We are all geeks together
in the Raids and Dungeons forums showcases what I find most infuriating about the whole raiders v. casuals debate, and in fact about the whole WoW community. A relatively sedate topic about what the top guilds in the world do to be successful turns into the usual "ZOMG raiders have no life" argument, and then into a competition over who has the best real life. Hornwood pulls out the "I make a lot of money and can get a BMW and a hot wife" card, which puts everyone else on the defensive to prove they're not losers.
You can see the same argument in the threads and chat whenever anyone accomplishes anything in WoW. Sure, they killed Gruul, but I bet they don't have jobs. That guild has nice purple pants, but have they ever removed anyone else's? I may have a useless spec and spend ninety percent of my playtime complaining, but I sleep on top of a pile of money with many beautiful women!
If you trusted the WoW forums, you would quickly believe that every moment of your life spent not playing WoW should be spent driving around in your Lexus to the local nightclubs to get drunk and pick up hot chicks before going to the gym so you can fit into your $10,000 suit. Not only does this reek of soulless consumerism, it assumes that everyone has the same goals in life. Who is more successful, the shy WoW player with a few close friends that he treasures, or the outgoing businessman who makes the life of everyone he meets a little bit worse? Is it more loserish to spend two hours counseling a 15-year-old guildmate whose parents have been fighting than to spend two hours picking up a girl you'll never call again?
Let's be honest -- we're all geeks. Whether you're an Ohio State basketball player or a promising underground hip-hop artist, whether you play one hour a week or one hundred, we're all geeky to some degree just by virtue of playing WoW. Pulling the "you have no life" card on anyone who plays more than you just makes you look whiny. Plus, gamers face enough opposition from Jack Thompson and his ilk. We don't have to fight among each other. This geek on geek violence must end!
