07.02.06
I’m so hardcore I just s*** my pants
Found this on 4chan (Dad, you really, REALLY don’t want to follow this link, just trust me) in reference to World of Warcraft:
“Guys, my guild is constantly stopping in raids for toilet breaks, dinner, and because they need to let the dog out ;[ Progress = zilch. Is this just my guild or is every guild like this?”
If there ever comes a day when I say this, in a completely serious context, changing only references to activities and the proper noun for the group name, there is something very specific I would like you to do for me. I would like each and every one of you to come to my house and beat the hell out of me with my keyboard until I lose all will to even touch a computer.
There is some redeeming content in that thread, yes, like the guy who says that he quit WoW once he got to the ‘raiding’ point (presumably the endgame content). And yes, I’d be willing to bet that once I get a character or two to 50 in City of Heroes, the thrill will likely die down (I’m hoping I hit 38 today). The thing is, though, there are certain fundamental differences between the two games. For example, players valuing their health and sanity more than a few goddamn bits.
I play two MMOs, as you folks might know. City of Heroes/Villains and Final Fantasy XI. I tend to play CoX more than FF simply because it takes less time for me to have fun there than FFXI. This may be a factor of the servers I play on (Virtue and Fairy– which, I should add, never sounded so absolutely implicit until right this second) and it may be a factor of the gameplay itself (as Rob will undoubtedly be extremely quick to point out, ‘grinding’). But, as the aforementioned thread shows, a lot of what makes an MMO fun– or in this case, drives potential players away– is in the ‘unseen selling point’: the people you play with.
Let me put forth a hypothetical example here. We have a pretty closely-knit group of friends congregating here at TFO.net. Why do people stay? I’m not going to hold myself in any regard and say it’s because of my pathetic and less-infrequent-now ramblings, but rather people stay because of the other people who are already here. “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.” The same holds true for an MMO. People join MMOs for different reasons; however, they stay most likely because they’re invested heavily in their friends within the game’s context. In the case of a ‘casual’ game like CoX, it’s a good thing; there’s a core group that sticks around, but general comings-and-goings are accepted as daily life (but it could be bad to those folks who don’t have any other social contacts outside of the game, in which case they wind up not developing real-world contacts– gah, getting too far into pop psychology here). And, for WoW, it could also be a good thing, if you get in with the right group of folks.
I cannot now or ever dictate who is and is not “the right group”. To do so is arrogant and childish and more than a little offensive. But I can, and will, say who is and is not the “right group” for me. Folks who think that it’s OK to berate, and belittle people who deal with emergencies as they come up instead of delaying them to play a goddamn game are not the “right group”. And though they may not be representative of all WoW players, I have yet to see evidence to the contrary.
Let me say something else, too. Yes, you should take care of life stuff before sitting down to play. Water the plants, feed the cat, eat food, that sort of thing. But if it comes up and is genuinely unavoidable– like, say, the call of the commode (note to self: do not drink three large cans of iced tea and a large coke before going to watch two movies in a row EVER AGAIN)– then you goddamned well better do it! For the love of all that is holy, that’s how people die playing these games! This is not something to emulate, this is not something to be proud of. Yeah, sure, it lends you a little bit of bragging rights (”…and about five hours in, I really had to pee, so I held it till the next break…”) but honestly, outside of your game friends– who were most likely there– who cares?
There’s a reason I (usually) only give a high-level overview of my CoX and FFXI time, and that’s because the people who would be interested in it, already know. The rest of the world likely doesn’t care that I had fun collecting shards with the Phoenix Force in Bloody Bay, or that I’m stranded in Selbina because I don’t want to leave before I hit 18. So telling those stories isn’t important, and thus I don’t need to prove anything by doing these wonderful feats whilst under severe intestinal pressure. Yeah, if something funny happens, I might share it as long as it’s universally funny. But ultimately, it’s not that important in my life, and thus I don’t need to make it more important than it really is.
So this past week I’ve had a crisis of self-faith, wondering if I’m still entitled to the adjective “hardcore” before my self-description of “gamer”. What with, y’know, the disasters involved in not having the games anymore due to stuff and junk (side note: it’s finally turning around; I reclaimed Wild ARMs 4 this weekend, and started it up again). If being “hardcore” means pushing myself to a potentially lethal point for the sake of a stupid level treadmill, then no. I’m not “hardcore”. But, let’s go ahead and call that behavior what it is. If you have ever gotten to a point where a real-life crisis or incident has taken a back seat to a game, for no good reason other than “I don’t want to stop playing”, then you are “hardcore”, or more appropriately “hordecore”.
If you wear or carry at least one game-themed item to work every day.
If you have ever put up a pre-order poster in all seriousness.
If you can name the mixes any given DDR song is in without looking it up.
If your media rack has more games than movies.
If you have ever agonized over the decision to spend $8 on a movie or on arcade tokens.
If you direct-deposit some of your paycheck into Live Marketplace points.
If you can play “Bark At The Moon” on Expert without looking at the screen (but can’t manage even “Mary Had A Little Lamb” on a real six-string).
If the first words you learned to read in Japanese were “save”, “load”, “options”, “yes”, and “no”.
If you caught them all.
But most importantly, if you have ever said “It’s just a game.” And meant it.
Then you are the true definition of “hardcore”.