Why do people hate people who play WoW?

[Chromanin]

I hate them because they are, mostly, casual gamers, and I don't hate casual gamers because they don't devote the amount of time I do to video games or because the only games they play are WoW, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. I hate them because they made my hobby "cool."

Gaming used to be a very esoteric hobby, and I loved it back in those days. Games were more challenging, unique, required pen and paper for notes, came with awesome "feelies" like maps and junk. I was the key demographic because the key demographic was geeks. Now the name of the game is to appeal to the average consumer. Overall, gaming has become more corporate and mainstream. It's almost uncool to not play video games. Almost.

Obviously, WoW didn't invent casual play. I'm just mad about what the fans WoW represent: a cultural phenomenon that has made me hate Mr. T. I could go on, but I've already expressed myself thoroughly on this subject here: http://www.gamelemon.com/article_30018.jsp

 

[blankedboy]

Meh. I don't really.
It's an alright game, but what it needs is constant variety. This is what brings down all MMOs, except a very specific one that involves no grind...

What I'm really saying is that from levels 1-20 (usually), any MMO is a great game, you have alot of fun, etc. This is only because things change alot at that point. Then it goes back to grind. I'm okay with grind as long as something new is implemented at regular intervals. Also, levels should take exactly as long to get to the next as the one before, etc. So the gap between levels 1 and 2 should be the same as the 89-90 gap.

See, not a single MMO except the previously mentioned one does it right, which is why I'm sticking to Morrowind and TF2.

 

[Vankraken]

I think personally that its not just WoW but MMOs in general. The nature of them is massive grind and a lot of people who don't find that to be fun can't understand why people want to play those games for 10 hours a day. Also it is one of the first MMOs to hit mainstream success on the level that many non gamers started to play so the idea that its for casuals gets tossed around.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

I personally have no problem with people who play WoW. I have never seen the point in it. I have played WoW for about a week and did not enjoy it at all. Some people just like that sort of thing.

Yet, it's quite hard to defend video games as a serious form of entertainment when you are in the same group as some of the people who play WoW. I mean the hardcore guys; the guys who have 10 level 80 characters. The kind of people South Park parodied.

 

[TerranReaper]

Because "gamers" are a group of people that consider themselves to be in an elevated position in which they think they can condescend and consider other people's preferences and views to be inferior. In the context of video games, they find games to be "uninventive" and "unoriginal" and constantly bashes it, which also extends to the people that play that game and enjoy it.

There are many types of gamers such as this, such as the "nostalgia gamers", who are most known to look down on the newer games and constantly refers to the golden days while at the same time, looks at the mainstreaming of video games to be worse when gaming was more obscured. One very frequent type that are also making their appearance is the "popularity basher", who constantly bashes any game that is very popular within the industry and has a high reception from the general audience. They will, at any attempt, point out every single flaw they can find with the game, makes reference to less popular games and points out why these less popular games are superior to this. Often, they see the people that enjoy and praise that popular game, to be delusional, inferior in deciding what makes a good game or a "mindless zombie giving money to the developers for nothing".


OT: People hate WoW for many reasons (A lot can be found in my random ramblings above), but one that seems to stand out above all is the fact that WoW is seen as a game that "takes over your life". This is a common misconception and I find it appalling that people who bash people for calling video games out to cause violent behaviour, are also the same people that calls WoW out for "taking over your life".

 

[Ice Feathers]

People hate it because it ruins lives, plain and simple.

I personally have lost several friends to this game, who refuse to interact with anybody outside of WoW, sparsely at first, and then at all. One of them even lost his job and wife to a WoW addiction. True story! These are just my experiences, and I'm only one guy. I can only imagine how many others have similar stories. And I doubt (insert ANY game title) has been listed as a major cause for separation in a relationship nearly as many times as WoW.

