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Khalix -> The 'Win' Complex (6/6/2013 13:11:50)
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A break from all my non-serious threads. (Hopefully, this somehow won't end up deleted)
I believe I've already discussed pragmatists before, however, for the sake of new readers, they are simply "Practical" people. Best equipment, best advantage, best etc. etc. to ensure a good win. They're also the most common type of player in practically every game. No one wants to be under-equipped, especially in the presence of other people- Players.
Alright, what about them?
They really inhibit progress and (Unfortunately) flood the forums with biased messages without regard for others.
I'll give you ladies and gents a wonderful example, myself.
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I've first played ED on 2009. Back then, lots of things were different and everything was generally well- Except for the fact that varium dictates your capability to win. Of course, being a lovely free player at the time, I quit after my W/L R* went below 1. Returned on 2011 with a different character class, maintained a high K/D R, then got bored, this was repeated until I have experience will all 3 starting classes at the time. To be honest, the only difficulty was when fighting varium-users. Everything was a breeze, except for my first ever character.
Now I have a fancy Juggernaut with a W/L R of 9.
*Win/Loss Ratio
Noticed anything odd?
Some would say that "Learning from past mistakes are normal." However, what I'm confused with is the fact that I'm now obsessed with "Winning." You see, most battles last from 2-7 minutes. Fact is, because grinding* is literally part of the game, you get more and more obsessed with winning.
The problem it imposes on us:
Players are mostly pragmatists at heart. The moment we see a loss because of some unforeseen factor (Such as critical hits or stuns), we instantly blame the system and speak out against its existence. You see, ED is no longer being played for "Fun", but simply "To pass the time" or "To brag about how many wins I have." After all, it's generally agreed that since missions are bland, PvP is the one and only right way to go.
The fact is, even lvl 35's complain about balance when they have achieved a hard goal already- Leveling up to lvl 35. To be fair, plenty of the MMOs I go to have pretty laid back max-levels who don't really care anymore about how their record looks primarily because there's no point in making changes as they've already achieved their goal. Their present goal, after maxing themselves out, is to find friends and so on.
Back on topic, it affects ED because of selfish, biased threads that focus on the ramblings of someone obsessed with keeping a good record. One loss from a "Lucky**" turn is enough to send them spiraling down in rage. The most common outlet is the forums.
The most common example of pragmatism is...
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My x stat is higher than theirs, therefore, they cannot possibly y me.
It's a common mindset. You think your attacks are unblockable if you have 30-36 defense while your opponent has 20-24. Or that it's simply impossible for someone with 4-5 Support to do two criticals in a row. After all, the minimum chance is so low, it might as well be 0%, right?
The thing is, this mindset makes us obsessed with thinking "I have the right to judge which side will win." Meaning preemptive judgement based solely on the players appearance or battle record. Most of time, it's accurate, but when someone with 100 wins and 40000 losses beats you in a 1v1 match, it is simply too unbelievable. Again, this results to venting out on the forums.
Another would be 2v2 wins, where players with big egos command their partner and blame them solely for a loss regardless of whether or not his/her commands led to the path of victory. To be fair, this also caused me to stop playing 2v2 games- Instead, I chose to play Juggernaut games, where the only way for me to theoretically lose is to make a mistake.
One last thing, pragmatists are rather selfish. Despite the high amount of "Successful" players, you rarely see a guide around these parts. This is especially common in PvP-oriented MMOs where to share your technique would be fatal. On PvEs or Co-Ops, however, the amount of guides are staggering to ensure that all possible allies are competent enough for the guide-poster to maintain the feeling of "Winning" when teamed up with the readers.
After all, who would share their secrets to winning in a game that pits player against player?
*Requiring 130475 exp to reach lvl 35 from lvl 1. That's about (10873 1v1 wins at the same level, 5437 1v1 wins during power hour, same goes for 2v2 wins at the same total level and 2719 2v2 wins at the same total level during power hour
**Luck in my opinion, is a term for good or bad fate, which is, technically speaking, a philosophical term used to describe the outcomes of particular events.
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Author's Notes
Brainstormed, started: 00:34, ended 1:10
I won't state a solution.
This is a discussion for you ladies and gents.
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