I think you have to consider the context this phrase is normally used in, and then it sort of makes perfect sense to do so.
How many of us have been playing our favorite game only to have a new player in global chat start comparing the game to WOW? Normally these are negative comparisons, i.e. reasons why the current game is deficient vs WOW. Also, in many cases the person complaining is upset with some aspect of the game that is more 'difficult' or grindy than WOW is.
Hence, the retort, 'Go back to WOW' is actually the perfect response. I've used it myself when faced with the situation I described above. It's not really an insult, (well, a little bit) but more a way to say if you don't like the game we're all playing, go play something else and stop whining here.
I do have one thing to comment on. Anyone who things WOW is "easy" compared to the 'difficult' game they play is just blowing smoke up your ass. I've played about 8 or 9 MMO's now, and with the exception of EVE none of them were any more or less difficult than WOW.
Oh sure, in DAOC we had to use spreadsheets to calculate our builds, but that wasn't really difficult, just time consuming. In fact, I find what most people call difficult in other games is really just the addition of time-sinks that WOW doesn't have. My son was playing MMORPG's at 8 years old, long before WOW came out, and had no problem with the games. (other than perhaps a more limited attention span)
And anyone who says WOW raids aren't difficult either cheated by joining a guild who had it on farm status or never ran them at all. I ground myself with one of the first guilds through Molten Core (who remembers Ragnaros version 1.0 and 2.0?) and then on through BWL w/o the benefit of game guides and trust me, we worked very hard to master those instances. Sure, eventually we got our gear up to a great level and got them so we could do them in our sleep, but the first time through was a definite challenge, no matter what folks would have you believe.
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
Before WoW, MMOers had to work hard for their characters advancement. They were proud of their accomplishments, and paid the price for their mistakes. Pre-WoW MMOers were patient, tenacious, and dedicated. They had to be, MMOs in those days were not for the casual gamer. They were a fierce, proud people. Enter WoW: a MMO comprehensive and casual enough to appeal to the masses. Finally a game we don't have to spend counless hours learning how to play effectively and more countless hours figuring out where to go and what to do with our characters! Gamers the world over rejoiced. Overnight, MMOs became mainstream. Old school MMOers quickly realized that a new breed of gamer was born. And they didn't like what they were seeing. Kids who before lacked the attention span to dedicate themselves to such games suddenly flooded the WoW servers en masse. ...
Good post - and describes very well what happened in the MMO market in the last years.
Remember people, before WoW, every single MMO having more than 100.000 subscribers worldwide would have been a huge success. Currently a game having the same number of subscribers will be described by some fanbois as a complete and utter failure: "LOL, it sucks, it will be dead in 6 months, ROFLMAO".
And that's why you read so much about "Go back to WoW" or "WoW clone" because a large majority of the current players of MMOs, and the majority of posters here on these boards too, have never played an MMO before they came into the genre through WoW. That's why the only thing they know is WoW and thus, quite naturally, they're comparing every other MMO with WoW.
Of course we veterans of the genre don't like this development and would like to have our old gameplay back. But that won't happen. WoW did prove that, by designing a game for the Blizzard target group of young males from 15 to 25, a lot of money can be earnt - and from now on for the foreseeable future every major title will be released with the same target group in mind.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Funny little story I wanted to add to this thread....
So my son(11 now) started playing online games with me when he was YOUNG, as in a game called MageStorm young. When it closed down we went to DAoC..Played that for awhile...CoV, etc. He doesnt browse the internet to often and isnt really informed of all the games that are out.
So some time last year, during one of his CoV play sessions....he took a picture of some of the chat that was going on....Then proceded to get me and ask " Daddy...I took this picture of 2 people fighting" , Im like okayyyy....and?? So I look at the picture and what do I see... I see "GO BACK TO WOW YOU NOOB!!! ". "Whats WOW daddy?".........
Anyways...why does WOW have 10 million people...Cause they get FREE advertisement from people trying to be rude.
Yes my son now plays WOW and has for around a year now. Not my cup of tea but he enjoys himself greatly!!
