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Cults of personality
tkobo
Member Posts: 465
I stand amazed today, for i came to the very sad realization that far too many of you (MMO custumers)are simply cult members of a kind.
I knew that fanbios existed for these games. I knew that they even existed for the DEVs,which is REALLY sad.I knew the hero worship that is so embraced by the DEV teams as a way to sell their product was measurably strong.
BUT i today realized , that as bad i thought it was, I was under estimating it.And over estimating many MMO customers.
I simply cant for the life of me, figure out how so many of you turn off your ratinal thinking and embrace these cult like emotions and bonds though.
I really cant.
And i really wonder if something serious is wrong.I mean something REALLY serious is REALLY wrong.
I cant for the life of me imagine "declaring my love" "or "declaring how much I'll miss" the person who stands at a and counter rings up my purchases.And those people are people i actaully interact with.I might even have a occasional serious conversation with them.I might even know something personal about them or their familiy.
But lets face it.They are simply a person paid to do a job that the only real interaction i have with them is over said job.
So, agian when people jump up and down and say absurd things like "I love said dev team",or "i know this team, they wont release the same old bug ridden crap", or "I trust this dev team,i dont know why you dont" i cringe.BUT again til today i really thought the people i came across on the boards who acted like this were a combination of a small fringe and those who had a personal stake in the product being indirectly praised by their "devotion" to this worker on and seller of a product.
But than today, my eyes opened a bit more.I continued to read the thread about a certain CUSTOMER SERVICE PAID EMPLOYEE of an MMO company,who was shocker of shocker moving to something new.
I was simply amazed at how people were talking about this CUSTOMER SERVICE PAID EMPLOYEE , who was basically PAID to keep imformation FROM YOU and only pass on that information the COMPANY said she could.
But today, i came to the unfortunate revalation that the "small fringe" wasnt really that small at all.
And i cringe even as i write this.
Ive always thought the dev teams were simply inept.The proof is surely there.BUT perhaps they are not quite as inept as Ive thought. PERHAPS they simply know, they can sell some of you anything IF they establish this cult like bond with you that for some reason makes you turn off your rational thought processes.Perhaps they simply believe enought of you can be sold this way, that a quality product is Unnesessary.
Perhaps they can make a decnet MMO, but beleive (and the proof is building they are right)its easier to get you into their cult than make that decent product.So thats the route they chose.
And again, I cringe at this very thought.
Comments
Quoting people doesn't make you clever, in fact, it makes you all the more stupid for not bothering to read the quotes you post in the first place.
It might help if you elaborate...
Are you angry with a specific game's Customer Service Department ..and see this as some kind of cult conspiracy??
Good lord, spit it out man....
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
It might help if you elaborate...
Are you angry with a specific game's Customer Service Department ..and see this as some kind of cult conspiracy??
Good lord, spit it out man....
____________________________
TheCore
Im sorry i ddi read your post but its very hard to see what you are trying to tell/ask us. The most i could get is that you feel that the consumers of MMO's are part of some sort of Cult that worships game Developers.
If you can give a better post then that would be usefull in answering your post.
I know exactly what he means! Its when a nice looking waitress make you belive she gives a shit about you.
Thats something i really hate, i always fall for it....and gives a big tip.
Or what is something else he did mean about the MMO?
Well, you (Jade Dragon)at least managed to come close, and respond in a reasonble manner.
What im saying is that a FAR larger amount of MMO customers are affected by a hero worship that borders on, if it isnt outright equal to the dysfunctional mindset of someone who has been turned into a cultist, than i would have previously believed
Youve seen them, walking the streets selling flowers and talking about how they love their leader, so that they can afford the cool aid and new purple sneakers for their next party.
Im saying that quite possibly DEV teams take their ability to affect some MMO customers this way,as more important than they consider actually making a qaulity product.
Im saying that i now feel a much larger portion of the MMO population is dysfunctioal in this way,than i had originally thought.
And that the hero worship based devotion, that these people base their "relationships" with these DEV teams on, is sad, more than a tad worrying, and downright harmful.
That help ?
if I'm understanding you correctly it doesn't just follow mmorpgs, also follows other genres. For instance, heard of Shigeru Miyamoto? or Peter Molyneux, or Sid Meier?
