I remember when I stayed up until 5am playing a certain game to finish a bugged encounter and then stayed up until 6:30am just waiting on a chance for a piece of uber loot that no one else had. Oh those were the days.
I remember when I would do the same encounter over and over just to get that same uber piece of loot that I couldn’t live without.
I remember when I would camp a mob waiting for hours, nay in fact sometimes DAYS so I have a chance at killing a critter to get the same uber loot mentioned above.
You would think I was about to rant about uber loot. Au contraire…
As a mature (ahem – older) gamer. I have wrung through the ringers of dungeons, instances, defenses, offenses, loot rolling, staying up until 6am and taking a day off from work because I didn’t get any sleep kind of nut. I have slayed, died, rolled, lost connection, cried, sweared, laughed, reported and swore some more.
I’m a gamer, I love games and this is what I do. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Love it or hate it, I’m always dedicated.
So am I entitled?
Lately it seems that more and more games are focusing on the ‘casual gamer.’ The lass or lad that has a regular job, spouse, children and responsibilities. They are the one that no matter how much they want to play, there just isn’t enough time in their day to spend 8 hours on a raid. These folks want the full experience without having to spend the time to get it. Please note that they would if they could, they just can’t. They are not able to compete with the power gamers with far too much time on their hands.
These ‘casual gamers’ have been a loud voice over these many years of MMOs existing. Either that or it just happened to be the last selection in the “Why have you quit this MMO” questionnaire and it seemed like the easiest thing to click.
So the Designers who are themselves growing older, having families and a life outside of the games they used to have so much time to play are catering to this ‘casual gamer.’ They want to give the full experience of staying up all night in a compact hour and a half. This is logical and while I never want to stay up until 6 am for a piece of uber gear again – that doesn’t mean I won’t.
Where the jeebers does self entitlement come in? Stay with me, I’m getting there.
There are bunches of people just like me, who wear their “I stayed up until 6am” badges proudly (and a bit shamefully). We tell the tales of all the epic battles that lasted forever and a day. Remember that story of your friend that fell asleep on their keyboard during a raid and the drool shorted the keyboard out? Oh think how much we all laughed and that was just an awesome memory. On the other hand, these are also the people that will complain to whoever will hear them about how they got screwed over after spending 10 hours in a dungeon with a bunch of morons and they will never ever do that again because well games were just evil and the designers were out to get them.
It wasn’t just the gaming companies that were listening, the newer players were as well (in game or the children of long raiders who wondered what happened to their mom or dad during that time). They have heard the war stories, how awful it was that people had to work to obtain what they wanted. It was painful, it was fun but essentially it was torture.
So now we come into entitlement. I find it amusing yet sad that there are so many players of games out there that complain about how hard something is now. They want everything handed to them, but to make an effort or to spend time on it, is just way too much effort. Many feel that they are ‘entitled’ to the things they get in game because they feel they are paying to play they deserve it.
If I had a nickel for everytime I’ve heard someone (incuding myself) say, “I don’t want to level again, I just want to get to the max level and play the end game.” I would have a pile of nickels a mile high.
The thing is, gamers like myself experienced the misery of where it took 6 months of playing all night every night to obtain the highest level. I have to admit that those dues were paid and sure a little bit of easy “get there faster” sounds heavenly. However, what about the 12 year olds that never ever experienced sticking with something long enough? Are they entitled to have it easy?
Yes, it would seem so with the trends these days.
While I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind getting back some of those hours or days that I wasted playing games for stuff I couldn’t live without and can’t remember what they were today. But even through the complaining, whining and swearing those times were some of the best online gaming experiences ever. I’m just sentimental I guess.
It seems that by shortening the amount of time it takes to do something in game, it limits the connections we make in the games we play. Put someone in an online game/chat room with others for hours with the same goals, they become, friends, enemies or those people you never ever want to group with again. When things don’t take a long time, it’s hard to keep track of who you are with and a simple “thank you’ from a stranger seems like the best thing ever.
While I understand the need to make things easier for the ‘casual’ gamer, I do believe that we are losing a community of potential future gaming friends and guildmates.
I don’t long for the days of staying up until 6am wanting gear, but I do long for the community that once spent the time to pursue them. Crazy as it seems.
I think the only thing I’m entitled to is to have fun by working to obtain my goals. Give me things, the same things that everyone else has in a short amount of time and what is the fun in that?
There needs to be a way to be casual but with a twist of adventure that gives you a chance to obtain harder goals.
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