Originally posted by zaxtor99 We certainly all know how popular World of Warcraft is, recently proclaiming 10 million active customers. But even with it's popularity, is it really such a low in overall quality in the general mmo community? Is WoW really "McDonalds compared to a fine quality steakhouse"? I mean everyone knows how many billions of burgers McDonalds has proclaimed to have sold (much like all the millions of customers Blizzard is so proud to make public). Quality very rarely equals Quantity. I personally think that World of Warcraft is a very high quality game, however it is just way too simple and has way too little actual challenge - atleast for me. However, it would be hard to say that some mmo that was more challenging but had a million bugs was "higher quality".
- Zaxx
It's not the quality of WoW or the immature community that makes the "Go back to WoW, NOOB!" comments an insult. It's the fact that compared to almost every other game with the possible exceptions of LotRO and SotNW, WoW is stuck in extreme "Easy Mode" to the point that it is considered by most hardcore MMOers to be a kiddy game. It's the very thing that draws the crowds to WoW that makes "Go back to WoW, NOOB!" a very powerful insult to anyone who considers themselves hardcore.
WoW isn't the McDonalds of the MMO community...........It's the TRAINING WHEELS!!!
I think that insult is akin to a city folk saying "Go back to your village you dirty redneck hillbilly and go back to planting potatoes!" It's a very childish insult.
WoW isn't the McDonalds of the MMO community...........It's the TRAINING WHEELS!!!
Bren
Honestly, where do you get those ideas. Training wheels?, it's a game, there's no training, there's no progression in between games, you don't need a degree to play them.
This is kind of the typical WoW bashing you get. Do youp play a superior game or something? Your game is better or w/e....ok....uhm?
Because you prefer to play tedious games doesn't make another game a training game. Where do people get those things....shrug.
Why do people compare WoW to McDonalds. How is that in any way similar. It's a way to insult players?, to discredit a game because it's succesfull?, so everything that has a mass market is usually of lesser quality? You don't see people saying football sucks because it's the predominant sport in the US do you? I don't know, but it seems pretty stupid to compare a restaurant to a game....hm....shrugs.
Yes it is very stupid, and people who use that insult cannot come up with anything original and has to resolve to using mediocre insults. The only connection I can see with Mcdonalds and WoW is that both are popular mainstream products.
To come to think of it, insults like that are signs of intolerance and bigotry.. kinda like saying "my game is better than your game". Very childish indeed.
WoW isn't the McDonalds of the MMO community...........It's the TRAINING WHEELS!!!
Bren
Honestly, where do you get those ideas. Training wheels?, it's a game, there's no training, there's no progression in between games, you don't need a degree to play them.
This is kind of the typical WoW bashing you get. Do youp play a superior game or something? Your game is better or w/e....ok....uhm?
Because you prefer to play tedious games doesn't make another game a training game. Where do people get those things....shrug.
First off I'm not bashing WoW in any way, I personally think it's a highly polished game that does have it's appeal to a lot of people. I personally didn't like WoW but that doesn't make it a bad game, just a game that wasn't for me. The topic of this thread is "Why is 'go back to WoW, NOOB!' an insult?" and that is my explanation why and it's a lot better of an explanation than trying to blame the quality of a highly polished game. Enough said.
Edit: Oh and my "Training Wheels" comment wasn't meant as an insult. WoW is considered by many including it's developers to be an entry level MMO. It is the "Training Wheels" of the MMO community as for most it's their first MMO.
I learned how to deal with things like "Go back to WoW" very early on. It's effective and every MMO I've ever played has it. It's called "/ignore." There's nothing more frustrating to a loud mouth jerk than someone taking away his ability to run his yapper.
WoW isn't the McDonalds of the MMO community...........It's the TRAINING WHEELS!!!
Bren
Honestly, where do you get those ideas. Training wheels?, it's a game, there's no training, there's no progression in between games, you don't need a degree to play them.
This is kind of the typical WoW bashing you get. Do youp play a superior game or something? Your game is better or w/e....ok....uhm? Because you prefer to play tedious games doesn't make another game a training game. Where do people get those things....shrug.