You can blame the people (not the game) for being irresponsible, but even cocaine is pretty much harmless unless you do it too much. That's an extreme metaphor, I admit, but my point remains valid. At least they have rehab for actual drug addicts and government control for the substances they abuse. Do I hate the drugs themselves? Not really. But I do hate what they tend to do to people. Do I hate the addicts? I wouldn't be so bothered by it if I disliked them and could just write them off.

I feel entirely justified in my personal hatred for the game itself. I hate what it does to people. I hate how its effected my life and the lives of people I care(d) about. If that's considered hate for hate's sake, then so be it. My coolness factor be damned.

 

[PurpleSky]

You just started playing,.... pfft you are probably playing this right now and have already forgotten about this thread, trying to complete all of your 7 quests.

And those 7 quests will never dissapear you will always have them,or their continuation quests, and it goes on and on and on an you will want it all to end.

We don't hate wow players, we pitty them.

You Sir, are already addicted.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I understand your pain. I still get hated on very occasionally because i used to play WoW. It's just because it's different and popular and because... well, hater's gonna hate.

 

[PAGEToap44]

I hate what Wow does to some people. But not necassarily the people themselves, unless they are just unlikable. One of my best friends is a keen Wow player, and he's perfectly normal. He's good at sport too!!!?

 

[similar.squirrel]

Because if you're going to get addicted to something, you may as well make it less lame than swords & sorcery.
Seriously, the majority of that stuff is for kids. And you get 30-year-olds playing it. Something is amiss.

 

[ironlordthemad]

BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO SOULS! THATS HOW YOU PAY FOR THE SUBSCRIPTION!
Ok trolling answer over and now my real answer.
I don't know anyone with a WoW problem but I have a great friend of mine who has a few MMOs that he plays and sometimes its hard to wrap your head around how much time he spends on the same games.
For example we were all shocked when he logged 500 hours on EVE online about a year or two ago, now he plays LOTRO and has logged 5000 hours. Yeah. Something that has the ability to suck that much time out of someone's life can't be good.
I suppose I don't really hate those that play the game, just the game itself.

 

[AllyKat =D]

i play wow. everyone is nice to you....to begin with anyway...and then you hit lvl cap and everyone will start telling you how much you suck because the majority of people who play wow are elitest jerks who think they're awesome when really they live in their mothers basement eating cheezles =X

 

[Vhite]

Its same like with people who hate people who play games, ignorance and generalization.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I view them about the same as I view scientologists. I don't necessarily hate them or view them as malicious, though I can't understand how the hell they got brainwashed into dedicating so much of their time and money to something like that.

 

[Leviathan_]

I like how the threads asks "Why so many people hate WoW" while theres only a few people around that actually hate it.

There really is no need for a discussion anymore now, as the thread title is a false claim.


OT: I really don't give a shit what game people like and which ones they don't.

 

[TailstheHedgehog]

I don't. As long as they're not crazy gamers that give the rest of us bad names and stereotypes (then again, is a stereotype ever really 'good'?).

The general stereotype of the Wow player is a pathetic, boring virgin.
Some people are insecure and hate the game to distance themselves from that image.
It's the same reason some people hate Halo fans, because the stereotypical Halo fan is supposedly a 14 year old prick that overuses the word "fag".

Huh, you pretty much got everything I wanted to say there =)
But, no I can't say I really 'hate' gamers like that, but I'd much rather go hang with somebody who'll talk Black Ops or Deus Ex with me than a WoW addict.

 

[gamer_parent]

to be honest, I thought people just didn't like WoW, not that they had something against the people who played it. I mean, let's face it, WoW is a huge time sink. The reason why I never got the game was because I knew that if I somehow got into it, I'd lose large swaths of my life to it.

But if anything, that merely confirms that I am more like the people who do play it than anything else.

And really, when you look at some of the articles that have been written on the subject here at the escapist, it really can be enlightening how easy it is for people to lose themselves in it.

Still, not something aimed specifically at the gamers but the game itself.