T w e n t y S i d e d

Since we’re using cute names to pigeonhole various types of players online, I thought I’d note that yesterday Derek K said:

This is true. There are actually two very different types of PvP players. The good kind – who I respect even though I’m not interested in their particular flavor of gameplay – is the classic competitor. They want a “fair” fight, inasmuch as such a thing is possible in an MMO with looting, leveling, and lagging. They want to compete, to overcome, to see how far they can go. They have a certain code of sportsmanship, which varies but which generally promotes healthy and vigorous competition. They respect the rules of the gameworld and are there to enjoy the game.

The other kind of PvP player – the more notorious sort – are just the classic online brats. The basement-dwelling Donnys of the world. They fight weaker players, on purpose, as often as they can. They corpse-camp, grief, taunt, hassle and generally promote an atmosphere of angst and frustration. Donny ganks a kid twenty levels below him, who gets angry and kills someone twenty levels below him, who gets angry and hassles other players in some stupid but infuriating way. It’s a great circle of petty feuds, hurt feelings, and terrible English. Their unspoken motto is probably, “if you can stop the other guy from having fun, you’re winning.” They’re just bullies.

I gather that some servers have a different feel to them. I suspect the two types of PvP players avoid each other, and perhaps this leads to some servers having more of one type than another. I’d love to hear about life on other servers if anyone has the inclination to share. Just mention your server, the population level, and what you think of the natives.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “World Of Warcraft:
Server Culture”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

I think I’ve finally been with this game long enough to tell the difference between newbie growing pains and actual design flaws. Despite the fun this game has to offer, it is not without its eccentricities and frustrations. This list is long. This is not because the game is rife with idiocy (at least, not more than other games) but simply because the game is so immense.

I actually considered making this a series, but then I decided to just dump the whole thing on you at once. Good luck. This does not mean I won’t write more nitpicks later. All of my efforts thus far have managed to raise a character to level 37, which means a vast portion of the game still remains beyond the horizon for me.

And now begins the nitpicking, which in this case takes the form of a numbered list:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “World of Warcraft:
Nitpicks”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.