It is not about more tedious games, it is about games with more depth and freedom. Games like Star Wars Galaxies Pre CU-NGE.
It was because of the release of World of Warcraft that Star Wars Galaxies got dumbed down, it's depth removed and freedom killed.
And it is because of World of Warcraft, loads of new mmorpg's do not innovate, but just try to copy the success of WoW.
I had great times in WoW, leveling up and doing world PvP, but eventually it lacks depth and freedom, and is only about my xxx is bigger then yers.
It lacks the foundation of a true MMORPG ( like UO pre-trammel or SWG Pre-CU/NGE ).
Even tho I had fun in WoW, I do not feel it deserves the name MMORPG. It is a bunch of instances, not a living breathing world.
The only true MMORPG left ( that I know ) is EVE-Online all the others got screwed, wowified ( or EQified ) or badly managed.( UO, SWG, DAoC ... ) I bet there may be some others out there but I havent found them yet.
Greetz
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site : http://mmodata.blogspot.be/ Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
I think everyone has their own biased view on how an mmorpg "HAS TO BE PLAYED". There's no conclusion to this topic only more debates. I don't get what you mean by "FREEDOM", how do you have "freedom" in an enclosed mechanical world that is bound by it's engine's limitations? I don't think there will ever be a game engine that will let you do whatever you want as a game world is always bound by it's rules and limitations. If you want TRUE FREEDOM you have to play the world known as "real life".
The so called "mature" communities throw these insults at you because you don't like their low population mmorpgs where you can never find a group and have more bugs than a jungle which apparently makes it more complex, however i just say it makes playing it more annoying.
It's all just the latest reflection of gaming elitism, which itself is a subset of a broader tribalism that seems persistent in human beings.
In this particular case, the "tribe" is the "elite gaming group", and part of affirming one's status as a part of that "in-group" is to debase and disaffirm affiliation with the perceived "other" -- namely the non-elite game of WoW. So insults like "Go back to WoW, nub", are really just a way that this particular virtual tribe uses to reaffirm its own sense of elite identity while at the same time exlcuding those who are not a part of the "in group". Essentially it is a very persistent human group psychology that likely has an evolutionary basis, so it isn't going away anytime soon. If it wasn't "WoW" that was the focus of the epithet, there would be other ways to identify the "out group" so as to properly delineate tribal boundaries.
As for the substance, most people will have played WoW, at least, even if they didn't like the game, so as a common reference point it has its uses. The underlying assumption, though, seems flawed to me: namely that WoW is for "nubs" and that other MMORPGs are for "real players". The reality is that no MMORPG is hard to play. Some take more time to learn than others (EVE is an example of this, not the only one), but really once it is learned, it is not hard to play in the least. No MMORPG requires player-side reflexes to any comparable degree as a non-MMO does, and in fact most MMOs simply test a player's ability to play for longer periods of time. EVE is also like this, you need to put in your time to make any money in EVE, regardless of how the skill system works. So to be honest, although I shrug when I see a tribalist expression like this fall into such popular use (because there would be another one, if it weren't for this one), the idea of "elites" forming among MMORPG players strikes me as rather richly ironic and highly stupid -- MMORPGs test the amount of time a player can commit to the game, principally. Establishing a virtual tribe around people who are willing to dump more hours into games would be quite hilarious if it weren't so depressingly predictable and pathetic at the same time.
Originally posted by liddokun I think everyone has their own biased view on how an mmorpg "HAS TO BE PLAYED". There's no conclusion to this topic only more debates. I don't get what you mean by "FREEDOM", how do you have "freedom" in an enclosed mechanical world that is bound by it's engine's limitations? I don't think there will ever be a game engine that will let you do whatever you want as a game world is always bound by it's rules and limitations. If you want TRUE FREEDOM you have to play the world known as "real life".
If you would have played SWG Pre CU/NGE you would know what I mean.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site : http://mmodata.blogspot.be/ Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Wonderful post Zaxx and great response Nova. This is why I still come to mmorpg.com to find the rare gem. Nice to see that more then just WoW players post here.
