The MMO is not just about the game itself, but also about the discussion around it – just like football. Today, we take a look at fanboys and haters, bashers and whiteknights, in short, the everyday madness surrounding the most beautiful distraction in the world. And we don’t mean sex or football.
Some fans refer to discussions after a game in the club pub as the third half. Everything and everyone, especially football, is discussed there. Gamers don’t need beer or pubs for that. They sip energy drinks and hang out in forums, on websites, and in social media. And it’s not about football, God, or the world, but about MMOs.
In our column “MMO Culture” at Mein MMO, we want to take a look at the different types in such discussions today and how strongly they feel connected to their game.
We have created a scale that describes the relationship of the player to the game and how willing they are to tackle or defend it in discussions. This highly scientific scale ranges from -3 (absolute hate) to +3 (unconditional dedication). Of course, in addition to the 7 points we specifically pick out, there are also some shades of gray that surely apply to anyone reading this who can analyze their MMOs passionlessly and completely objectively.
So please … don’t take it too seriously. It’s all just satire.
Point Zero on the Scale: The Neutral: Yeah … I’ve heard of it – it’s an MMO, right? What’s it like?
This does not include Grandma, who has nothing to do with video games, but rather someone who is potentially a customer for the game in question. However, they are neutral like Switzerland, have not yet formed an opinion about the game. And whether they will develop a serious interest in it is also not clear yet.
Normally, the neutral person has not yet purchased the game – unless it was in a Humble Bundle, along with 8 other games, of which they already own 2 and have heard that the other 2 are about the same.
Hardly any gamer manages to stay neutral while playing the game. It either tips in one direction or the other.
A neutral person usually does not participate in discussions about the game – ironically, everyone else often talks about them. Because they are the “silent majority” that needs to be convinced from their own position. The neutral person is thus the grand prize in discussions about games: they have no opinion yet and can either be convinced to buy the game immediately and become a cult follower, or they can be successfully driven away.
Point +1: Types Who Like the Game: Was pretty okay, but … that goes a bit too far for me
The person who likes the game is someone who is currently playing or has already played the game. And they enjoyed it or at least found it generally okay.
On +1 on the scale, there can also be a fan who liked the game incredibly well, but their nature is rather introverted, and for them, a “It’s not bad” is already the highest praise.
Such players usually keep out of internet debates. If there is a way to support the game without getting involved in any heavy discussions, they gladly accept it. They like posts on Facebook, participate in surveys, watch videos and guides about their game, and are likely to also buy the follow-up title.[pullquote]It’s just a game!
Types who like the game are – like most people – rather conflict-averse. They don’t necessarily need to participate in a debate about a game. If they do, they try to remain factual. They generally see their game objectively, but with goodwill. They are people for whom the game doesn’t hold an incredibly high value. It’s a game, they’ve played it, now it’s on to the next.
In football, these are people who cheer for their team in front of the TV.
Point -1: The Type Who Just Doesn’t Like the Game: Pfff, I don’t care
The type who just doesn’t like the game is the opposite of a fan. They may have purchased the game and quickly uninstalled it. Or they don’t like the whole genre or had their gaming stomach upset by a previous title from the publisher.
When they think about the game, they might grimace a little, as if they had bitten into a lemon or, more likely, sucked on a lemon-flavored candy. They honestly can’t explain why anyone would play that game when it has such clear weaknesses. But on the other hand, the type who just doesn’t like the game knows that everyone has different tastes.
The type who just doesn’t like the game usually does not participate in discussions about the game. They won’t click on posts that have the MMO as a topic; they will simply try to ignore the game. If it gets too colorful for them and they are asked about the game, they might say: “It just didn’t click for me” or “I can’t get into it at all.”
However, they will not try to convince others of their opinion. At most, they will be grumpy. But that is already the highest of feelings.
Point +2: The Fanboy or Fangirl: Pink Rhapsodies in C-Major
The fanboy or fangirl li-li-liiioves the game. It’s a bit like being newly in love. Actually, it’s just like that! They want to shout their love for the game out into the world! Of course, they are a little irrational; they know that themselves. But right now, they don’t care. The fanboy likes posts, buys merchandise, and spends money.
They prefer to get informed on fan sites about the game. They write guides, tweet, and are on Facebook, possibly writing fan fiction, going to cons, and being part of the fandom. They really just love the game. It’s a part of their life that makes them feel good and brings them joy.
In general, a fanboy stays close to their game. They are in the relevant forums or social media but usually don’t like to stray too far from their opinion. Because they know that in the harsh, rough world outside, they might face backlash that they don’t like and that could ruin their fun.
Of course, the fangirl also sees the flaws in the game and the things that don’t work well. But they believe that the developers will certainly do better – right away tomorrow or in the next patch; after all, they said so, and they would never lie! Someone who comes into their living room and wants to insult the game can’t understand them at all.
A subtype of the fangirl is the “reflected fangirl.” These are fans who wish they could love as unconditionally as the pure fangirl but remain too level-headed for that. They often write guides and actively engage in the community.
