I've been spending a little more time in the SWTOR forum these days, which I guess is why I noticed the
recent argument about "gear score" that took place there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myQErCJDTg
Just listen to this narrator, he makes me want to throw up. Sadly this is how far WoW has sunk. This is exactly what we don't need in TOR! It destroys the community, excludes certain players(whom they deem not worthy enough) from in game content, and makes you only a number. Worst addon and MMO community ever!
As you can guess the thread spawned many pages of comments for and against the sentiment. One of which was:
I don't see the big problem. When I played WoW back in BC it was the SAME THING people would inspect you and say w/e. Also in BC guilds wouldn't recruit you if you didn't have the hand of A'dal title or the other title. It's just people assumming since they don't gem/enchant your gear(for optimal dps/tanking/healing) they don't know how to play their class. Most of the time thats true(from all the pugs I was in).
To which I replied:
No, it isn't a big deal. Or, more accurately, it's only a big deal to the kind-hearted souls that don't want people to have self-esteem issues. The kind that don't want winners and losers in little league games because then someone will feel bad about themselves for losing. The kind that doesn't want dodge ball to be played at school, because some poor person will have to be singled out and beaned in the head with a ball.
I can understand where these people are coming from. But I know we live in a world where we're all judged every day in innumerable ways. I'm okay with that. I'm prepared for it and can deal with it either way. I guess, I'm just strong enough to not let what someone else thinks determine how I feel, or what I think.
The reality of the situation is that whether in a game, or not, you will be judged. Some how and in some way. You do not have an option to not be judged. The sooner people come to realize that, the better they'll be for it. Until that happens we'll continue to have these little conversations.
And I consider that the bottom line. Whether you want it or no, there is and always will be an undercurrent of competitiveness in a progression based game. And there will always be subjective judgments made about you whether its in a game, or in real life. You either deal with it or not, and those who complain about this sort of thing are the sort that want option #3 -- not to have to deal with it at all.