Funny thing is that I am a WoW player. I have been in mmorpgs since the beginning UO. Like many here I have played most of them. Strange thing is when my first toon, in the beta, faded into life in Shadowglen I was hooked. As much as I enjoyed this read I have to say poop on you all. I thought I was eating steak all these years. I shall continue to believe I eat steak desipte what anyone else thinks. So "go back to EQ2 mmm... you .... are fat and smell...mmm..and have bad breath, oh yea and your pants are to short!"
In the FPS community, we often say “Go back to CS!” … Why do we say that? Because CS is known for having a terrible community full of kids. Now don’t get me wrong, each community has it’s own can of worms.
In the MMO community, I believe that everyone will agree that WOW is by far the easier MMO out there. It’s the one where all you need to really do is put all your time and have a the bare minimum of social skills. One key difference from today and pre-WOW era (eheheh) is quite simple. MMOs used to be hard and people expected it. Now most people only played WOW and expect everything to be easy.
In the FPS community, we often say “Go back to CS!” … Why do we say that? Because CS is known for having a terrible community full of kids. Now don’t get me wrong, each community has it’s own can of worms.
In the MMO community, I believe that everyone will agree that WOW is by far the easier MMO out there. It’s the one where all you need to really do is put all your time and have a the bare minimum of social skills. One key difference from today and pre-WOW era (eheheh) is quite simple. MMOs used to be hard and people expected it. Now most people only played WOW and expect everything to be easy.
Funny thing is though i prefer the community of CS and WOW to the other games in their genres. I mean CS has sooo much community made stuff more so than any other game out there and soo much you can enjoy and sooo many nice people. I see more immature name calling on other games than CS these days anyways so i really don't get where the insult comes from. The same goes for WOW and atleast in WOW i can actually get a group all the time which i can't say the same for other mmorpgs where i'm looking for weeks.......... i've met the nicest most friendly people in WOW too but if i go to say Vanguard or something it's just full of elitests and if you don't like something then they call you a noob and flame you.
I use “Go back to WoW” when someone is making fun of a not yet released game. If someone says, “AoC sucks because of this this and this” I would say, “go back to WoW”.
I actually like WoW when I play it, which isn’t at the moment (TF2 – yay). Is it the MMO of my dreams? No, but that doesn’t exist for me, and I don’t think it exists for anyone. Players do not yet realize how difficult it is to design and make a MMO.
In the FPS community, we often say “Go back to CS!” … Why do we say that? Because CS is known for having a terrible community full of kids. Now don’t get me wrong, each community has it’s own can of worms.
In the MMO community, I believe that everyone will agree that WOW is by far the easier MMO out there. It’s the one where all you need to really do is put all your time and have a the bare minimum of social skills. One key difference from today and pre-WOW era (eheheh) is quite simple. MMOs used to be hard and people expected it. Now most people only played WOW and expect everything to be easy.
Funny thing is though i prefer the community of CS and WOW to the other games in their genres. I mean CS has sooo much community made stuff more so than any other game out there and soo much you can enjoy and sooo many nice people. I see more immature name calling on other games than CS these days anyways so i really don't get where the insult comes from. The same goes for WOW and atleast in WOW i can actually get a group all the time which i can't say the same for other mmorpgs where i'm looking for weeks.......... i've met the nicest most friendly people in WOW too but if i go to say Vanguard or something it's just full of elitests and if you don't like something then they call you a noob and flame you.
I agree with you. I stated a fact not a personnal opinion though. My personnal opinion, I prefer the Quake 3 and Unreal crowd but where I spent most of my time was in RTCW. Obviously, all 3 games are direct enemie to CS and they are all by far more complex to play. The competition scene is bigger in CS but not as fun as it's 3 enemie.
As for MMO,
I had fun playing WOW but seriously, it was really a featureless game compared to SWG. I rarely use the term go back to WOW but in my opinion, it’s much more polite to say that then calling someone retarded even if it essentially means the same thing :P
Comments
I think you have to consider the context this phrase is normally used in, and then it sort of makes perfect sense to do so.
