land of eternal high school.
Do I need to remind everyone where we nerds were on that food chain? How much we hated the popular kids for doing that to us? How we fantasized about their eventual karmic comeuppance. They'd end up like Al Bundy in a perfect world: balding, broken, selling shoes while reliving his glory days at Polk High.
|
Latest Comments (Forum View)
 |
The one, and only, reason that I have yet to get really involved in any MMO is this reason. Either I'm too much of a noob, or I am too good. It always seems that I find the server/room/lobby that has all of these self-important, elitist, narcissistic twelve year-olds that think that internet+anonymous=free reign to do what they want. I, for one, believe that there needs to be more policing/bans when these people get caught. Hit 'em where it hurts; their, or their parent's, pocketbook. But hey, what do I know?
|
 |
 |
|
jajamoo - December 11, 2008 6:25 PM ET |
A well-written examination of what WoW has become. I don't think even Blizzard was prepared to deal with what WoW accidentally became. I would say that because Blizzard doesn't know any better, it has let World of Warcraft maintain its high school-like mentality and sophomoric attitude towards new players.
As for Nugent's take on us gamers' little niche of nerdom, I think, like Liana, he is (unfortunately) for the most part, right. Though we do have it in us to change that and become the true heirs to the to title of "nerd."
On that note, kudos to Liana for a thought-provoking, well-written article, and a read that was enjoyable and informative.
~Moe
|
|
 |
I typically don't like MMO's because I've seen the destructive power they have on people who would otherwise be productive members of society.
I've seen university students drop out, jobs quit and people move back into their parent's house because of an unhealthy addiction to WoW and others of its ilk.
I also have a fundamental problem with continously paying to play a game that I bought from the store fair and square. I understand where that money goes, but it doesn't make it any more fair. Imagine if Rock Band charged you for continous royalty fees for songs already included on the disc.
In all fairness, I'm one of those suckers who pays 59.99 a year for Xbox Live, so what do I know?
|
|
 |
Okay, #1: I'm a WoWgirl. I fully admit my addiction. I'm a 72 Nelf Rogue and I effing love the game. The latest expansion absolutely blew my nerdsocks right off, and I would cheerfully strangle anyone who got in the way of my gametime. So there's that.
But here's #2: You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, the other players are the biggest problem with this MMORPG. How ironic. There are too many 13-year-old children (or adults with the mindsets of one) just trying to wreck everyone's day. Try asking a simple question in General Chat. Once I made the mistake of doing a WTS on a novelty green item in Trade Channel and I nearly had a lynch party come after me, sending snarling whispers from their alts after I'd already added their mains to my "ignore" list.
Yep, how ironic, this Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game would be better if it weren't for the "multiplayer" part.
-C
PS... what ARE the two top-selling Wii games? Do tell, do tell!
|
|
 |
|
Shawn - December 11, 2008 11:19 PM ET |
Wii Sports for sure, and I'd imagine Mario Kart Wii is up there alongside Wii Fit. I'm not sure of the order though.
|
 |
|
dacaba - December 13, 2008 6:33 PM ET |
Well Wii sports is a highly shipped title but it's not really a seller since it's a pack in.
The top sellers are Wii Play (which most analysts credit to the packed in Wii-mote, take that for what you will) with Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit taking up second and third. I think SSBB is up there as well.
|
|
 |
|
Euthan - March 3, 2009 2:54 AM ET |
Warning: Sorry this is so late to the party. I just came upon this now.
Agree or disagree? Have something you'd like to add? We'd love to hear your thoughts.
"What I expect is just a whole lot of angry comments because I dared defy the WoW gods."
Would you really love to hear our thoughts or do you only want to hear platitudes agreeing with your view point? I'm getting mixed signals here.
Regardless, I find that your article attempts to be an objective technical analysis but actually falls far short, relying on inaccurate generalizations to make your point. The disappointing fact is that you could have made the same point without distorting the situation to simplify the issues for a lay audience.
Before I venture further down this perilous path I should give you a few facts about myself:
I myself was once addicted to WoW. I was even a guild leader of a mediocre (yet fun-loving) raiding guild before I quit. Our biggest (albeit modest) victory was defeating Hakkar and the Prince in Kharazan. Hard-core raiders we were not.
"You will then be able to participate in raids and help facilitate guild leaders rewarding their buddies with the best loot, at the expense of those not in their clique." My friend "generalization" just found a new friend -- you! This doesn't help your thesis. "With its user controlled loot allocation" you are perfectly capable of finding a group of like-minded individuals who will allocate said loot however you want. Seriously. I didn't like how how other raiding guilds distributed loot so what did I do? I made my own rules. I'm nothing special. I've played no other MMOs prior to WoW. I'm not a power-gamer. I'm just a guy who knew what I liked and figured other people would like that too. The power is in your hands to mold your experience or, in your case, to distort and lay back and take it. Except you have a venue (here) to proselytize to others how terrible things are in this particular game.
