General Discussion

Originally posted by declaredemer

 

Originally posted by Seen_Justice

I would say that it depends of your level of exposure. Just like eating junk food moderately won't affect your health, playing WoW moderately won't affect your brain.

Survey says: WoW is dumb, and makes people dumb. So play it moderately.

All things in moderation, including moderation.

 

 

• Is WoW dumbed-down because we, the consumer, are dumber? 

 

• Or has WoW dumbed-us-down?

 

 

 

 

You don't need to be intelligent to succeed at these games, I've met plenty of idiots at end game in every MMORPG.  All you need is a lot of spare time.

Consider this:  WoW took the formula of MMORPGs and improved the design to be more logical, making it easier to learn.  Whereas previous MMORPGs were designed by newbie game designers that gave us crude unintuitive interfaces.

Does suffering with poorly designed interfaces and gameplay make you more intelligent?  I would argue it's the opposite.  Consider these arguments the next time you consider WoW and it's players "dumbed down".

You are not the MMORPG you play.  Consider all the doctors, lawyers, game developers playing WoW, and then question whether you think you're more intelligent than they are.  Notice how pointless this debate is?

It's quite pathetic really.

Guess we all need a pre-wow history lesson. I hate to do it, but some need to be educated on it I guess.

History

Leet originated within bulletin board systems in the 1980s, where having "elite" status on a BBS allowed a user access to file folders, games, and special chat rooms, often including archives of pirated software, pornography, or text files documenting topics such as how to construct explosives and manufacture illegal drugs.^[3] One theory is that it was developed to defeat text filters created by BBS or Internet Relay Chat system operators for message boards to discourage the discussion of forbidden topics, like cracking and hacking. However, creative misspellings and ASCII-art-derived words were also a way to attempt to indicate one was knowledgeable about the culture of computer users. Once reserved to use by hackers, crackers, and script kiddies, Leet has since entered the mainstream.It is now also used to mock newbies, or newcomers, on web sites, or in gaming communities. Some consider emoticons and ASCII art, like smiley faces, to be Leet, while others maintain that Leet consists of only symbolic word encryption. More obscure forms of Leet, involving the use of symbol combinations and almost no letters or numbers, continue to be used for its original purpose of encrypted communication. It is also sometimes used as a script language.

Vocabulary

Many words originally derived from Leet slang have now become part of the modern Internet slang, such as "pwned".The primary driving force of new vocabulary in Leet is the need to describe new phenomena. Another force is common misspelling and mistyping such as "teh", and intentional misspellings, especially the "z" at the end of words ("skillz").Another prominent example of a surviving Leet expression is w00t, an exclamation of joy.

New words (or corruptions thereof) may arise from a need to make one's username unique. As any given Internet service reaches more people, the number of names available to a given user is drastically reduced. While many users may wish to have the username "CatLover," for example, in many cases it is only possible for one user to have the moniker. As such, degradations of the name may evolve, such as "C@L0vr." As the Leet cipher is highly dynamic, there is a wider possibility for multiple users to share the "same" name, through combinations of spelling and transliterations.

Additionally, leet—the word itself—can be found in the screennames and gamertags of many Internet and video games. Use of the term in such a manner announces a high level of skill, though such an announcement may be seen as baseless hubris.

So leet speak was derived in the 1980's by VERY intelligent computer users known as hackers. Which was about, oh I don't know a decade before World of Warcraft was even made. On top of the that, what we have now as "leet speak" is a watered down internet slang version of the now extinct verson of the hacker language.

So whenever I see a post like this, were people think that the wow kiddies invented pwn, noob, lmao or stfu, it makes me sad.

Leet speak was brought into mainstream PC gaming not by MMO players like EQ, which some would have suggested, but instead by FPS players such as the very ancient and old quake 1 and 2 and counterstrike 1.3-1.6

Yes the wow kiddies use it, but just because they think it makes them sound cool, which it does not. They in no way shape or form however brought leet speak into mainstream gaming. You can thank the super users known as hackers for that, which I would bet a million dollars are leaps and bounds more "intelligent" than the OP.

WoW dumbs people down? Get a life seriously.

GRATZ Recant that was your 1337 post.

BUT

does that make you 1337?

*shrugs*

who knows.

You should take a screenshot though because that is pretty cool.

  I'm not sure I yet understand what WoW has actually "dumbed down".  They have made things more accessible, yes...but dumbed down...no.  The progression system they use is COPY PASTE from every other MMO in circulation (that mattered) and the structure behind its combat is, point blank, the same as well.  The controls are actually more complex than most of its predecessors in many ways...and the fact it allows lua scripting opens the game to more intelligent users than most do as well.

  The travel systems it implemented weren't "dumbed down" either...they were smart moves.  Travel time can be equated to "wasted time".  Plus, having faster travel to locations already accessed opened the player to its own community more. 

  From a Raid perspective...the encounters are by far MILES ahead of anything ever released.  Long gone are the days of tank and spank. 

  What has WoW dumbed down?  Seriously?  If you can answer that for me...then maybe you could also tell me how, in doing so, its affected its players?  So far as I have ever seen...you can't trash on WoW for ANYTHING that you couldn't also trash on every other MMO ever made for.

  Perhaps we should be saying:  "Are MMO's making people stupid?"

MMOs just reflect attitudes in popular culture, general usage of english has been degrading rapidly for quite a long time. The 'L33t' speak fad wasn't caused by WoW, it is just the latest & most annoying example of language degradation. I know that language has always evolved, but current trends seem to be worse than ever, at least IMO (deliberate joke).

Everquest does not make people smarter or teach inter personal skills. I played the first Everquest for quite a while & it was full of players begging in the shout channels, kill stealing & last but definitely not least, constantly shouting 'camped' even though the rules clearly stated there was no such thing.

Luckily EQ2 learned from the mistakes of EQ1 and made many of the worst excesses impossible by changing the game mechanics, but even now it is full of players shouting 'L33t' speak gibberish across zones e.g. "Max DPS wanted for new HardCore Raiding Guild".

I haven't played WoW as it just didn't appeal to me. but the assertion that "Everquest makes people smart, but WoW makes people stupid" is just retarded.

Originally posted by Gishgeron

 

  Perhaps we should be saying:  "Are MMO's making people stupid?"

Or perhaps, "are MMOs making people smarter?"

WoW might dumb-you-down but collecting boar tusks and spending hours doing the same things, but another game might make you smarter by combining complexity, depth, story, and challenge in its content.

If it can make a person dumber, then it should be able to make a person smarter.

Originally posted by gath

 

Originally posted by Redslayer  

So, What do you consider a full grown adult?

 

Edit - Well I'm going to bed now, got to get up early for work, So I'll check back tomorrow to see what you think is makes someone a full grown adult, Which I'm sure you'll apply a number to.

Why dont you ask the High-school teacher?

 

 

Ah yes, because that makes sense, Because I'm around high-school teachers every day.

It seems you have no 'real' reason, to say I'm not a full grown adult, Other then to troll me :)

So kid, Have a nice night.

Anyway on topic, I don't think WoW can actually make you stupid, Unless you already are. On the other hand, I definetly wouldn't learn any-where near as much in WoW, As I did playing Ryzom. Because Ryzom had an extremely mature community, it was rare to see anyone under 20 playing. (I only knew 2 people, one was 18, and the other was 16, out of a friends list of over 70 people, And both acted mature, Well most of the time lol).

The random idiots you run into in WoW rather often, were almost non-existant there. Miss that game...

People have been acting stupid in online games since they first came out. Who else here remembers all the nifty little hax and trainers in Diablo?