How many of us have been playing our favorite game only to have a new player in global chat start comparing the game to WOW? Normally these are negative comparisons, i.e. reasons why the current game is deficient vs WOW. Also, in many cases the person complaining is upset with some aspect of the game that is more 'difficult' or grindy than WOW is.
Hence, the retort, 'Go back to WOW' is actually the perfect response. I've used it myself when faced with the situation I described above. It's not really an insult, (well, a little bit) but more a way to say if you don't like the game we're all playing, go play something else and stop whining here.
I do have one thing to comment on. Anyone who things WOW is "easy" compared to the 'difficult' game they play is just blowing smoke up your ass. I've played about 8 or 9 MMO's now, and with the exception of EVE none of them were any more or less difficult than WOW.
Oh sure, in DAOC we had to use spreadsheets to calculate our builds, but that wasn't really difficult, just time consuming. In fact, I find what most people call difficult in other games is really just the addition of time-sinks that WOW doesn't have. My son was playing MMORPG's at 8 years old, long before WOW came out, and had no problem with the games. (other than perhaps a more limited attention span)
And anyone who says WOW raids aren't difficult either cheated by joining a guild who had it on farm status or never ran them at all. I ground myself with one of the first guilds through Molten Core (who remembers Ragnaros version 1.0 and 2.0?) and then on through BWL w/o the benefit of game guides and trust me, we worked very hard to master those instances. Sure, eventually we got our gear up to a great level and got them so we could do them in our sleep, but the first time through was a definite challenge, no matter what folks would have you believe.
"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
Good post - and describes very well what happened in the MMO market in the last years.
Remember people, before WoW, every single MMO having more than 100.000 subscribers worldwide would have been a huge success. Currently a game having the same number of subscribers will be described by some fanbois as a complete and utter failure: "LOL, it sucks, it will be dead in 6 months, ROFLMAO".
And that's why you read so much about "Go back to WoW" or "WoW clone" because a large majority of the current players of MMOs, and the majority of posters here on these boards too, have never played an MMO before they came into the genre through WoW. That's why the only thing they know is WoW and thus, quite naturally, they're comparing every other MMO with WoW.
Of course we veterans of the genre don't like this development and would like to have our old gameplay back. But that won't happen. WoW did prove that, by designing a game for the Blizzard target group of young males from 15 to 25, a lot of money can be earnt - and from now on for the foreseeable future every major title will be released with the same target group in mind.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Go back to WoW? Okay! ~plays WoW~
-Azure Prower
http://www.youtube.com/AzurePrower
Funny little story I wanted to add to this thread....
So my son(11 now) started playing online games with me when he was YOUNG, as in a game called MageStorm young. When it closed down we went to DAoC..Played that for awhile...CoV, etc. He doesnt browse the internet to often and isnt really informed of all the games that are out.
So some time last year, during one of his CoV play sessions....he took a picture of some of the chat that was going on....Then proceded to get me and ask " Daddy...I took this picture of 2 people fighting" , Im like okayyyy....and?? So I look at the picture and what do I see... I see "GO BACK TO WOW YOU NOOB!!! ". "Whats WOW daddy?".........
Anyways...why does WOW have 10 million people...Cause they get FREE advertisement from people trying to be rude.
Yes my son now plays WOW and has for around a year now. Not my cup of tea but he enjoys himself greatly!!
It's not the quality of WoW or the immature community that makes the "Go back to WoW, NOOB!" comments an insult. It's the fact that compared to almost every other game with the possible exceptions of LotRO and SotNW, WoW is stuck in extreme "Easy Mode" to the point that it is considered by most hardcore MMOers to be a kiddy game. It's the very thing that draws the crowds to WoW that makes "Go back to WoW, NOOB!" a very powerful insult to anyone who considers themselves hardcore.
WoW isn't the McDonalds of the MMO community...........It's the TRAINING WHEELS!!!
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
I think that insult is akin to a city folk saying "Go back to your village you dirty redneck hillbilly and go back to planting potatoes!" It's a very childish insult.
Why do people compare WoW to McDonalds. How is that in any way similar.
It's a way to insult players?, to discredit a game because it's succesfull?, so everything that has a mass market is usually of lesser quality?
