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WoW and Gaming History: A Ballad
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Post by
Hyperspacerebel
I think the vast majority of us here grew up playing the NES and SNES. Others of us didn't come around until the PlayStation or Nintendo 64. And a select few of us still remember the good old days of the Magnavox Odyssey. One thing, however, is true for almost every person here: gaming shaped your life growing up.
There are 3 games from my childhood I remember distinctly having an influence on me.
Star Wars
on the SMS was my first dip into the science-fiction/fantasy genre that I am so involved in now (I actually played the game before I saw the movies).
X-Men
on the Sega Genesis lead me to buy my first comic book, and anyone who knows me knows where that has lead ;). Finally, the game that I consider my advent into the hardcore gaming scene:
Half-Life
.
Now, I've always been a competent gamer; that's something that has not changed over the years. What has changed is
why
I play video games. When I started playing video games, it was because they were
*!@#ing awesome
, or as I would have said back then,
crazy awesome
. Once I got passed the immediate shock enjoyment, so to speak, I began playing game to beat them. I would pick up a game and play and play and play until I could do it in my sleep. What was nice about games back then was that it was very easy to memorize the correct input to win any given level, and that in turn made it really easy to go over to a friend's house who had the same game and show him how awesome you were. The fun was no longer from the game, and now it was coming from the competition that the game generated. That is why at this point in my life, I wasn't a big fan for rpgs like Final Fantasy. Those came into my life in my third gaming stage. I got my first computer in '97-'98 (I don't exactly remember when), and I started playing games from multiple genres, and began enjoying games for their content. Half-Life's atmosphere blew me away. Age of Empires kept me up late night after night build hugely complex cities just because building them was so much fun. I never owned a PlayStation, but I played Final Fantasy so often on my friend's, because the plot felt so epic. This stage lasted until a couple years later when I discovered MMOs.
Lineage
was my first MMO, and since then I've played nearly every other MMO to come out for at least a month or two. At this point my motivation was for community. I desperately sought after groups of people I could share my game experience with, but like most young teens I hated committing and always ended up moving on. Paralleling my search for MMO communities was my search for FPS communities. From Counter Strike and Team Fortress Classic to Unreal Tournament 2k4 and all the way to TF2 and MW2 now.
Finally, we come to the gamer that I am today. Looking back, I can break up my gaming history like I just did, but a little pat of each period stuck with me. Now, I love gaming for the sake of gaming, I love competing with people, I love discovering great games, and I love being a part of a gaming community.
So after all that we come to the issue at hand. What stage do you see your gaming at? What stage to you see the majority of WoW players at? How does this affect WoW as a game? Is this something that can be changed, or will WoW always attract a certain type of gamer? Would you say that games you grew up with shaped you in some way? If so, how does this affect how you play WoW? And finally, do
you
have a unique insight about gaming you'd like to share?
Post by
Monday
What stage do you see your gaming at?
Hard core I suppose. Starting on 100% Metroid Prime 1, that'll take awhile. I may pull an all nighter if I have time the next day to sleep in, sometimes for WoW but generally not.
What stage to you see the majority of WoW players at?
Casual: Play for fun. I usually just play WoW for fun though as well.
How does this affect WoW as a game?
People quit much more readily, more whining and younger players.
Is this something that can be changed, or will WoW always attract a certain type of gamer?
It'll probably keep the same type unless it goes super hard-core, which will make most people quit.
Would you say that games you grew up with shaped you in some way?
Very. Majora's Mask was my first "real" video game, and I spent hours upon hours on that thing.
If so, how does this affect how you play WoW?
I'm not apt to quit doing something I'm already doing, and I have a greater patience as a whole, or so I like to think.
And finally, do you have a unique insight about gaming you'd like to share?
Maybe not unique, but while I consider myself a hardcore gamer, some people take it way too seriously, and like to whine about the younger generation far too much. We should focus more on having fun than on whining about other players.
Post by
Cambo
What stage do you see your gaming at?
Casual. I play WoW when I feel like it, and primarily for social reasons. Still can’t play a 'proper' game of Civ 5 (assigning specialists etc). I don’t take my gaming really seriously, but I am always seeking to improve and be proficient in my class and role. I felt bad this week because a fellow guild-member was maxing their gear with enchants and other improvements and here I was unenchanted, no gems and no new gear in weeks.