It's just a wordier variant of the same old "you're not cynical enough for my tastes" rant.
But if you wrote this long post just to say that Fanboi's hold their development teams up in too high of a regard (like with Mythic/WAR and the departure of a long time friend in many people's eyes) then you sure took the long road to do it.
People hold other people in high regard...nothing wrong with that..unless it starts to blind them to reality....
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Hero worship exists everywhere and not just in games. People hero worship certain movie directors, bands, tv shows, actors, comic books, public figures, and more. Its just the way the world is, there are things the average person just can't do so they Look up and in some cases unconditionally praise those that can.
Usually people grow out of it or simply mellow out after a few years until its at an acceptable level. Those that don't either find fault with the people they worship and turn into complete haters or just move on to something else.
With the giant influx of gamers into the MMORPG universe its going to stick out more especially when so many of them are teenagers or younger.
Is there something wrong with this behavior? If it effects your everyday life then yes of course, if you suddenly quit your job to only play an MMO then there is something wrong with you.
Do dev's purposely encourage such behavior? That I can't really judge on, I'd say in some cases yes but that backfires in most (cough Vanguard) cases. Dev's aren't alone in that tactic.
Do sports teams encourage fandom? hell yes! Otherwise no one would go to see them and they'd get put out of a job. Its really no different in the game industry.
If you can't encourage people to get excited about your product your going to e sitting on your front step waiting to move to a smaller house.
Does this make it a cult? Only if your actualy willing to sell off everything you own and think exactly like everyone else. Granted some people with no lives or common sense are going to be like this but a majority? No. Are some fanbois overly enthiusiatic to the point it makes a person ill? Pft hell yea, but then so are the guys who strip off their shirt at sports game with their chests painted.
I'm not sure why you bothered to bring up this subject are you simply disgruntled with the over enthuistic short sided folks? Just ignore them its much easier.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Development studios have fans because they tend to keep reliable standards. You know what to expect from a Squaresoft RPG, you know Valve will do their FPS right even though it'll be delayed forever and you know a movie by Steven Spielberg has a good chance of being worth watching.
Ignoring the paranoia in your tone and focusing on the CSR part, well, if you come across a good CSR it makes a positive and lasting expression cause there sure as hell is a wide step from the worst to best.
And on inept teams I think you cut too much under your knife. The whole world isn't SoE and Blizzard.
Well every company shows its true colors eventually anyways so people do wake up to it, for instance soe and the blizzard team as of lately, turbine are actually pretty good with there customeers nc soft use to be heh they are more then others though.
Anyways if people choose not to see how greedy big money cooperations can be thats there own ignorance but it does not mean everyone is like this, and many people do realize it eventually and move on.
Once upon a time, there was a Space Game. A lot of people played that game. People played for years, although major, and many consider catastrophic, changes occurred during the course of it's history.
Certain members of the Team spent a lot of time talking with fans and players. Some of Them were revered to the level of Heroism. Some of Them were hated and despised as evil Villains out to ruin the lives of everyday people. Some of Them are still there, some of Them quit, and some of Them were fired.
During the Dark Days, some fans elevated some of that Team to near Cult status as Good or Evil doers and they suffer from that fate to this day.
People still get emotional about that darn Game, hate or love it with fanatical passion, and hate or love the Team members with the same level.
Have you guessed it yet?
- How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
- I don't know, but some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?
We're all Geniuses. Most of us just don't know it.
I agree too many teenagers just take it too far. Its a really big HUGE fat SIGN / Cry for proper attention from their parents. Some of the worst stuff I ever put myself through was in hopes my parents would pay attention to my deeper pyschological needs.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Are you saying that they pay people to play the game and what not and say that it's good?
That goes on every single day. Countless companys pay people to make their product sell. Everything from what you drink to what you wear. It's just plain and simple advertising albeit in a game.
Then again.... I do visit dev blogs to read interesting thoughts on design concepts, I take an interest in the community of the game I play,
I have run a guild.... Perhaps I should retire from gaming and go sit infront of the TV, snacking and check out the E! channel to find out if Britney Spears have hair this week instead.... surely that is better use of anyones time... 