It's funny how the times have changed...

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by Trelaboon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And MMO's with them....

I remember when EQ came out, I was completely awestruck by the great men and women of Norrath who had achieved the highest of quality in character development.

I specifically remember a handful of characters who I was so deeply fascinated by, that I felt we were divided the way the President and I might be divided if ever we were to meet. I would see these people day in and day out, and imagine what kind of spectacular lives they must lead outside of Norrath, for surely someone so great as they must have a truly magnificent livelihood outside of the game. I wouldn't even send them a tell, because the uber/non-uber segregation had taken its natural course.

As I grew older, I began to realize, that the players who were the absolute best inside a video game, had to almost be the complete opposite outside of the land of EverQuest. Traits that often included: unemployed, disabled, retired, rejected, anti-social or in many cases; a criminal in house arrest. Those were often the greats of our time....the ones who first saw Nagafen lay belly up, who ran around in golden shoes, while the rest of us paraded our cloth along the uneven cobblestone floors of Qeynos city.

I realize this was not 100% accurate in all cases, but it was definitely the most common denominator among the elite. I was thinking the other day about modern MMO's and how being unemployed is no longer what gets you on top of the fantasy food chain. In the current state of online gaming, the most powerful of all players, are often the ones who can spend thousands of real dollars on in-game, pay-to-play perks. While being a hermit certainly offers you the same potential advantages, there are no longer quite such large divides in the player base of modern games.

In its own way, it makes me sad. Something about giving up real life time and social activities in order to become the best, is something that I wish had not yet gone away.

My father always told me nothing was free, and that doesn't change with the name Free-to-play. There are always costs to success, but real life money should never have become one of them. This sad state of affairs, is one of the many reasons I no longer play Modern MMO's, and why I'm so captivated by P1999.


Thank you to all of the developers that give up *their* free time in order for us to walk into a living, breathing time-machine. I'm genuinely grateful for the last 4+ years I've had on this server, and hope to get at least 4 more.

<3

I don't know what makes you say that early ubers were all some kinds of lamers/no lifers. I knew quite a few on Fennin in the early days that were RL professionals and/or really great people. Is this just your impression or do you have anything to back that claim up with? Also, to include 'disabled' with the other derogatory terms you used kind of sucks in my book. I assume you didn't mean it that way, but you should be more careful with your language.

[Fett]

Originally Posted by fadetree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Also, to include 'disabled' with the other derogatory terms you used kind of sucks in my book. I assume you didn't mean it that way, but you should be more careful with your language.

Is there a more PC word than disabled? What should he have called them, wheel chair jockeys?

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by Fett [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Is there a more PC word than disabled? What should he have called them, wheel chair jockeys?

You miss my point, which is that you included them in a list with criminals, low lifes, etc. Also you never answered my question: I was wondering what makes you say this when I have had kind of a different experience. I don't really care if you don't want to elaborate, I was just curious what you based it on.

[koros]

Your post is filled with platitudes, superlatives, and unnecessary "anecdotes". As far as poorly written, tangential soapboxes go, I give it 2/10.

[Toodles]

Originally Posted by fadetree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't know what makes you say that early ubers were all some kinds of lamers/no lifers. I knew quite a few on Fennin in the early days that were RL professionals and/or really great people. Is this just your impression or do you have anything to back that claim up with? Also, to include 'disabled' with the other derogatory terms you used kind of sucks in my book. I assume you didn't mean it that way, but you should be more careful with your language.

FoH, is your answer.

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by Toodles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

FoH, is your answer.

And we know FoH were all degenerate neckbeard basement dwellers how?

[Ugrask]

Originally Posted by fadetree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And we know FoH were all degenerate neckbeard basement dwellers how?

I lived with one of their WoW ilk for a few years. Can verify Neckbeard basement dweller.

Had zero social ability, would often stare full on at my GF's chest, walk in on sex no knocking. Not clean up his messes in kitchen, barely ever worked. Proper grooming/laundry were not high priority.

Now this isn't all of them, or their EQ ones...but this guy was a major raider in EQ and EQ2 prior to WoW...sooooo.

[Danth]

I take the "You see me putting in 70 hours a week in EQ but I'm still super successful outside game and dating a supermodel too!" crowd with a grain of salt. A few of them may be on the level but most aren't. This may be a shock to some, but people have been known to lie on the internet.

Folks riding the coattails of the high-hours players can achieve "success" in EQ with mild time investment (a few hours an evening) but it comes with its own costs--ie, largely relegating oneself to being a pawn in someone else's game.

Danth

[Duckwalk]

All of the people "ub3r" people I knew through PoP we're young proffessional types many working in IT, programming, computer related fields not criminals as you suggest.

Actually you're description is more appropriate for P1999 as it takes a special kind of person to cockblock content for 3 plus years in an attempt to "dominate" a free emulator version of a 15 year old game..

[skipdog]

You say all MMOs are pay to win, yet to me(and according to subscription numbers), it's actually the worst and least popular MMOs that are pay to win.

WoW is not pay-to-win. Want to be the BEST at WoW? You gotta be an amazing player willing to play perfectly on a consistent basis and yes, dedicate a huge chunk of your free time to play almost every day.

What really confuses me about this post, is that you act like RMT doesn't exist on this server. Heck, you can buy more advantages on THIS SERVER with real money than you can on WoW or most MMOs. You can buy your entire fleet of epic'd 60s and enough plat to deck them all out. No reason to pretend like it isn't an option for some.