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In this top five editorial, Sanya Weathers takes a look at the top five quotes surrounding MMOs and some of the history surrounding them.
There are certain phrases that crop up over and over in the MMO world. You see them in signature files, as ripostes in flamewars, and scrolling across your screen in open chat. Chuck Norris and Leroy are latecomers to the catchphrase scene. Here are five quotes (and their histories) that have been around for almost as long as there have been MMOs to play.
Read the Top Five MMO Quotes
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Excellent list, Stradden. I was hoping to see "ass-clown" in there, but "cat ass" makes up for that one. I don't hear it used nearly as much today, but back in the EQ days it was rampant.
No godless person can comprehend those minute distinctions
in doctrine that provide true believers excuse for mayhem.
-Glen Cook
'Catass' is the only one I'm familair with. Well, other than 'working as intended,' but that's pretty much a common quote in most projects
I was expecting to see some of these:
"Soon(tm)." - Devs in general
"I'm sorry, I cannot help you with that." - GMs
"A FUCKING COMPANY IS AT STEAK" - Glitchless
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
I can't take credit for this one. This one was written by Sanya Weathers.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
i was really hoping to see "Leeeeerrrrooooooyyyy Jenkins"
Hayley
all I can say is, lol !
I recognized the origin of all of those except Catass. I think I read most of them first on Lum the Mad back in the day.
Some of the greatest rants and also some of the greatest game design discussions I have read on Lum's. It was one of the best sites for news about what was really important to players. Whether it was a major exploit or some 'booby dress', they were very familiar with what the players of MMOs liked and disliked. They were in tune with what affected the game that players are playingin an MMO, which is sometimes very different from game that the developers perceive them to be playing.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
I can't take credit for this one. This one was written by Sanya Weathers.
Oh geez.... how'd I miss that. My apologies to Sanya.
No godless person can comprehend those minute distinctions
in doctrine that provide true believers excuse for mayhem.
-Glen Cook
Thanks for the laugh. and yes I've heard "Working as intended." waaaay too many times lol.
I think this should be retitled as "Sanya's Favorite Five MMO Quotations." The only one I'm vaguely familiar with is the "working as intended" which applies to ALL software rather than just MMO's.
I was thinking of Quotes from a game. Stuff like broken English in quests or dev misstypes. Eh the list was ok but the only one i really knew well was no1. Never heard of no5 ever...most people just call it 'the grind' nowdays.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Started playing EQ in July of 2000. Been addicted to MMOs since. I've never heard of "catass". Perhaps, this is more like "Top five IRC quotes that only MMO insiders would ever recognize."
Obviously, everyone has heard of "Working as intended", which I thought would be on this list. I also thought "woot", and "twink" would make it.
Great list. = )
"Soon (tm)" should be added though, this one was made popular by the eq chat team way back when the game was new.
Or along the same lines... "The server will be up in about 10 minutes." We all knew it would be another 3 hours.
-They call me Velsha
Isn't that so true LOL
Currently restarting World of Warcraft
I was almost certain that "why have a burger, when you can have steak!" was going to make the list. That caused so much pandamonium when it was quoted, and some still joke about it.
Not to mention any number of John Smedley's rants...
-----------------------
Tried- L2, Ryzom, WAR, DDO, PWI, Tab Rasa, Requiem, Champs, AA, JD, PWI, SUN, Dawntide
Played- SWG (pre-cu), AoC, VG, WoW, LoTRO,CoX, EQ2, DAOC, GW, PotBS, Aion, MO,APB, NASA, Fallen Earth, DCUO, Rift
Playing- EVE, Black Prophecy, TOR
Waiting for- Tera, Jumpgate Evo, WH40K, WWE, WOD, TSW
--
--
"Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it," Double Fine President Tim Schafer said. "Oh great, now Beyonce is going to sue me too."
that "catass" phrase must be a trendy thing for every MMO except the ones i've played. never heard it. though 10 years ago i wasn't playing any of the most popular ones.... >.>
Playing:
CS:S, Waiting to try out TOR.
Played: Sword of the New World, Infantryzone, Ragnarok Online,RF Online, Fury, Tabula Rasa, Star Wars Galaxies, Cosmic Rift....
You forgot "Its been release ready for months" X a couple years - Tasos.
I'm Awesome, Deal With It.
"Can I have your stuff?"
'Nuff said.
-Wrayeth
"Look, pa! I just contributed absolutely nothing to this thread!"
Thats your list of top 5? Um .....ok, if you say so. Ive played dozens of mmos starting with eq1 and only heard of one of those.
Soon(TM) is one I would add to the list, along with a note that "soon" can mean anything from a few months to never.
Nice. I remember reading those back in the day. But I am dissapointed that " It's not a mirror" didn't make it in. And no mention of "Kewl Dewds".
In a world filled with SomethingAwful/4chan-derived catchphrases, that's the best you could do? I've been MMOs since the UO beta and I've never heard of any these "quotes." This article is covered in weaksauce.
Anyone who has never heard "working as intended" has never played a Funcom mmo. That's been the defacto response to every screwed up bit of code they've dumped on players since Anarchy Online first launched.
Fun read to start the day ^^
Particularly liked the snarky Milo *giggles* - just too bad the sarcasm wasn't appreciated by the Powers That Be
"So I contend that the player stories will always be more powerful than the scripted stories that we try to tell the players."
- Will Wright
It would seem to me that a MMO quote should be specific, and ought to say something about MMO's in general, or a game in particular, with preferably a heavy dose of irony, and ought to induce a "WTF" moment in the reader.
Of those chosen in the article, only #2 meets all those criteria -- a developer clearly stating what he thought of his game's subscribers. "Taxi to victory" is old-hat and, I think, very very niche considering the game that led to its birth, and really doesn't say much.
If I had to submit one quote, I would choose that of Isildur, lead designer of Pirates of the Burning Sea, six months before release:
"The people who want to gank are waiting for the Next Big Failure to come along, to let them grief noobs for a few months before it shrivels up and dies. This is because every sane developer has learned this lesson: griefing and ganking doesn’t just lose you the $15/mo from the person who was griefed. It has a multiplicative effect, creating an environment in your game, and a reputation outside your game, and people tend to steer clear. ‘Play to Crush’ as a selling point and marketing slogan probably lost SB twice the players it ended up bringing them." (Full quotation here.)
Anyone who played Pirates of the Burning Sea can fully appreciate the irony of this statement, and I wish Isildur had stuck a post-it of it on his monitor frame when designing the rest of PotBS.
Gaute Godager's infamous steak comment might not have been in the Top 5, but I think it's definitely Top 10 material.