You don't see people saying football sucks because it's the predominant sport in the US do you?
I don't know, but it seems pretty stupid to compare a restaurant to a game....hm....shrugs.
Honestly, where do you get those ideas. Training wheels?, it's a game, there's no training, there's no progression in between games, you don't need a degree to play them.
This is kind of the typical WoW bashing you get. Do youp play a superior game or something? Your game is better or w/e....ok....uhm?
Because you prefer to play tedious games doesn't make another game a training game. Where do people get those things....shrug.
Yes it is very stupid, and people who use that insult cannot come up with anything original and has to resolve to using mediocre insults. The only connection I can see with Mcdonalds and WoW is that both are popular mainstream products.
To come to think of it, insults like that are signs of intolerance and bigotry.. kinda like saying "my game is better than your game". Very childish indeed.
Honestly, where do you get those ideas. Training wheels?, it's a game, there's no training, there's no progression in between games, you don't need a degree to play them.
This is kind of the typical WoW bashing you get. Do youp play a superior game or something? Your game is better or w/e....ok....uhm?
Because you prefer to play tedious games doesn't make another game a training game. Where do people get those things....shrug.
First off I'm not bashing WoW in any way, I personally think it's a highly polished game that does have it's appeal to a lot of people. I personally didn't like WoW but that doesn't make it a bad game, just a game that wasn't for me. The topic of this thread is "Why is 'go back to WoW, NOOB!' an insult?" and that is my explanation why and it's a lot better of an explanation than trying to blame the quality of a highly polished game. Enough said.
Edit: Oh and my "Training Wheels" comment wasn't meant as an insult. WoW is considered by many including it's developers to be an entry level MMO. It is the "Training Wheels" of the MMO community as for most it's their first MMO.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
I learned how to deal with things like "Go back to WoW" very early on. It's effective and every MMO I've ever played has it. It's called "/ignore." There's nothing more frustrating to a loud mouth jerk than someone taking away his ability to run his yapper.
It is not about more tedious games, it is about games with more depth and freedom. Games like Star Wars Galaxies Pre CU-NGE.
It was because of the release of World of Warcraft that Star Wars Galaxies got dumbed down, it's depth removed and freedom killed.
And it is because of World of Warcraft, loads of new mmorpg's do not innovate, but just try to copy the success of WoW.
I had great times in WoW, leveling up and doing world PvP, but eventually it lacks depth and freedom, and is only about my xxx is bigger then yers.
It lacks the foundation of a true MMORPG ( like UO pre-trammel or SWG Pre-CU/NGE ).
Even tho I had fun in WoW, I do not feel it deserves the name MMORPG.
It is a bunch of instances, not a living breathing world.
The only true MMORPG left ( that I know ) is EVE-Online all the others got screwed, wowified ( or EQified ) or badly managed.( UO, SWG, DAoC ... ) I bet there may be some others out there but I havent found them yet.
Greetz
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
I think everyone has their own biased view on how an mmorpg "HAS TO BE PLAYED". There's no conclusion to this topic only more debates. I don't get what you mean by "FREEDOM", how do you have "freedom" in an enclosed mechanical world that is bound by it's engine's limitations? I don't think there will ever be a game engine that will let you do whatever you want as a game world is always bound by it's rules and limitations. If you want TRUE FREEDOM you have to play the world known as "real life".
The so called "mature" communities throw these insults at you because you don't like their low population mmorpgs where you can never find a group and have more bugs than a jungle which apparently makes it more complex, however i just say it makes playing it more annoying.
Honestly the people who are quick to say "Go back to Wow" are the same ones who will call you "gay" and think it a valid insult.
Honestly, the whole thing behind the insult is just another way of calling you a noob, or saying that you suck, or to shut your pie hole.
It runs under the assumption that you thought WoW was the first MMO ever created and don't know or never played any of the previous MMO's.
Outside of that, it's the same ole' thing over and over, except "EQ" got replaced with "WoW"
It use to be that everything was an "EQ" clone, etc. and so on. Now people say the exact same thing with WoW.
In a couple years, everyone will say exactly the same thing about whichever game eventually replaces WoW.
