You’re quite welcome. People like Cockatron and NotaMoron (Still can’t get over the irony) are the saddest people in gaming. They have nothing else to be proud of. No real power except the feeble skill they developed online.

The sad truth is, most of these elitists (especially in WoW) aren’t even that good. They’re usually competent and, friends with high skill players. They ride a semi-top guild’s coat tails while using their guild name as a pedestal.
These people consider WoW skill brag-worthy.

It’s a very “grade school” mentality. Ugly kids pick on uglier kids. Popularity only goes as far, as the walls to the school or, even their current grade. They desperately grab what little power/influence they may have and, abuse it as much as they can.

Meanwhile, the truly good players/people, cultivate more good players, by teaching others and being gracious in victory.
No one remembers the asshole who insulted them over something trivial like a game.
They do remember the gracious veteran who helped them and pay it forward.

Grats to Muckbeast for jamming their posts so far back up their asses, that they’re reading the things, with their eyes closed.

I seriously, though do not believe that these two kinds of people can even coexist in a game peacefully. Every game will have some people with the patience to deal with the “noobs” but a majority of players will feel as though by learning/looting they have earned the right not to have to be bothered by the “lesser” gamers. I say that to mean that I don’t know that this problem is actually even avoidable. Just like the slow kid gets picked last for pickup games of football, so do the unlearned become shunned by the veterans.

RPGs have their roots in narrative, and as a rule a narrative has a progression. To eliminate the progression is to eliminate the Roleplaying and you’re left with just a game. I would argue that it’s easier to get people to play a progressing game than it is to get people to play a static one. Puzzle pirates might be great, but you’ll never get the WoW addicts to play it because they can’t get tons of loot to make themselves those “Gods among men” that they are ever striving to become.

“So what!” you say? We cannot forget that it’s all about the money. Developers are not going to spend their time creating something that no one will play. Even your ideas have to follow the money train- where there is cash to be earned your creative nature can be set free, but stray too far from what people will buy in a hurry and you have to rethink your planning.

Unfortunately the Elitism sells. I can’t stand it but I’m still playing WoW (it hurts to say, believe me) because it’s the only thing the guys’ll play with me (God forbid we play some Diplomacy! (Or Sword of the Stars, that’s my new favorite)) and until everyone like me that would like to see something better grows a pair of standards and drops their subscription until something better comes out the change is not going to happen.

Doom and gloom. I know. This may sound strange but I might not be right, that’s just the way my brain percieves the whole mess this late at night.

P.S. It’s good to be back for a little while and see that you guys are still going, things were a little dry when I checked back in a couple times after I left. My blog isn’t active, but my status as a reader is (at least partially).