Elite, Elitism, and Elitist

Elite: A very skilled player.
Elitism: A high horse mentality in which a person looks down on players of inferior skill without considering the situation from a holistic (i.e. Taking into consideration factors beyond what is directly observable) standpoint.
Elitist: A player demonstrating elitism.

Some people are bad because they have an attitude that is not conducive to learning. (e.g. People who react with hostility when given justified advice.)

Others are bad because they're inexperienced or handicapped in some fashion. (You won't necessarily know who these people are just by looking at parses or how mechanics are being handled. Some social interaction is required for proper clarification.)

The former get no sympathy from me, while the latter do.

Mostly agree with whats said here.
Elitism isn't inherently bad though, its more about how you go about it. I know how frustrating it can be when you are at a skill level where you take certain skills/knowledge for granted, but others have difficulty either doing it, or understanding it the way you do. Elitism just kind of pops up when you have to rely on others to clear content, but others drag you down with their lack of skill.
Good players should try to go out of their way to help those who don't understand or find people of similar skill to play with.

What's worse...someone who is an Elitist but is actually very very good at what they do? Or someone who is a Elitist but is terribly average at best and poor at their job at worst?

If someone is actually good at something, most of the time, they rarely have to talk up themselves. There might be some initial grandstanding but usually they just go do their thing and other people are the ones who praise them and maybe they may or may not let it go to their head and THEN it might be annoying for some people.

In my eyes, the people that boast on how awesome they are all the time are probably just average at best or maybe even not very good. Why would you have to talk yourself up constantly if you can just *show* someone how good you are in some difficult content? This is what i see people getting annoyed by when it comes to elitism. It's all the up talking going on nonstop by people who can't just calm themselves and just play. So this is what I picture when someone is upset by an Elitist being a pain.

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Originally Posted by Cherie

What's worse...someone who is an Elitist but is actually very very good at what they do? Or someone who is a Elitist but is terribly average at best and poor at their job at worst?

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The latter by far. WAY too often do I see people giving just horrible advice that borders on trolling; I've had a few babby DRGs tell me straight up "Heavy Thrust isn't worth it until I get the time buff" because someone told them so. The former can be positive depending how the attitude is carried (as you mentioned). The latter can create horrible habits and lead to completely relearning their class or handicapping themselves based on bad teachings.

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Originally Posted by Cherie

What's worse...someone who is an Elitist but is actually very very good at what they do? Or someone who is a Elitist but is terribly average at best and poor at their job at worst?

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For me both are equally bad.
If someone is extremely good at whatever they do, but they have this air around them, then they are not someone worth looking up to.
Someone who falls in the second case is a fluke, and often flushed out really fast.

Ego, ego ans ego !

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Originally Posted by Hinatea

Please take this discussion seriously and refrain from any trolling (at least not in this thread).

I am curious, and also doing a bit of research, on what these three terms mean. I've went through several other post, on various websites, but I still wanted to make one here and see how people currently feel.

1. How would you define/describe/characterize an elite?

2. Elitism?

3. Elitist?

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Elite: someone who is at the very top of what they do.

Elitism: someone who thinks elites should control everything.

Elitist: someone who thinks they're an elite, rightfully or not, and lords that over everyone.