Originally posted by Scot

"Before I end this piece, I'm going to paraphrase the Miss Universe Creed that was stated in each pageant from 1960-1990 into something gamers can understand."

I know gaming has been dumbed down, but I still think the average gamer would be able handle anything a Miss Universe contestant could understand, without paraphrasing. :D

'Even' gamers would give better answers then these girls:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUrs2umQNIo

LOL. Paaaainful to watch. Probecita.

Well, they're beautiful so they'll have doors open easily to them compared to the average gamer :p 

I'd totally watch a Miss Brainy Universe. Beauty AND brains.

OP you make it sound like so many people were crying about the results. But if you go back and look it was really just the same 2 to 3 people that ALWAYS get butthurt whenever GW2 isn't worshipped by all.

One of them even posted things that most people would get banned for, but as always mmorpg overlooks it and lets them continue to troll.

You should find something else to do if your going to write articles pretending that society is going downhill. In my opinion it is the mods that let the same troll get away with trolling and crying.

Originally posted by Malcanis

Originally posted by SBFord

It's no secret that the winner of the MMORPG.com Players' Choice Award Game of the Year 2012 was a huge surpise and a big upset. Pirate101 scored a narrow victory over Guild Wars 2 and a huge discussion erupted in the official announcement thread. In today's Devil's Advocate, we take a look at why some folks just don't get it. Read on!

Here's my unofficial take on this: you don't get it. You don't get what an award for Player's Choice is about.

In the first case, the “Player's Choice Awards” is a statistically unscientific measure of interest in a given topic where people who are interested in the topic actually choose to vote for something they want to win.

Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s The Devil's Advocate: The Players and Their Choice.

 

What does it matter? The players "choice" was only a choice between the options you allowed, not a choice between what the players actually wanted.

To put it another way, if I offered the choice of a punch in the gut, 4 hours of left-wing talk radio played at 120% speed or a cheese sandwich for your Christmas dinner, then announced to a suprised world that "The players of MMORPG.COM chose a cheese sandwich as their favourite Christmas dinner" then I'd expect responses similar to what you've received from those players.

fixed LOL

PROTIP:   Exercise the right to interpret polling results as the editors sees fit.  Acknowledge outside interference.  Acknowledge what the community has valued over the past year.

Isnt the mmorpg hype meter a form of voting in itself.  One that you can derive a years worth of data.  I was out of the country for awhile this year, I never remember seeing Pirates 101 recieve any real attention from the community here.  I could be wrong.

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by ScorpionOne
Welcome to Generation Me.  First there was the Baby Boomers.  Then my generation (from 1975 through the 80's.  Not sure what that was called).  Then Generation X.  Now, it's Generation Me.  "My game didn't win.  So now I'm going to spew bad things about (site/game/whatever) that didn't choose MY game.  Me me me me me me me."

Don't know either, but we could call it the pc generation (Speccy, Commodore, Atari)

Or the AD&D generation? Gygax ftw :)

Actually, Generation X is 1960-1980, after the Baby Boomers.  Reason for the name?  The Baby Boomers was such a large group that they got a lot of attention so the group behind them was considered to have gone "unnoticed" (or received less attention) hence the X for being basically unnamed...and now back to the topic of whether or not a "Player's Choice" award on a website is worth making such a big fuss about how or why a certain game won.

...Haven't read all the posts yet.  I know people are coming up with different theories as to why Pirate 101 won.  Not sure if this one has been presented yet or not:

-- It is possible that people voted for the game because there was nothing else on the list they liked.  Yes, in a way, as a vote against certain games rather than a vote because they loved the game they voted for but NOT to laugh at the other game.  As far as the limit of choices, there were categories I didn't cast a vote in because I either wasn't familiar with/hadn't played any of the games on the list or because the game I wanted to vote for wasn't listed (especially when it came to upcoming games).  But honestly, I don't think there was any game in particular that I was rooting for when it came to winning.  I understand being disappointed when what you want to win doesn't (awards, sports, beauty pageants, etc.) but as people have said, this isn't a life changing event.  Ok, people may try Pirate 101 as a result but, other than that, people are going to keep on playing whatever game they enjoy playing.  Want people to know what a great game you play?  Want people to join a game you play?  Writing positive posts about a game will probably go just as far to meet that desire as whatever games may or may not win the Player's Choice on this website.

To me it really makes no diffrence who won. Although I bet if we were to have our own private vote without it being advertised on the games website GW2 would win. All this probably did was get a bunch of kids to sign up to mmorpg.com to vote. 90% of them wont even participate in the mmorpg.com community.  So honestly the win was a fluke if you ask me.

Think about it..The Pirate101 community got together and voted for the game they like to play , but how many of them actually played the other games on the list? My guess would be probably not very many.  So the award was won on a blind eye.

You all may think this is stupid....So I post a challenge !  10 people who actually play pirates101 and have tried the other games. Comment stating so and comment that you think pirates101 deserved the win. That you would have chose it over any other game. I bet not even 5 will respond..for 2 reasons..one being more than half of the people that voted for P101 wont even come back to mmorpg.com. 

Like I said I dont care who won , but that doesnt mean I  can tell when a win is a fluke!

I'm just a little ashamed to write on these forums after this; it's not from anything the site, people or games on it have done but rather how my friends are making fun of it and those who post here.  When they heard that Pirate 101 won (not even aware of the context or the other games that were in the running), they pretty much denounced this site as the laughingstock of the gaming community.

It's one of those peer pressure things and not something I'm ashamed of based on the content or the reasons given.  Kudos to MMORPG for putting up with it; people who don't have all the information tend to be pretty cruel to things.

