The Daily Grind: Why so much hate for MMO tourists?
MMO hobos. MMO tourists. MMO locusts. MMO vagabonds. MMO hoppers. MMO jumpers. MMO dabblers. "The MMO Burnout crowd." So many names for people who move from MMO to MMO, and none of them nice!
We don't pin these labels on people who sample the best of other forms of entertainment. If you devour a Firefly marathon one night and descend upon The Hobbit the next, we don't call you a cinema locust. If you play soccer today but tennis tomorrow, we don't sneeringly describe you as a sports tourist. If you read T.S. Eliot this week and J.K. Rowling the next, I'm not going to deem you a book hopper and kick you out of the cool kids' book club!
Not everyone sees MMOs as worlds that must be lived in for years to be appreciated or enjoyed, and I doubt I'll shock anyone by arguing that many MMOs aren't even designed for long-term consumption; some studios plainly expect us to come and go and return again later as we might return to a beloved old book. I myself prefer a cozy, long-term sandbox home, but I can understand why other people choose to dabble. So why all the hate for the so-called MMO tourists?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