What stage to you see the majority of WoW players at? Casual
How does this affect WoW as a game? Blizzard having to make some content easily accessible, while still providing challenge to hard core players.
Is this something that can be changed, or will WoW always attract a certain type of gamer?
Casuals are most probably a majority of the subscribers. Making WoW easily accessible and easy to play opens Blizzard to different types of gamers (girls, older people etc).
Would you say that games you grew up with shaped you in some way? Not really.
If so, how does this affect how you play WoW? It doesn’t.
And finally, do you have a unique insight about gaming you'd like to share?
Gaming is a great past-time. Good to play games if you need to unwind, de-stress or take your mind off something. WoW has changed the way we game. It isn’t really just switching on a console for a few hours. It is alot more immersive, occupying much more of our life.
Post by
Squishalot
There's a wall'o'text in there that would be flamebait if Aestu had written it.
My insight is that there isn't a great deal of difference between you and Aestu.
Having said that, WoW does attract a certain type of gamer, primarily due to its very public reputation, but it's difficult to segregate these, because your possible result variables (i.e. # of achievements, raid progression etc.) are likely to be similar for very different types of people. What would be more interesting would be to take demographic stats on people playing SC2 in Bronze / Silver / Gold / Platinum / Diamond leagues and see if there are marked differences.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
There's a wall'o'text in there that would be flamebait if Aestu had written it.
My insight is that there isn't a great deal of difference between you and Aestu.
I purposely reproduced Aestu's thread, but without calling people noobs or ignoring the people who reply, and hopefully not flamebaiting anyone .
When you go and call a large portion of the latest gaming generation noobs, you better believe your thread's going down.
Post by
Squishalot
I purposely reproduced Aestu's thread, but without calling people noobs or ignoring the people who reply, and hopefully not flamebaiting anyone .
I know, I guessed as much.
My point is that Aestu didn't actually call anyone noobs in his last thread OP, and that if he'd written precisely what you said, I'd be willing to bet that the community would still flame him for it.
Then again, you're the target of much flamed debate in the community too, so that's not saying that much :)
Anyway, I've said my piece on topic above. SC2 avoids a lot of the dregs that WoW gets, simply because it's a PvP game (no, not necessarily Protoss v Protoss all the time) - the crappy people get eliminated via attrition and consistent losses in Bronze League.
Post by
124027
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Bruunpala
What stage do you see your gaming at?
Atm, I don't really know. I'm at a standstill of sorts where I actually try to get back into WoW, but after different episodes with changing guilds and such it's been hard. Before these things became an issue I was quite hardcore in my approach to WoW and it has been about 1-2 years since I actually played another game with any kind of dedication.
What stage to you see the majority of WoW players at?
As above posters has pointed out, they are mostly "casuals". Then again, I like to bring up a view on the "Casual/Hardcore" thing. TotalBiscuit defines casual gamers, as person who doesnt have a set gaming schedule, eg people who play when they got that spare 30min-XXhours. On the other hand, people who play with any kind of schedule would be described as hardcore. Imo this is one of the best describtions I've met. For instance, if you ask a random 6th grade student who plays every day after school, wouldn't you imagine that he views himself as "Hardcore"? The way I see it, most noobs (read: younger players) think that hardcore means you either rule the raiding scene and/or throws 5-7 hours into the raiding every night. Again, it is all about the raiding. Couldn't you be a hardcore tailor, skinner or archaeologist?
TL;DR: Most people are, imo, hardcore newbies. I say newbies, because I don't want to insult anyone, I'm merely speaking of people who hasn't put as much time into the game as other people(me).
How does this affect WoW as a game?
Again, as most above me has written, they quit way to easily. I imagine that most of the kids playing are used to having everything handed to them on a silver platter and most of them are unable to see themselves losing. On the other end, the "adults", I see people who either believe they are most important, their time is more valuable them others and so on. And then there is the "normal" people who can actually interact in a mature way, people who can express themselves through words.
Anyway... Imo, it makes the game and people in it a bit dumber and duller every time one of the "kids" or "adults" log in.
Is this something that can be changed, or will WoW always attract a certain type of gamer?
The only ones who could change this would be Blizz. By either having an IQ test on the login screen along with the authenticator, or by making the game considerably harder, forcing people to actually learn how their class works.
Would you say that games you grew up with shaped you in some way?
