A fun little exersice

Clever_Glove

A fun little exersice

There are  few terms that MMORPG's pass around, I've never figured out exactly what they mean.

Those terms are "power gamer" and "causal player"

The problem lies in that these terms are so amazingly subjective, and depending on your groups of friends they may even have negative meanings.

People that have a job and don't play 58 hours a week often say they are "causal players" because of limited play time. Yet others refer to your desire to do well, and trying to figure out to getting the maxim potential out of a weapon/skill/spell "power playing". Others claim "power players" just do something they know will lead to success rather than wonder around lost.

Many complain that "causal players" can't possible compete with "Power Gamers" and there for there is a vast inequity with in the game. "Power Gamers" will ruin the game for all people.

Before I contaminate my results, I'd like to hear you definition on these terms.

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Kiamde

I personally worship the power players because they can make the time to divulge into a game. Its amazing what these players can do in a week, what would take you a year. The best power player I have seen was a guy named Maeday from my old DAOC guild. He lvled his Spiritmaster from 5-50 in 6 days, at about 11 hours a day, with no powerleveling at all. On them ruining the game, nah. Power players only get to the "goal" faster. Also from my experience with the power players, one they finish their leveling with on character, they immediately start a new one, so there is not too much competition.

neschria

"Power gamer" has a really negative connotation to me. Perhaps I have just run into one too many people who self-identified as a "power gamer" to excuse their selfish, bratty, pushy behavior. I respect people who have a thorough knowledge and great efficiency of play in a game without resorting to that sort of behavior in order to get what they need from the people around them.  A general definition of power gamer, though, working around my own bias, would be centered around knowledge, efficiency, and dedication.

Some people have neither the knowledge, nor the efficiency, nor even the invested time, to call themselves "power gamers", but think of themselves that way because they know that they are playing at a somewhat higher level than other more "casual" players. That's a weird thing, but I saw a fair amount of that too.

I have found a similar weird disconnect among people who call themselves "casual" players. Some are just happy plodding along through the game at their own pace, doing what they feel like, and I'd say that those people really are playing casually. Other people call themselves "casual" players when they are playing at a level higher than you would expect; those people are often thinking more in terms of personality than playstyle-- they are laid back people in social terms, even if they are playing fairly hard. For some people, it really is just a quantitative thing-- they only play X hours a week, so they are "casual" by default.

Some people throw around "casual player" as if it were an insult. *shrug* Whatever.

I don't really believe that powergamers ruin anything. So, they get to something before you do. When you get there, it is still a new experience TO YOU. I used to occasionally lead alliance raids to some older zones in EQ, and I was a real pain in the butt about this particular thing-- if you are a veteran to the zone, there to help, you aren't going to ruin it for the first timers by saying stuff like, "OMG, this is such a noob zone! Yawn!" I'd kick your butt right out for that. It sort of ruins the experience of discovery when you have someone acting like you somehow don't deserve that experience just because you got there late. Your fun doesn't depend on what someone else did before you.

Some people just don't like that they can't be the best of the best of the best without really throwing a lot of themselves (time, effort, etc) into it. I think that is where some of the feeling that "powergamers ruin the game" comes from. It comes from people who don't have the time or the will to do what those hardball players do, but can't accept that they have to set other, more reasonable goals for themselves. Well... isn't that just too bad?

~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies

hercules

Well your definition is about dead on.

However those saying power gamers spoil the games are dead wrong.First many casuals use spoilers for quest(i use warcry for DAoC currently).This took loads of time to figure out.In EQ it was not unheard of people devoting 10 hours a day for weeks to figure out just one part of a quest since EQ likes to give very little clues.

Now can you imagine if this power gamers did not give the spoilers and you have 10 hours a week to play.You will never get this quest done.

Also its this power gamers that gives us maps and bestiary as well as stragedy on mobs.While some would choose not to use this but i personally if i have a few hours a week to play sure as hack don't plan to spent it aimlessly looking for some elusive mob.

So what if they leave you behind in level/progress join a casual guild.When i was in EQ there were so many of them around for instance.

Only power gamers that get on my nerves are those that can sit around 18 hours a day then declare in a few months the game sucks because they ran out of content too fast.Then spent the rest time spamming boards about it.