Thursday, November 29, 2007

$15 A Month

It comes with raiding guilds. It just does.
It's called drama.
Where people freak out, yell things on Vent, and TYPE THINGS IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

There is no avoiding it.

Anathema downed Lurker last night. Again. It took several tries before it went well, and on the second last attempt there were some pretty big freakouts.
A couple people flipped about people not getting their asses in gear, blah blah blah, and just generally getting mad at other people in the raid for not holding up their end.
Then there was the following response:
"GUYS ITS JUST A GAME"

This is a typical response to many of the people who complain about people not doing their job.

It is just a game. It is meant to be played. Have fun, enjoy what you're doing, don't flip out because a mage forgot to polymorph so and so, or a rogue pressed the Envenom button too early and ate a stormstrike that the elemental shaman was supposed to have.

And so on.

You have some valid points there. It really is a game. You really are supposed to have fun here. You're paying $15 or so per month to play, so enjoy every minute of it, amiright?

But you're forgetting something.

This is WoW. World of Warcraft. It is not an RPG, it is an MMO. A Massive. Multiplayer. Online. RPG.

You know what that means?

That you are not the only person here paying $15 a month. There are at least 24 other people around you paying the same thing.

See that orc up front in the heavy armor? He's paying $15 a month to get the stuffing knocked out of him by everything from giant ogres to oversized jellyfish who shoot lasers from their eyes. Why does he do this? Why does he pay $15 a month to get shitkicked repeatedly? So everyone can have fun and enjoy awesome loots.
See that little troll at the back? The sexy one in the tight fitting dress? She's paying $15 a month to keep everyone else alive. When the orc in heavy armor gets hit, she's there to save his life. When something goes wrong, when some crazy ass naga goes around bitchslapping warlocks, she's there. Why does she do this? Why does she pay $15 a month to live a high stress job of any wipe being initially blamed on her? So everyone can have fun and enjoy awesome loots.
See that Tauren at the back there? the big guy with the giant tiger named "Fluffles"? He's paying $15 a month to shoot arrows into the bad guys. When the bad guys die, the tank stops getting bashed. When the bad guys die, the healers don't have to heal anymore. He's paying $15 a month because its damn fun to kill stuff.
To quote Shatha: "When I'm having fun, I want to kill stuff. When I kill stuff, I'm having fun."
That Tauren, he's here for murder.

So explain to me the logic that this is a game and you can do whatever. Explain that.

If you're a tank, and you bust out a 2H weapon, and die, and then everyone else dies, you just wasted everyone else's time. Everyone else does't think its hilarious to watch a tank get one-shotted. You may have enjoyed your $15, but everyone else did not enjoy their $360.

If you're a healer, and you start trying to DPS, then everyone else dies. The tank dies, the other healers die, and you die. Again, you just wasted everyone else's time and money. Their $360 a month, wasted because you wanted to have fun with your $15.

If you're a damage dealer, do the job right. Don't pull aggro. Do your job, and hurt the enemy. Do your crowd control properly. Everyone goes home happier, and you don't waste anyones time. Pulling aggro at the beginning of a fight with a 4k crit is NOT your job! Do it near the end, where you don't put everyone at risk by pulling aggro from the tank.

Learn your job. Do it well. Don't be an asshole. There is at least $375 a month at stake here, play it like you mean it.
And everyone, not just you, can have fun. And there will be phat lewtz for all.

3 comments:

Matt said...

So many times people throw the term "fun" in your face when you approach them about their choices in game. (Gear, Enchants, Spec, Play Style, Reaction Speed, Raid Tasks)

I get so sick of the "its my $15" or "I play to have fun" which is why I no longer go on pug raids and to be honest, I don't know how a guild could tollerate that type of attitude in 25 man content.

For me, its not the money I pay to play the game, its my time, my time is way more valuable than the cost to play wow, so when some jackass ninja afks and sets the raid back 2 hours, thats 2 hours that I will never get back, and little things like that can completely wipe out an entire night of raiding which for some is 5+ hours.

Anyway, loved your article, I think it should be required reading for anyone who enters a 10 man or 25 man raid instance.

Anonymous said...

Loved your article, once again. I do feel compelled to remind my squishy friend that there are some very interesting walking cows, undead dudes, orcs, trolls etc. in this game...all controlled by humans. Humans fuck up, and get defensive. The human condition is to either over react to an error and slit wrists or make light of it. Any other reaction is self control. Push people's buttons to see if you can actually get them to off themselves. It's hilarious.

If any of us were very good at this game we would be paid to play it, not the other way around.

I am happy you were with us last night for Void Reaver. I appreciate your knowlege and skill. I also guarantee I will get you killed by mistake one day. I am not trying to waste your time or money, nor mine. I just happen to be human.

Euripedes said...

Mistakes are made, I recognize that. Shit happens, for sure. Lots of times.

But the problem arises when the same mistakes, the same shit, are repeated over and over again.
When the same priest eats Spout time and time again, when a mage goes and stands behind the healers on Void Reaver three attempts in a row, that is not a mistake. That is stupid.

Getting killed by accident? Nothing wrong with that. You touch a hot burner, you get burned, you yell obscenities and kick a small dog. But you never touch the burner again. That is an accident, one which was fixed.
The people who touch the burner over and over again, and blame the microwave, thats just stupid.

Stupid is as stupid does, and please keep the stupid to PuG Black Morass runs.