Don't get me wrong. I realize this isn't a perfect game. But I do realize it IS a game. As you say, it's a "completely open world" so why are we not hearing about your efforts to make that world your own? Instead we hear you deflecting all criticism by hiding behind your gender and presumed weight. "Before you start protesting - as well as spamming my various social networking pages with vile comments and setting up fake profiles claiming I'm a lesbian who's also into bestiality (and is fat lewl), hear me out." (PS, lesbian beastiality pics plz).
I'm hearing you out, but I'm only hearing excuses and distortions of the facts. "A friend of mine who met her husband on WoW pointed out that you can't gank in the starter zones. Clever jackholes work around this by luring noobs out of starter zones where the ganking isn't flagged. I accidentally stumbled into an area far above my level just chasing a spirit wolf in a horribly executed follow quest." Let's at least be honest. You're implying that you're not on a PvP server. You can go ANYWHERE on a non-PvP server and not be flagged except the enemy capitals. Wondering out of the starter zones won't get you into any trouble unless you attack the enemy first. Now, sure. You're a noob. A) How did you get 'lured?' They can't talk to you on the opposite faction. B) Even if you did attack them, how come you didn't just wait 5 minutes and be done with it? Oh right, A). You're a noob. How come you didn't take 5 minutes to figure out how you get flagged? Seriously. I was a Day 1 player. No one told me how it worked. I just figured it out and looked it up if I couldn't. It's not that hard. You've clearly been around these internets a few times if you have an ARTICLE on a website called "Gaming Excellence." Surely you could figure out how to not get ganked. You're not dumb. You're just playing the victim. "The only redeeming quality you have is that you will, after the investment of hundreds of hours, have reached a basic level of competence." Did it really take you -hundreds- of hours to reach a BASIC level of competence or are you just exaggerating again to make a point?
"The first thing anyone starting WoW needs to understand is this: You are a stupid noob." Aren't you a noob at any game you start playing? Aren't you a noob at -anything- you start for the first time? Isn't that basically the defintion of "noob?" Isn't it up to you how you react to that label?
I'll give you this. You want "nerds" to rise above the expert-vs-beginner confict. It seems to be part of the human condition for experts to look down on beginners regardless of the situation. Sports. Math. Games. Doesn't matter. The Wii vs. WoW comparison is apples to oranges. I bet if we took our Wii Fit stats and let everyone in the Wiiworld comment on them we'd have just the same percentage of "lol nice weight loss, fatty!" as you get anywhere else. Of course, they'd have your actual weight to compare with the Wii. You're going to be hard pressed to beat a 12 year-old's weight. Fatty. "Lewl"
"I find the culture, with its focus on periodic face-to-face gatherings through conventions, to be essentially inclusive." Again it seems like you're picking and choosing to suit your argument. Don't you think there are WoW players who meet face-to-face and have a great, inclusive time? In case you don't believe it I'll let you know that it happens. I had a great time meeting my guild face-to-face. I'm considering going to the meeting again this year even though I stopped playing -- such is my inclusive connection to these people I met through the game. Gasp, I know!
In short,your premise seems to be the following -- nerds are, given the chance, acting like jocks. Which, I might say, is "people acting like people." There are plenty of assholes in the world acting like assholes. But I would suggest you're reinforcing stereotypes of the victim who can't take responsibility for her own actions rather looks elsewhere for salvation. Let's stop trying to place the blame elsewhere with false arguements and take a closer look at ourselves.
|
|
|
|
dacaba - March 4, 2009 8:08 PM ET |
Would you really love to hear our thoughts or do you only want to hear platitudes agreeing with your view point? I'm getting mixed signals here.
There's a difference between seeing valid points and just railing against those who dare speak out against WoW. Since WoW is a wholly internet game it seems to bring the real internet tough guy out of people. If you were part of WoW for long enough then I'm sure you know the people I'm talking about. As with any fanbase the loud, obnoxious ones are usually the ones that crawl out of the woodwork first.
"You will then be able to participate in raids and help facilitate guild leaders rewarding their buddies with the best loot, at the expense of those not in their clique." My friend "generalization" just found a new friend -- you! This doesn't help your thesis. "With its user controlled loot allocation" you are perfectly capable of finding a group of like-minded individuals who will allocate said loot however you want.
It's okay if you've managed to have a good time but seriously don't make it sound like it's all rainbows and sunshine. I played WoW for long enough to get a helluva feel for the game and I had nothing but trouble with the people on WoW. Guild masters that did their best to screwjob others to make sure their elite group got the best equipment, people who ask you to help with quests and then jump out after completing what they needed, guys who link up with noobs to try and rip them off of rewards... the list goes on and on.
