A popular phrase in World of Warcraft is a symbol of the ignorance of some players – at least that is what MeinMMO demon Cortyn believes and has something to complain about.
The community of World of Warcraft sometimes has a rather peculiar sense of humor. Many jokes are only understood if you have been around for many years – like the entire series Allimania. However, other things are repeatedly thrown around and have become quite annoying.
The absolute king class of annoying phrases is “Fun Detected”, which has been used not only excessively but also completely misappropriated in recent years. It is often used in forums when a fresh hotfix or patch has been applied.
“Fun Detected” refers to a circumstance that is repeatedly brought up from the perspective of some WoW fans. As soon as a part of the community has found something in the game that brings them joy, Blizzard comes and changes that thing. According to the motto: “What, someone is having fun in our game? Quickly, let’s change that!” – hence “Fun Detected”.
However, this is rarely the truth. Because actually, “Fun Detected” is always said when there is a massive exploit that undermines the actual game. The currently most prominent example was probably the “Frog Farming” in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria.
Here, characters could farm a single type of enemies almost without limit for about two days, while the respawn was extremely fast. Frogs spawned in seconds, dropping all relevant currencies and rewards.
In other words: Everything in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria was completely irrelevant compared to the frog farm.
This is a massive problem from a game design perspective. If there is a method that completely outclasses all others and is 20, 30, or even 100 times more efficient than any other content in the game, then that is not “fun” – that is a bug and a problem that needs to be fixed.
Since the incident, some have been searching for the next exploit. Any hyperspawns, any mobs that drop a bit too much, dungeon trash that can be reset 10 times per hour (and even more often with an exploit). Blizzard fixes one bug after another, and it has become an absurd game of cat and mouse.
I also find it really hard to understand why some simply cannot grasp that such exploits harm the game as a whole and the fun of the vast majority.
“Fun detected” is almost always an obvious exploit that undermines the overall game.
Some say: “I pay 13 euros a month for the game, then I can play it however I want.” And yes, there is indeed a grain of truth in that statement. But it is no more than a grain.
If you play “Ludo” with other people and suddenly think that your pieces should be allowed to teleport to be right at the goal, then you can certainly play it that way because you bought the game. However, that does not necessarily enhance the fun for all participants – nor for your own.
I always have the clichéd 11-year-old Aimbot user from Counter-Strike in my mind, who thinks he is really great because he can take out everyone else and then stomps angrily when he gets banned because he just wanted to have a little fun
.
Of course, everyone defines fun a little differently. Some enjoy relaxing grind, others a snappy challenge, and others the social interaction. However, anyone who thinks that “I get all the rewards almost instantly by exploiting an exploit” really means “fun” should perhaps consider whether an MMORPG is really the right pastime.
Because if the greatest fun consists of having to spend as little time in the game as possible, then one has truly turned the principle of fun and leisure on its head. However, I still maintain the opinion that the overpowering of the frog farmers in this case is not such a bad problem – and that fixing the exploit was still the right decision.
