We whine a lot. Not just as gamers, or MMO gamers, but as human beings in the western civilized world, we complain about anything we perceive as unfair or unjust or in any way lopsided. I don’t know why this is, I’m no psychologist. But I do know that there are at least five things we MMO gamers need to just get over already. At the risk of being cliché, we really do beat too many dead horses.
5.) THE RANDOM REWARD LOCKBOX
Yes, these are annoying to get and hold onto in your inventory until you inevitably either a.) delete them or b.) cave in and buy keys to unlock them. But so long as the rewards contained within these loot boxes are obtainable by players via other means or just plain cosmetic, we need to get over it when we see item stores stocking their shelves with these things. They’re not hurting anyone, and frankly if you have enough money to gamble on digital dress-up outfits, more power to you.
Guild Wars 2’s Black Lion Chest is one of the best ways to handle RNG Boxes.
4.) CAREBEARS AND NOOBS
Really, what purpose does it serve to decry people who don’t like PVP, or people new to a game or genre? Aside from puffing yourself up to look like a massive tool, PVE fans and new or inexperienced players are great for the genre. We need to welcome them and shepherd them around the space so that they become “One of Us”. Ours is a very niche gaming community, and making our games unwelcoming for others is just another way in which communities can hurt their own cause.
3.) NOT EVERYTHING IS PAY TO WIN
To quote one of my favorite lines from The Princess Bride, when it comes to P2W: “I do not think that means what you think it means.” Seriously, just because there are items you can’t get without spending money, does not mean that the game is suddenly pay to win. Stop throwing that phrase around so much, or it’ll lose all meaning.
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Black Desert Online’s Players confused pay to progress, with pay to win…
Side note? You can’t “win” in PVE, because you’re not competing against anyone. I’m sure there are some arguments or minutia we could put in here to quantify that, but you get my drift. Unless someone can spend money actually beat you at something, while those who don’t pay are left in the cold, it’s not “Pay-to-Win”. Stop blaming game developers looking to make money on your own inability or lack of desire to spend money.
2.) SANDBOX VERSUS THEMEPARK
Guys, there’s something wonderful about being alive in this day and age. That is to say, we have a virtual cornucopia of choice when it comes to just about everything in our lives: including even our MMORPGs. Now, I will grant that the Sandbox has been woefully under-represented since around 2004/2005, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options. Some of the sandboxes available to us are among the very best the genre has ever offered (even if they’re getting long in the tooth). That said, people can like or enjoy whatever they want, and you don’t get to crap on one person’s preference because it’s not your own.
1.) LOCALIZATION IS NOT CENSORSHIP
I understand the confusion, truly I do. You think that every time someone changes the nearly naked characters in your imported game to be more conservative that it’s some form of censorship. Now, while I know this whole thread will likely devolve into a discussion on this one point. There is no bone about it: localization of a product by its publisher or developer is not censoring. It is, quite plainly, about dollars and cents and meeting a market where its tastes lie. Put the shoe on the other foot, and call back to when WoW went to China.
The Abominations of the Undercity in WoW China
WoW is a game that has more skeletons per capita than most games, and yet in China skeletons are often not shown due to fear of backlash from the law, as well as cultural and religious reasons. Ergo, they were all removed, and even the abominations are stitched up to meet the requirements of the laws in China. The EU/NA versions do not care about showing the skeletons, because there’s no real social more here that would cause Blizzard to balk. In China, they erred on the side of caution and chose to stitch up Stitches. But bear in mind, even in China, some games (including Age of Wushu) do indeed show skeletons without reprisal.
No, it’s not censorship you’re talking about when the Elin in TERA got more clothes. It’s straight-up a simple case of the localization erring on the side of caution. They’d rather piss off people who will call them out for censorship than piss off people who will call them out for animated nearly naked children. It’s all about the Benjamins, baby. Get mad if you must, but don’t get confused about the right term to direct your rage towards.
