There is a rising sentiment among gamers that I feel is problematic, and, well, downright shitty. And that’s entitlement.
People are very passionate and attached to some of their games. I feel like it happens significantly more with WoW than it does most other games. I understand that attachment. It’s been around for so long and it has become such a huge part of our lives. It’s sometimes how folks met their best friends, their significant others, and their families. It is important to many people.
The thing that folks are forgetting is that it is just a video game. It’s part of our lives, yes, but it is a consumer product at its core.
It’s a human thing to give sentimental meaning to innanimate objects. People do this with a ton of stuff, and is, in part, the basis for hoarding behavior (admittedly hoarding becomes about non-sentimental objects too). People attribute meaning to those objects and they have inflated value because of it. Other people see that movie ticket stub and for them, it’s trash. But for the person keeping it, it’s a date with a loved one, or a spark for other memories.
WoW is this for many people. There are fond memories as well as frustration and annoyance. The game, either through it’s story or the game itself, has sentimental value for each person who plays, in some form or another.
For some that sentimental value has turned into entitlement. And shitty assholic behavior.
I’m going to reiterate this because I feel as though people forget this point far too often. WoW is still, and will always be, a consumer product.
The nostalgic memories and the sentimental value of WoW will vary for everyone, because the experience of playing varies with everyone. That doesn’t diminish the value for one person and make it less or more than the value for another person. It just seems like oner person values it more than another person because of that sentiment.
And regardless of what value it holds for each person, the one thing that needs to seriously stop is the belief that Blizzard, it’s employees, and WoW owe people anything. The belief that they do is really just your shitty entitlement showing through. People need to let that nonsense go.
When was the last time a doctor told you that recovery from an illness was going to be 4-6 weeks, but it took longer than that? Did you show up at the doctor’s office, frothing at the mouth and screaming at them for not holding up to their “promise” that you’d recover in a certain time frame? Or how about when you went to take your car to the mechanic… and they said it would be ready in 2-3 hours. You come back after 2 hours and when your car isn’t ready, so you scream and yell at people? Do you threaten to just not pay them? Drag your car to the next mechanic that can fix it in 2 hours instead of 3 or maybe even 4 hours? Do you call them names? Threaten their lives? Exclaim how much they deserve to have horrible things happen to them?
It just feels like more and more the WoW playerbase feel entitled to content when they want it, and how they want it, and The Company Blizzard isn’t allowed to make any changes without first consulting the millions of players who all want, and value, different things about the game.
TL;DR: You’re not entitled to shit. You’re not entitled to shit. No matter WHAT you think, you’re not entitled to anything. So stop treating other people like they’ve personally offended you by doing their jobs. Hint: They didn’t.
This post is part of the #Blaugust series.