I was taught, from a young age, to be a good loser and a good winner. That’s to say, I was taught not to throw a tantrum at losing a game, but similarly, not to gloat if I had won a game. (I’m sure my brother would argue that I never actually learned these lessons very well, but honestly, neither did he. At least, not in terms of playing games with each other.) I’m mostly certain that the majority of people were taught about sportsmanship, and how to be a good sport, at some point in their lives.
I know that I can complain and I can gripe, but I am ALWAYS genuinely happy when someone in my raid gets loot, even if they get it over me. I will, in jest, grumble that I didn’t get bracers or something, but I’m always truly happy that someone’s gotten sweet loot that they want, because it helps the guild.
I’m even happy now that most of my guildmates have the Lifebinder’s Handmaiden off Heroic Madness of Deathwing and I, well, do not. But I’m honestly happy that people are acquiring them and I’m sure I’ll eventually get mine. More than that, the majority of my guild seems happy when others get loot or mounts or whatever. We have been SO lucky this entire expansion to not have a ton of loot drama, honestly. It’s clear that I’m surrounded by some pretty respectful people on a regular basis and they’re pretty classy folks.
When it was announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic was going Free to Play, imagine my surprise when I saw this:
Cory Stockton is the Lead Content Designer for World of Warcraft.
Now, to be fair, Mr. Stockton could, perhaps, be referring to the fact that SWTOR going Free to Play is a big deal (which it is) and maybe that’s what his “BOOOOOOM!” is all about. (Here’s the link for the article he retweeted.)
But I think it’s entirely possible that Mr. Stockton is actually gloating at a competitor who, less than eight months after release, has to change their entire business plan and strategy. Going from a subscription model to a Free to Play model is viewed by some as an admission of failure and a “BOOOOOOM!” can easily be read as an explosion or someone/something blowing up. It’s not much of a stretch to assume that Mr. Stockton is gloating because his MMORPG title (World of Warcraft) has yet to go Free to Play (despite the fact you can play without paying — to an extent. I believe you can play up to level 20 without subscribing.) and that WoW, in fact, has millions and millions of subscribers.
I’m not saying that’s the case. What I’m saying is that it’s not out of left field to assume that’s his meaning.
If it is his meaning, then it’s pretty clear that Mr. Stockton never fully learned about sportsmanship.
(I wonder if the 1.1 million WoW subscriber loss over the last three months (April, May and June of 2012) would warrant a “BOOOOOOM!” from Bioware to Mr. Stockton…?)
I am in exactly the same position as you are, watching my guildmates get their sweet new rides and knowing that I won’t get one. It makes me sad but only because I know that I won’t be raiding with them come MoP.
When I first read Mr. Stockton’s statement, I did not interpret it as a BOOOOM! that meant SWOTR failed but as a BOOOOM! something big just happened. Regardless, it’s unfair to judge based solely on a onomatopoeic statement. Without context, you cannot be sure. You can try to extrapolate based on his position but at that point you’re just gossiping.
There’s not much to really worry about with the numbers reported from WoW. It’s not just the relative size of the drop next to the subscriber base, it’s also where those subscribers went.
I’d say more, but instead I’ll just link The Daily Blink: http://www.thedailyblink.com/2012/08/f2p-free-to-post-complaints-in-the-comments/
I was reading a few articles on this. Seems that a lot of the WoW players unsubbed for D3. Which is what Joe may have been referring to.
Oh, it’s very, very possible that Stockton was taking great pleasure in SWTOR’s recent troubles. Problem is … well, it’s not really like SWTOR fans can say anything. Most of us (me included, to a ridiculous degree) touted SWTOR as the end-all, be-all of MMOs. Welp, that’s clearly not the case. I can handle my come-uppance; lord knows I talked enough junk about it beforehand that I fully deserve it.
I still play and love the game, but this sort of ‘In yo face!’ comment was both expected and needed. It’ll teach me the folly of listening to hype and not my head.
Hey, thanks for the link!