Even with user controlled allocation there's still plenty of problems with it the first being that you need to realize its there and how it works. It can be plenty problems for those of us who didn't learn everything there is to know about the game before booting it up. Coming away from a year and a halof of Star Wars Galaxies, year of City of Heroes, eight months of DDO and now moving to Shin Megami Tensei Imagine I've never, ever, encountered the jerk to player ratio that I did in my months at WoW.
Except you have a venue (here) to proselytize to others how terrible things are in this particular game.
I kind of think you're missing the point of a video game review site...:confused: That's kind of what they do with all games on these sites. Any review of any game turns out to be an opinion on matters. Then you write a review that's essentially you preaching your opinion to others.
"The first thing anyone starting WoW needs to understand is this: You are a stupid noob." Aren't you a noob at any game you start playing? Aren't you a noob at -anything- you start for the first time? Isn't that basically the defintion of "noob?" Isn't it up to you how you react to that label? I'll give you this. You want "nerds" to rise above the expert-vs-beginner confict. It seems to be part of the human condition for experts to look down on beginners regardless of the situation.
Not exclusive to WoW but in most MMOs the noob label carries with it certain connotations that I personally find distasteful enough to keep me out of those communities. Just because it's part of human nature doesn't mean it's not something that damages the community as a whole. If you can carve your niche good for you but if not there are few worse experiences in the world than playing an MMO like this.
Especially since WoW (since it's bigger) has a much bigger jerkass to helpful ration than most MMOs. If looking up something or asking a friend doesn't solve a problem it's an absolute trial to get an answer from someone sometimes without being mocked incessantly.
|
|
 |
So what your trying to say is that people act like humans even when playing WoW. Shocking! You do have some valid points in your article. But in WoW as in all things, one must take the good with the bad. A little tenacity is needed to play this game, and I'm sorry if this retort comes off a bit bullyish but if you can't take the heat, well maybe Hello Kitty Online is more suited to you MMO gaming needs.
|
|
|
|
dacaba - April 4, 2009 10:28 PM ET |
And it's attitudes like this that justify people's seething hatred of WoW. Basically "we're jerks there like everywhere else, so deal with it." Wonderful.
No people don't act like humans when they play WoW. They act worse in some ways since the anonymity of the internet allows even overweight, teenagers who would otherwise be bullied and pushed around to act like tough guys and serious jerks. It's kind of like taking the worst of 4chan and the GameFAQs messageboards, stirring and pouring it out. Unless you luck out but for every person that lucks out there's someone who gets agitated with all the garbage.
The thing I find especially annoying is the fact that you're PAYING for this sort of frustration. If this was free, like Hello Kitty thank you very much, it's hard to complain. I don't complain about the horrible combat in Shin Megami Tensei Imagine or the annoying players in Hero Online because it's free. Even the hackers in Diablo 2 aren't as annoying because the online is free to play. Tack on a price tag and people have every right to complain.
|
|
|
So what your saying is, it's ok for regular people to be tough guys and jerks, but fat kids aren't allowed. That i can understand.
And I'm not arguing that the game is expensive to play. But I think its well worth it and so do millions of other people the world over.
One more thing. When you say "And it's attitudes like this that justify people's seething hatred of WoW." don't you actually mean. And it's attitudes like this that justify MY seething hatred of WoW. Your not really getting that many responses to this post, and most of the posts have been from people who enjoy WoW but do get annoyed by the bully aspect. I'm not sure how many people you have in your corner but i bet it's not many.
|
|
|
|
dacaba - April 10, 2009 5:29 AM ET |
Actually what I'm saying is that the people on WoW can be about as obnoxious as it gets due to the anonymity of the internet empowering those who would otherwise not be so bad. It's not about "who is allowed to be idiots online" its about the idiots ruining the game for some people.
I don't care what millions of others think as that sort of lock-step with us mentality is kind of ridiculous. As for how many people feel this way I don't feel like I need numbers to reinforce my point. I frankly don't care who agrees with or disagrees with me because I have, get this, personal opinions. It's a brand new invention really and I hear its not really catching on so let me explain. When I feel a certain way towards something I don't check with my peers and comrades to make sure it's okay to feel that way. Heck if that's the way it's supposed to be I better rethink my feelings on music too. I'd hate to think that since millions were buying it I'm just missing the absolute quality of it. Lemme go download some Hannah Montana, 3.6 million people can't be wrong!