Other subtypes of the +2 types are the “helper sheriff” or “the mother of the company” – players who like to be part of a community and play a leadership role, whether as a moderator, guild leader of an important group, or as a leader of fan sites.
All these various variations of players who are ignited for a game with +2 see the game as an important part of their lives. They manage to perceive the MMO as a positive force in their lives. Even if they sometimes seem to outsiders to have lost touch with reality by denying even the gross weaknesses in their favorite games.
The football equivalent of fanboys and fangirls are ultras. They come up with choreographies, engage with the club management, organize fan culture, and believe, in their eyes, to be the backbone of the club. However, they also want to be respected for it. They want their performance for the club to be acknowledged.
Point -2: The Hater: Militant Ex-Fan with Bad Mood
The hater was often a fan or even a fanboy until love turned into pure hatred. The game has changed, not the hater. The motivation is: “What have they done to my beloved game? How has it all become so bad? Back in the day – yes, back in the day – when I played, it was all so – but now, how can anyone play it today!”
The hater often wants to work out their place in gamer life by looking down on others. They have outgrown the game long ago. The accusation is: Why hasn’t the game adapted to my needs?
This type of hater is about as militant and popular as ex-non-smokers who immediately come at everyone with cancer pictures or give a “Ts-ts-ts, I used to be such a weak-willed addict until I overcame it” face.
Haters do not necessarily need counterwind; they’d rather be supported in their opinions by other players, so they tend to hang out in “neutral” forums that are not assigned to any game. In contrast to players with -1, they express negative criticism about the game there.
[pullquote]Haters leave no good hair on the game[/pullquote]The criticism can certainly be differentiated. The further the hater is from the type who just doesn’t like the game, and the closer they get to the basher, the less differentiated their criticism becomes. Hardcore haters leave no good word on the game in question. They argue passionately and are combative. Personal attacks are part of their rhetoric.
Sometimes, haters of a game can also be whiteknights for another. Then they love their own game so much that they go out into the world to put down other games. Especially in the console sector, it seems impossible to be an Xbox or PlayStation fan without simultaneously hating the other console to the fourth degree.
However, the impression is deceptive. A “normal” fan of Xbox or PlayStation is somewhere between -1 and +1 and therefore doesn’t go into such forums. There are colleagues who stay closer to the end of the scale or who have wandered into that forum over time. Such forums contaminate their members and pull them further towards the edge. So to speak, an … extremist boot camp!
Point Plus 3 – The Whiteknight: The Anger About Injustice Also Makes the Voice Hoarse
Whiteknights are fanboys with an agenda. They are tired of haters or even bashers coming into their forums and causing trouble. Anyone who does that will have to deal with them! They cannot understand how someone goes somewhere to ruin the game for the rest! There’s something wrong with them! They are tired of turning the other cheek, digging up the hatchet (or the phaser), and going on the offensive.
Unfortunately, many whiteknights eventually fall into the same patterns as their opponents and become destructive and unsound. The fruitless attempts to convince dissenters of the one true truth frustrate whiteknights over time and make their tone resemble that of a troll. For outsiders, conversations between bashers and whiteknights are about as pleasant as the marital dispute of the neighboring tenants or the sound of a dentist’s drill.
The worst thing you can accuse a whiteknight of is being a paid social media agent of the company for which they advocate. Because they are passionate about it … even while dreaming that such a job would be offered to them. The accusation of being a social media agent hits them hard; however, it does not stop them in the least from assuming that critics are surely paid by a competing company! In the MMO sector, the scoundrel is almost always Blizzard. In the console sector, it could be either Sony or Nintendo. Depending on which game the whiteknight advocates, a new axis of evil forms.
Besides bashers, gaming websites and journalists who express criticism about the game are natural enemies of whiteknights. They particularly target female critics. Many a gaming journalist has changed careers for this reason. Why it is that women in particular provoke their anger – that would be a case for psychologists. By the way, whiteknights are almost exclusively a male phenomenon.
Point Minus 3 – The Basher: Troll on Speed
The basher or troll is a hater on speed. They have made it their life’s mission to destroy the community of a game. A basher does not care about the issue or the game itself, but about the attention they draw from being against everyone.
They prefer to invade the enemy’s cave, on fan sites of the game or in social networks, to drop stink bombs there. Anyone who contradicts them can take the rest of the day off; the basher has time and almost neurotic energy.
Often, they know the game much better than regular fans. They have statistics ready that prove the exact decline. They always speak in superlatives, absolutizing everything and leaving no counter-arguments. Anyone who contradicts them must be blinded, mentally retarded, or simply still “very, very young and inexperienced” (or on the payroll of the operator!).
However, they also have no answer to one question: “Why do they spend so much time on something that brings them so much displeasure?”
The equivalent of bashers in football, you guess, are hooligans. They have long stopped caring about football but instead look forward to a solid fight afterward.
