Quote Originally Posted by Nabian View Post
To quote a few famous movies:

There are no points for second place...

If your not first; your last.

As a culture we have the problem with celebrating mediocrity and I think its crap. I enjoy helping people, and encourage everyone to help out their fellow players. What I don't understand is why everyone feels the desire to "protect everyone's feelings." Using terms like "he is still learning" or he "needs to improve" will give players a false sense of worth. We see the same problem in the school system today where the bar is constantly being lowered. We need to raise the bar not lower it.

Saying he "still needs to learn" doesn't change the fact that he is still currently a bad player. It is his\her job to seek advice to improve and make himself a better player. There is nothing wrong with being a bad player and in fact, most people who are new to a dungeon or a game in general (unless your a freak of nature like the top 1% of players) are bad at some point. We all start as bad players and some of us evolve into better players through hard work and preparation.
As someone who is years out of schooling and in the active workforce i can understand where you are coming from. Second means nothing in the world. if you aren't first then someone is taking advantage of you, you are working for someones paycheck and you are a cog in the machine. True all that.
Raising the bar towards learning is the best thing that would ever happen, if political and racial tensions where ever solved and we lived in a utopia where everyone was thinking of their fellow humans and just not be a selfish dolt (there have always been cases of selfishness but by todays standards it is promoted where as some years ago if you where not part of the collective/community and didn't give in it could have dire consequences in your life thereafter)

I do understand the points. i know what you mean. i am a supporter of teaching by experience and leading, not bossing.

But you have to understand something very basic.

You do not know what ages, backgrounds or any other variables of the people you are playing with, especially in a pug.
If you found someone worthy who knows how the world rotates good. but chances are you are not. you can find respectable teen adults i agree, but you have to admit that not all are going to share the same experiences as me and you and know what it means to strive under pressure.

On the other hand, there have always been people who found their comfort zone and stuck to it, whether online or in irl. If you see the trends in psychology, whereas 50-60 years ago rich meant having millions, now a large amount of people would just answer, not to worry about my next paycheck. Security over the risk of enterprising.

Do understand as this is a game our personal ideals cannot come in to the way of fun. casuals are getting more and more prominent at entering the internet. where some years ago we would be the niche, we are now the normal. where now a hardcore player is a mediocre by old school standards.

Shifting trends, new age groups entering the market and the economic world is shifting stuff around.

So. just to finish it off. its good to have standards. its good to have leverages.

Its not good to assume and just bash cause it makes you the same as the 'selfish' people you are bashing at.

Teach by example and do remember that this is a medium of enjoyment.


PS. while bashing and elitism is the norm, it takes big Kohonas to be polite in the internet.