What is an 'Elitist'

[Worm]

Well your first statement was incorrect in every way I could see, in other words, utterly incorrect.

Oh so you think people use it in MMOs to refer to a person who is like a peasant who earnestly believes the noblemen are the best people to be in power? Obviously no one is trying to decide what is the best ruling structure for a MMO since there isn't a ruling structure for it. Additionally, I don't remember a single player who you might call an elitist, whether they're good or not, actually believing they are bad. The word is used in MMOs in a different way then referring to power structure of elitist societies, wow, who would have thought? If you want to come up with some more discrete term like 'delusion self loathing bad player' or something that's fine but I don't think it's that incorrect to conflate Elitist and Elite for the sake of MMOs, especially considering that's the common use in games beyond it just being a pejorative.

edit: I actually read your original response to me that I disregarded, aren't you just defining the pejorative here? "An Elitist is someone who sets themself above others regardless of their own actual or apparent skill." you're just defining dickhead here, you know that right? Do you really think elite top level players NEVER think they're above other players, or is it because they are actually superior then it ... no longer is Elitism?

[soulofrebirth]

What is an elitist? A miserable pile of secrets!

[Xerich]

Elitists work two jobs, babysit at home, drive sports cars, date models and have a PHD in physics from Harvard and still manage to make raid times.

If they ever say otherwise, it's because they are super modest and humble as well. Upstanding citizens those elitists.

[Skivvy]

Elite and elitist are very different concepts. The elite are simply the best of the best. Elitists are those who think they are hot shit, and treat everyone else like dirt. The elitist is commonly found tossing out demeaning one-liners to new /lesser skilled or perhaps they skip the chit chat and just initiate a vote kick if they don't want to deal with the undesirable.

[Ronyx]

Its a person who is among or in some cases believes that he is the best of the best and look at the not so good players as low-life, worms etc etc and because of this they exclude these players from their groups because they are a drawback for their goals and dont bother help them or teach them. They just push their way of thinking and their methods as a standard.

[RowanLauron]

Elitist in the gaming community is a person or group of people who reject people of lesser skill/gear level in order to progress their own game and are typically seen as rude and egotistic assholes because of their high standards. In the end though, they are the ones who get the job done (usually).

Some people are just arrogant assholes who can't play worth a damn. I call those people noobs.

[maxxvoltage4]

They are the tanks who drop instance the second they learn there's someone New in the group. Who ragequits after a couple wipes.They are those who berate those whose gear is not as high as theirs. Those who expect you to dedicate yourself to the game as fervently as they have, and if not you're a 'filthy casual'. who believes they are superior than other gamers, but only because they have watched the videos of others and have help from parsers and the like. I don't care what anyone says, if you're using a program outside the game to help thats cheating. Gets angry at you for watching cutscenes coz heaven forbid you actually want to play the game for the story. this was my first MMORPG, and probably my last if this is the kind of attitude other gamers have.

[HumsterMKX]

Basically we need to list out in point form, for easier reference.

Usually, I mean usually why is it the term is used in a negative light is:

Look down on others
Look up to and probably suck up to others with better stuff
Deem there is only 1 most efficient way of doing stuff
Always going after the best gear available, and not caring about others that might need it more.
Always trying to push around others.

[Velox]

My simple definition: anyone who uses the word "scrub" more than twice a week.

[zPanda]

Elitist in a video game = Loser in real-life who needs video-game accomplishments to feel superior to others since he/she has major inferiority complex in real-life due to lack of success/self-esteem/etc.

Perhaps this definition is a bit generalized but I would bet good money it applies to 90% of the "elitists" in this game. Anyone who posts stuff like "don't embarrass yourself" or "I'll kick scrubs..." etc. in their PF posts probably has faced embarrassment and/or rejection in real-life and are looking for ways to compensate via their "status" in a video game.