D.
It's all just the latest reflection of gaming elitism, which itself is a subset of a broader tribalism that seems persistent in human beings.
In this particular case, the "tribe" is the "elite gaming group", and part of affirming one's status as a part of that "in-group" is to debase and disaffirm affiliation with the perceived "other" -- namely the non-elite game of WoW. So insults like "Go back to WoW, nub", are really just a way that this particular virtual tribe uses to reaffirm its own sense of elite identity while at the same time exlcuding those who are not a part of the "in group". Essentially it is a very persistent human group psychology that likely has an evolutionary basis, so it isn't going away anytime soon. If it wasn't "WoW" that was the focus of the epithet, there would be other ways to identify the "out group" so as to properly delineate tribal boundaries.
As for the substance, most people will have played WoW, at least, even if they didn't like the game, so as a common reference point it has its uses. The underlying assumption, though, seems flawed to me: namely that WoW is for "nubs" and that other MMORPGs are for "real players". The reality is that no MMORPG is hard to play. Some take more time to learn than others (EVE is an example of this, not the only one), but really once it is learned, it is not hard to play in the least. No MMORPG requires player-side reflexes to any comparable degree as a non-MMO does, and in fact most MMOs simply test a player's ability to play for longer periods of time. EVE is also like this, you need to put in your time to make any money in EVE, regardless of how the skill system works. So to be honest, although I shrug when I see a tribalist expression like this fall into such popular use (because there would be another one, if it weren't for this one), the idea of "elites" forming among MMORPG players strikes me as rather richly ironic and highly stupid -- MMORPGs test the amount of time a player can commit to the game, principally. Establishing a virtual tribe around people who are willing to dump more hours into games would be quite hilarious if it weren't so depressingly predictable and pathetic at the same time.
If you would have played SWG Pre CU/NGE you would know what I mean.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Great post Nova
Wonderful post Zaxx and great response Nova. This is why I still come to mmorpg.com to find the rare gem. Nice to see that more then just WoW players post here.
Funny thing is that I am a WoW player. I have been in mmorpgs since the beginning UO. Like many here I have played most of them. Strange thing is when my first toon, in the beta, faded into life in Shadowglen I was hooked. As much as I enjoyed this read I have to say poop on you all. I thought I was eating steak all these years. I shall continue to believe I eat steak desipte what anyone else thinks. So "go back to EQ2 mmm... you .... are fat and smell...mmm..and have bad breath, oh yea and your pants are to short!"
In the FPS community, we often say “Go back to CS!” … Why do we say that? Because CS is known for having a terrible community full of kids. Now don’t get me wrong, each community has it’s own can of worms.
In the MMO community, I believe that everyone will agree that WOW is by far the easier MMO out there. It’s the one where all you need to really do is put all your time and have a the bare minimum of social skills. One key difference from today and pre-WOW era (eheheh) is quite simple. MMOs used to be hard and people expected it. Now most people only played WOW and expect everything to be easy.
I use “Go back to WoW” when someone is making fun of a not yet released game. If someone says, “AoC sucks because of this this and this” I would say, “go back to WoW”.
I actually like WoW when I play it, which isn’t at the moment (TF2 – yay). Is it the MMO of my dreams? No, but that doesn’t exist for me, and I don’t think it exists for anyone. Players do not yet realize how difficult it is to design and make a MMO.
I sometimes say "go back to wow" when there being whiny brats.
If you ever read the wow forums it consist of nothing but whining and crying.
Then you have the people think there "awesome" since there in a "elite" guild in this extremly easy to play nintendo game *boggles*
I agree with you. I stated a fact not a personnal opinion though. My personnal opinion, I prefer the Quake 3 and Unreal crowd but where I spent most of my time was in RTCW. Obviously, all 3 games are direct enemie to CS and they are all by far more complex to play. The competition scene is bigger in CS but not as fun as it's 3 enemie.
As for MMO,
I had fun playing WOW but seriously, it was really a featureless game compared to SWG. I rarely use the term go back to WOW but in my opinion, it’s much more polite to say that then calling someone retarded even if it essentially means the same thing :P