Yes, alot. However it wasn't as much the games as it was the people playing them.
I started playing certain games and types of games because people I looked up to played them. Eg. I got into Final Fantasy because my 2 older brothers had a PS1 and spent alot of their time playing FF7 when I was around 10. I remember how awesome it was to be allowed inside their room while they played, even though I had zero understanding of what was going on.
My gateway to MMO's, would be my cousin. We spent many days after school together, where we would both make our own games, talking RPGMaker =), or browsing for new online MMO's. I can't remember any of them because there were so many. Most of them were probably eastern, but just the thrill of seeing other people in our games was something new. Coming from "
Wolf
" to something as simple as Runescape was incredible.
I feel like I keep getting sidetracked... It's hard for me to say that, this game me the person I am because <Insert Reason>. But I feel the WoW has had the biggest impact on my personality.
It has made me more patient when dealing with younger people, and just people in general.
It has earned me an A+ in spoken english. =)
It has made me wan't to improve in many things other than games.
I'll cut it short here though.
If so, how does this affect how you play WoW?
I always play with a certain expectation of immature people, and I therefore always prepare myself for wipes/insults/trolling and so on, and it makes it a so much better experience when you meet those few people who are mature and nice. In a way, it makes it more pleasent to play when you are ready to face those who "want" to ruin the experience of playing.
And finally, do you have a unique insight about gaming you'd like to share?
I don't believe in illusions... I have no snowflakes, and I think very few people can say they have, without lying.
Post by
Gnub
I purposely reproduced Aestu's thread, but without calling people noobs or ignoring the people who reply, and hopefully not flamebaiting anyone .
I sincerely hope it'll turn out good, because this sentence specifically got me twitching - and I really hope everyone involved in the original thread read my
reply here
. Big Wildebeest is watching - and he hopes that you'll stick to the topic at hand, without
any
form of name-calling.
Anyway, to contribute a bit to the actual topic: I'm quite convinced that player a bit of pure single player is healthy every once in a while. Old classic or not, it's certainly good to not be able to be distracted by other players at some points. WoW attracts so many different players, and to be able to tolerate some of those, you need some time completely alone - just like you do in real life.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
Anyway, to contribute a bit to the actual topic: I'm quite convinced that player a bit of pure single player is healthy every once in a while. Old classic or not, it's certainly good to not be able to be distracted by other players at some points. WoW attracts so many different players, and to be able to tolerate some of those, you need some time completely alone - just like you do in real life.
But at the same time you could argue that people don't want to go back to purely single-player games. Even the most completely single-player games now often have achievements. It seems like a lot of people are in this stage of competition, and don't want to leave it. I'll be honest, I even feel a bit counter-productive if I play a game completely by myself with no like to anyone else, be they online or in real life. There are notable exceptions, such as ME2 which drew me in to the story so well that I was able to replace real camaraderie with in-game camaraderie.
I sincerely hope it'll turn out good, because this sentence specifically got me twitching
Flamebaiting Aestu was in fact not intentional, but it's hard to avoid in a situation like this. Sorry, but I can't look at it any differently.
Post by
422399
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Gnub
Anyway, to contribute a bit to the actual topic: I'm quite convinced that player a bit of pure single player is healthy every once in a while. Old classic or not, it's certainly good to not be able to be distracted by other players at some points. WoW attracts so many different players, and to be able to tolerate some of those, you need some time completely alone - just like you do in real life.
But at the same time you could argue that people don't want to go back to purely single-player games. Even the most completely single-player games now often have achievements. It seems like a lot of people are in this stage of competition, and don't want to leave it. I'll be honest, I even feel a bit counter-productive if I play a game completely by myself with no like to anyone else, be they online or in real life. There are notable exceptions, such as ME2 which drew me in to the story so well that I was able to replace real camaraderie with in-game camaraderie.
Good point. I guess most of those were added, so that it's easier to compare yourself to your friends - competition is in our blood, after all. I could probably make up a ton of achievements on the stop, along the lines of my favorite mentionable game (from the previous thread).
But it's very true - it becomes easier to compare when the online-element is part of it, no doubt - and that's probably where MMOs fit in perfectly. You
can
play (almost) completely by yourself (with limits) through questing, dailies, gathering materials and such, and easily compare yourself to any other of the millions of players.
...Hmm, maybe I should consider answering the actual questions above more directly. :P
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