Why I Decided to Become an Elitist

[Purrfectstorm]

Post removed.

[Zaft]

That's a really long post.

[Purrfectstorm]

That's a really long post.

I wrote it while Titan was in the air. True story. (I was bored)

[tocsin]

SE, please allow us to give more than one like on a post. I want to give this person like 20 cookies right now (and watch them eat them in between titans jumps).

[gorezilla1]

I wrote it while Titan was in the air. True story. (I was bored)

I was eating breakfast and choked with laughter. Lol.

[SaintAjora]

Then they reject vote abandons as if to hold the experienced players hostage with the penalty timer.

Oh, I've never rejected a vote abandon to hold anyone hostage. ?_? I've rejected them because it's usually one disgruntled person who wants to leave, while the rest of us are willing to go back in there and try to get it down instead of running away. Don't try to make us all leave (and end up waiting in queue all over again) just because you don't want the penalty. If the majority of people weren't having fun or didn't think it was possible to win, the vote would pass. If it's rejected, it's simply because you're in the minority and should just leave on your own if you want. I'm pretty sure it's almost never about holding anyone hostage...

[Purrfectstorm]

Oh, I've never rejected a vote abandon to hold anyone hostage.

True, not all vote abandon rejects are about holding people hostage. I do feel like many are, though.

I think you're mistaking the elitism we all know and abhor for simply being good.

I'm not mistaking it. Different groups use the term "elitist" differently. I was just trying to demonstrate the positive side of elitism (the self-improvement angle). I agree elitism where people put others down is bad though.

However not watching a guide is not the sign of a bad/weak player.

I agree. Although in most cases the player who isn't watching a guide and wants to learn on the fly does so in groups where others do know the fight. Some groups are okay with this but many are not. Again, it is because players who don't know what they are doing are complete liabilities. SE shares the blame on this by making fights counter-intuitive and where new players cause auto-losses for groups. In this game, knowledge of fight mechanics IS what separates good and bad players. If you don't watch a guide and you're in a group of others who have, your performance will generally be worse.

I think this post is painting the issue in broad strokes.

I won't deny that. But look how long my post was just using broad strokes. Would any of you read a book on elitism if I wrote it? (I would paint a more complete picture, I promise!)

[kyuven]

I won't deny that. But look how long my post was just using broad strokes. Would any of you read a book on elitism if I wrote it? (I would paint a more complete picture, I promise!)

As an editor, I'd advise against using the term "elitist" as it doesn't contain the right connotations.
Also, you'd need to address arguments: mainly, how do you respond to day 1 content? If you expect people to watch videos, how about people who don't even know they exist? How about people who don't learn except by doing?
Also, you mention that you practice. OK. So I'd assume you use the PF? Or the DF? By your own expectations, since you're practicing, if you ran into yourself, would you leave yourself behind because you don't know the fight? At what point would you leave yourself behind?
Do you expect people who want to practice content to form a PF each time? There's about 2 dozen fights in this game with mechanics. How do you practice for each one?
You mentioned titan...titan is one of the worst fights for newbies not only because of how it punishes failure to respond to mechanics, but also because if you DO fail and end up at the bottom of that chasm, you can't see the rest of the fight. Even Leviathan lets you see the fight if you've fallen off...

[Purrfectstorm]

As an editor, I'd advise against using the term "elitist" as it doesn't contain the right connotations.
Also, you'd need to address arguments: mainly, how do you respond to day 1 content? If you expect people to watch videos, how about people who don't even know they exist? How about people who don't learn except by doing?
Also, you mention that you practice. OK. So I'd assume you use the PF? Or the DF? By your own expectations, since you're practicing, if you ran into yourself, would you leave yourself behind because you don't know the fight? At what point would you leave yourself behind?
Do you expect people who want to practice content to form a PF each time? There's about 2 dozen fights in this game with mechanics. How do you practice for each one?
You mentioned titan...titan is one of the worst fights for newbies not only because of how it punishes failure to respond to mechanics, but also because if you DO fail and end up at the bottom of that chasm, you can't see the rest of the fight. Even Leviathan lets you see the fight if you've fallen off...

Elitism does carry negative connotations which is why something like "I've decided to become an elitist" makes such a great hook.

How do I respond to Day 1 content? I usually run it with FC or create a PF "Learning group, expect wipes, please be patient."

I only expect people to watch videos for difficult content (primarily EX primals and Coil). I would not expect them to watch a video in DF (although I'd certainly hope they would); I don't expect much out of DF at all. I can honestly say I've never met anyone who didn't know the community was using Youtube video guides to learn fights. In my FC, we get new players who ask about a fight. "Is Garuda EX much different than Garuda HM?" for example. They are usually advised that it is a lot different and that watching a guide might be helpful. That being said, I wouldn't be rude to someone who didn't know video guides existed or didn't realize right away what a really, really good idea it is to watch them first. As for learning by doing, I myself am that type of player, but I still find it somewhat helpful to know basic things like "Don't kill spiny" and "Don't place meteors too close together"

As for how I practice - generally I make learning groups in PF and/or ask FC members if they'd like to join. Friends are generally more patient of others learning content. It's unrealistic to expect this kind of patience from complete strangers (although I think it would be really, really nice to live in that world). At what point would I leave myself behind? When I see that I'm not up to the task at that moment. I've bowed out of a lot of groups because I was lagging, because I needed to re-watch a video, or I was just overtired. I don't expect people to form PF every time they want to learn something. Hopefully, the player base understands that most people are going to be new immediately following the release of additional content. For content that has both been out a while and is expected to be reasonably difficult (i.e. something with the word "extreme" in the title) I would definitely expect people to practice it the best they can with PF or even with DF. However, in the latter case, the new player should understand that DF is a complete crapshoot and they're likely to meet with some impatience. I'm not suggesting that they not DF it by any means. They'll just have to hang in there through the votekicks and disbanded parties. Hopefully, they'll understand that players don't owe them that learning time.

Titan is a terrible fight for newbies. I agree. It's really fun when you get the hang of it and fun is why we play the game but I hope SE will design fights a little differently in the future (few, if any, mechanics that completely remove people from battle). On the other hand, one shouldn't expect "Extreme" whatever to be newbie friendly.

[Madepossible]

This is why it's good to have a static clearing endgame content. A sidenote: the noobs can watch Mr. Happy's or MTQCapture's Xeno's Raidguides before engaging into endgame content. Sometimes people lag but how hard can it be to press a button at the right time?