Originally posted by Maephisto

PROTIP:   Exercise the right to interpret polling results as the editors sees fit.  Acknowledge outside interference.  Acknowledge what the community has valued over the past year.

Isnt the mmorpg hype meter a form of voting in itself.  One that you can derive a years worth of data.  I was out of the country for awhile this year, I never remember seeing Pirates 101 recieve any real attention from the community here.  I could be wrong.

 

I think the hype meter and the top voted games list have a mind of their own.

Originally posted by Darklotus79

All this probably did was get a bunch of kids to sign up to mmorpg.com to vote. 90% of them wont even participate in the mmorpg.com community.  So honestly the win was a fluke if you ask me.

Think about it..The Pirate101 community got together and voted for the game they like to play , but how many of them actually played the other games on the list? My guess would be probably not very many.  So the award was won on a blind eye.

You say it got people from outside this game's community to care about the site enough to come here, register, and vote?  Yeah, that's the whole point of the award.

As for people not playing all of the games, that's always how it works.  If someone has played all of the games enough to have a meaningful opinion, then they're such a game-hopper that I wouldn't value their opinion much, anyway.

I played Wizard101 for a short bit quite a while ago.  It had a very interesting TCG style combat and and interesting twist with dynamic grouping for combat encounters.  It also has a very loyal community.  If Pirate101 is anything like it, then I can see why their fanbase came out and supported them.  It's not something I kept on with, but it was an interesting innovative game with a good community.

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by Darklotus79

All this probably did was get a bunch of kids to sign up to mmorpg.com to vote. 90% of them wont even participate in the mmorpg.com community.  So honestly the win was a fluke if you ask me.

Think about it..The Pirate101 community got together and voted for the game they like to play , but how many of them actually played the other games on the list? My guess would be probably not very many.  So the award was won on a blind eye.

You say it got people from outside this game's community to care about the site enough to come here, register, and vote?  Yeah, that's the whole point of the award.

As for people not playing all of the games, that's always how it works.  If someone has played all of the games enough to have a meaningful opinion, then they're such a game-hopper that I wouldn't value their opinion much, anyway.

Well truth be told how many peoples opinions do you value to begin with? Especialy opinions of people you dont even know ! So your saying you would value someones opinion more if they never even tried the games at all?  Over someone who has even played it a little bit?

Thats got to be the dumbest logic I've ever heard !  

What do you consider a game hopper? Someone who jumps from game to game without going through the content? You do know all the games on the list were themepark right? It doesnt take long to go through content , a couple of months tops.

If the point of the awards were to up the user base on the site. Then they got what they wanted. I thought the point was to Vote for the games. 

I know opinions are like buttholes and everyone has got one , but yours is wack !

I sense further agruments as a result of the asking to not argue. makes sense.

Originally posted by travamars

OP you make it sound like so many people were crying about the results. But if you go back and look it was really just the same 2 to 3 people that ALWAYS get butthurt whenever GW2 isn't worshipped by all.

One of them even posted things that most people would get banned for, but as always mmorpg overlooks it and lets them continue to troll.

You should find something else to do if your going to write articles pretending that society is going downhill. In my opinion it is the mods that let the same troll get away with trolling and crying.

 

I have to agree with you about this site's penchant to let a select few troll and bait at their leisure while reprimanding or even banning those who take them on.  Especially when it comes to those few who worship Guild Wars 2.

Over the years, from the days of BBS and IRC to MU* games ... onward to M59, UO, DAoC, WoW, etc ... into the heavy international gaming market; "gamers" have gotten worse. Before, being a gamer was being typically an outcast; an adventurous and creative spirit seeking a place where their ideas and hobbies were not only accepted but celebrated.

Now, with every 2-bit hack-n-slash, entitled self-absorbed preening person jumping into the gaming wagon; the "RPGer" in gamers is dying. Now its all  ego-fueled, angry and opintionated hatred; much like comic book fanboys have done with various beloved superheros. This modern gamer is what is ruining the industry, what forces developers to dumb down games to appease the growing crowd of impatience.

MMOs and RPGs in general are a mere shadow of what they once were, glossed over in fancy graphics. They are as generic to the term RPG as a corporate born boy band is to real music.

Sadly, the gaming community will not change; as with the world at large now- it will only get worse. They will "troll", "hate" and "badger" others just for the sake of doing so from the apparent safety of their keyboard. They are, in every sense of the word, cowards.

The issue is that a game with almost no positive or negative reaction, press, or posts on this site won the player's choice.

Personally, I find it hilarious. No matter how often people bash GW2, TSW, or any other MMO on this site, I will always remember: this community thinks Pirates101 is amazing.

I don't suppose it's occurred to anyone that Pirate 101 got as many votes as it did because people on this site tend to hate games they are even remotely familiar with? We're known for hating on games. Add the people who registered on this site to vote for Pirates 101 and the people who just didn't want the other games to win, and you get Pirates 101 as the winnar.

Anyway, good for them. Flying whales with towns on their backs. Whales. Flying. Towns. I mean really, how do you beat that? Dinosaurs eating mimes while tearing down the Eiffel Tower covered in zombies?

Originally posted by BadSpock

The internet is the Mos Eisley Cantina - "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

In truth - I don't think that statement applies to just the internet anymore - because the internet is no longer some seperate thing from our lives/society it is an extension of it.

Human society in general has become a cespool of negativity and evil. I fear for humanity.

Somewhere along the way people stopped learning their "please and thank you's" and stopped caring about basic civility and good manners.

I say this as a 29 year old. I'm not even that old to be this crotchety.

We are the last generation thats has old school values Spock. ll leave you with a quote.