Favoring the Prepared

July 13, 2006 on 11:10 am | In MMO (Live), General Gaming, Playstyles

This past Monday over at F13, Evangolis posted some thoughts on abjectives ascribed to high end guilds in these games. Their proposal was to shift thinking away from such derogatory terms as "uber" and "catass" and think more along the lines of how these guilds functioned.

Their thought was to consider these guilds "Focused". I completely agree. Here's why:

Who are they? 

My opinion of how these groups operate is best summarized by quoting Louis Pasteur: 

Chance favors the prepared mind.

That's basically where I see uber/catass guilds at. I don't care what some non-involved armchair outsider thinks of them. These groups of focused people are there for the benefit of their group alone. Whether that group expands or contracts to include or exclude allies or the random pickup addition is merely a subset of how these types of groups operate.

I agree with Evangolis' use of "Focused". That's what they are, a group that transcends a bunch of free-thinking happy-go-lucky random-AFK semi-interested while-watching-TV/IMing "casual" folks into something that values efficiency and winning. This is why they're playing after all. Camaradarie and socializing come as a result of like-minded folks maximizing their preparedness at efficientally acquiring better rewards. Some have referred to this as a form of military thinking and discipline; however, I steer away from such comparisons because these are still, after all, merely games with no real risk.

Many actual players I know (as in, folks who actually play instead of just talking) are fine with the behavior of focused groups because they themselves know their own limitations (I admit that's no easy task). If they have the time, they'll petition to join such groups or become the leadership of a guild or sub-group that becomes focused themselves. If they don't have that time, they either leave the game, leave the genre or scale their own expectations lower. They aren't getting Legendary gear. They're not making Flasks in the Alchemy Lab. They're not a notorious pirate. And they're fine with this.

Focused guilds or groups get the job done. They are good at doing so in games that are all about that. Who's the more frustrated? The insider having success or the outsider who doesn't want to play the game as intended and continually waits for it or another to be redesigned so that they can be successful?

What about my needs?

Further into the discussion, Stray raises an important point about the fun value. However, I think he's focused too much on people who expect the game to be fun for them just as it is to other people

This I disagree with. No game is for every person, and any game that has ever tried to be has ended up being so bland as to be unenjoyable for anyone. Just because it's called an "MMORPG" doesn't mean that anyone who's ever played an MMORPG should find it appealing. Consider: this is the genre in which, technically, both Second Life and Guild Wars are a part. You can't get much more diametrically opposing than that.

For folks for whom the game is not immediately fun, it is better for them to continue searching for a new game that could be rather than hang around and expect their current game to change for them.

The reason for this is three-fold:

1. With so many games, what's the point of waiting around for one someone doesn't like to eventually change to become something they do like?
2. What is fun for them today may not be fun for them tomorrow. Either the game rules change (pre-60 WoW v post-60 WoW) or they simply got bored with the core concept. How many diku-inspired games can one play before they start seeking something more cerebral, broad or self-directed?
3. If the company has a game that is already very successful for a bunch of folks, what's the business rationale for them to change it for the relatively fewer people who don't like it?

In my opinion, there are simply too many games out now, both within the core of the genre and on the fringe of it, for people to arbitrarily stick with one title in the hopes it'll get "better". I understand the desire to be part of something successful and the corrollary desire to want to like something obviously so many other people do. But eventually, we all must just face ourselves and ask the smart question:

What is more important, being part of something that is wildly popular regardless of one's own fun factor, or finding something with more appeal and potentially falling into a more tight community of folks with similar play preferences?

People need to leverage the breadth of this genre and keep searching.

What about you? Feel free to discuss here, over at the robust original thread at F13 or over at Grimwell online.