That aside I don't know if you can see this but most of the posts on this forum aren't the most active at times. So seeing not so many responses isn't indicative of anything other than things being slow here. I know plenty of people who still play WoW as well as those who have switched to other MMOs who all acknowledge that the gamers on WoW are one of the weakest aspects of the experience because of how popular it is, every jerk is playing the game. On the smaller MMOs you usually get healthier, more useful communities than the backwash of humanity that plagues much of WoW. I have a group of six friends who insist the only reason they even bother with WoW is that they DID luck out and met a great clan that they raid with regularly. Should that clan ever disband due to internet drama or just disappear they would definitely quit the game rather than trying to find new allies.
|
|
|
Now your arguing your right to have an opinion???? I don't remember saying you couldn't have one. Seriously, Is that the best you got? Sure you have an opinion, and sure this is the Internet so you have every right to be a jerk and trash talk a game that millions love and adore. But isn't that what you were just preaching about? That the anonymity of the Internet allows fat kids to be jerks. I might be a bully but your a hypocrite.
|
|
|
|
dacaba - April 11, 2009 5:22 PM ET |
Lol, I'm a hypocrite? You really have no idea what the hell you're talking about, do you? Do you even know what that means without looking it up? Being a hypocrite would require me to believe that the people playing WoW are wrong for having the opinion that its fun not simply thinking its a bad game. Just because I'm saying something is bad about a game you apparently worship you view it as trash talking doesn't make me a hypocrite nor a jerk. It just means we disagree. *sigh*
You make a comment about how few people I have in my corner wherein I respond that I don't need people in my corner to feel a certain way. You then respond by saying that I'm a hypocrite for having an opinion because...? I have no idea how to respond to you because you just kind of post random crap. I guess you're referring to me thinking people on WoW are bullies and saying that's my opinion on the matter and I don't need people backing it up to feel its the case. I'm not sure how you get hypocrisy from that but sure. Why not.
Seriously, Is that the best you got?
At least I'm actually trying to have a discussion instead of being insulting. You're a great example of the "best" of WoW. Instead of responding to criticisms or what people say you just randomly insult them and ignore what they're saying, reading whatever you like into it that makes you feel better. I guess I hit a nerve with the overweight teenager joke or something.
To sum it up for short attention spans:
Kid you really need to think before you post. Your responses are hostile and when someone posts, rather than actually reading what they say or how they responded to you just get pissy because someone doesn't like your beloved WoW. Staying on issue would prove a point rather than making you seem like one of the WoW forum posters who whines how every update broke the game.
|
|
|
Wow, have you been reading your own posts? The tone of those things have been hateful since the start of this thread. Your very first note was nothing but a long winded insult on the Warcraft community. Now you get upset when i insult you and your goofy, ever-changing arguments, not to mention your hipocricy. I might be a kid, but I'm glad you pointed out that your an adult. It makes me feel so much smarter for it.
Also, i showed this thread to my mom. She thinks your a jerk too.
|
|
 |
|
Jason - April 12, 2009 2:51 PM ET |
Okay, I have to admit a few things here first. I've been avoiding this thread and the article for a while now since I happen to be one of those people who play WoW far too much.
Wall of text incoming.
I've been playing since I left GamingExcellence actually, so shortly after E3 2006. I leveled quickly, started raiding in a casual guild and haven't looked back since. I quickly progressed to a leadership position in that guild and also eclipsed the skill level of the players there. It was hard for me to leave said guild even though our progression and in game experience wasn't satisfactory to my own goals in game solely because of the people there. This wasn't a small guild either, we had a very large group in comparison to most and everyone in there was nice and enjoyed socializing and playing.
Anyway, fast forward I bit, I leave for a more progression focused raiding guild. I joined my current guild about a year after I started playing and have been here ever since. Again, I've moved to an Officer position and help with the daily guild management and dealing with the issues that arise in regard to our raiding goals.
What I have learned over time is that people can be negative in this game and hide behind the computer screen with behavior they may normally not exhibit in real life. However, what I've also learned is that the people you play with are just that, they're real people. Most of them do care and many friendships can arise from playing a game with people who are far away from you. These mean more to me than the game itself and I'm happy that I've had a such a pleasant experience in game and have met many great people who are very important to me and who I plan on keeping in touch with after I leave. This is the reason I still played WoW for so long, this is what motivated me to carry on with this game.
At the end of the day, its just that, a game. And, its not even a really good one at the moment. The raid content is too easy, the game itself is really easy to learn and its frustrating when you realize not everyone can play at the same skill level as yourself when its not hard. However, the friendships and the players are what most people keep playing for. I've also found that these are not limited to the guild you're in. The server itself is a community and there are many people across my server that I speak to regularly from other guilds. This is part of the reason why I'm going to miss WoW so much, not because I like playing the game, but because I'm leaving behind many people who I've come to know quite well over the years.
And with that, the last thing I have to admit is that I've just recently quit playing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
About Auracore MediaWorks | Advertise On This Site | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use 
