Another installment of Spwug 4 articles! This one is written by Marco Soto, and if you need a reason to avoid MMORPGs and are tired of having your standard reasons refuted by the hardcore gamers, he’s here to help.

Speaking as someone from “The Big City,” I’m rather used to panhandlers, beggars, and the homeless. Those individuals that always seem to be on the wrong side of town when their car runs out of gas, or who haven’t eaten in days (even though they had a burger in their hands just 15 minutes ago).

So, I wasn’t that taken aback to find the same situation going on in most MMORPGs. What DID strike me as odd, though, was the sheer laziness of the beggars that I found. People asking for 5 gold in Guild Wars just struck me dumbfounded. Especially when you could walk out the front gate and kill the first thing you saw and it would drop 5 gold or the equivalent. Requests for beginner swords would go up and you can get those weapons for free from certain NPCs.

Now, there are always the enterprising beggars that will be willing to entertain for their handout. The “Will dance naked for gold” women are always a laugh. Every once in a while you’ll get someone who gives an in game reason for needing money. “Seering Vet down on his luck. Dwayna bless you” has always been my favorite.

But, really, do we need the streets of Ascalon to be so lined with beggars that the sidewalks are soft? Does Ironforge need a dwarf on every corner with a cardboard sign?
Do the City of Villans and City of Heros need another emote of someone with a tin cup?

As with the RL version of the problem, the MMO version can be tracked back to those certain individuals who, just to shut people up, end up paying off the beggars and thus, perpetuate the problem. Come on, people, stop giving in. Help is one thing, but are you really helping someone by giving them something instead of letting them get it by *gasp* playing the game?!

Sure, when someone asks a question, by all means, help them out by providing an answer. After all, we were all noobs once. But when it comes to money and items, especially ones that could be picked up off of the ground not ten feet away, let those grubby little street urchins fend for themselves. Heck, you can even help them out by telling them where they can get what they’re looking for, on their own. Just so long as they go out and get it for themselves instead of just asking for it. Make them play the game, for crying out loud.

Or you could just play their character for them. Cut out the middle man and just tell them if they sign over their character to you, they can go to bed knowing that little Timmy will become a big and strong leader of men (orcs, elves, whatever) and they don’t have to worry about a thing. They don’t even have to play the game, and that’s what they’re really asking for, isn’t it?

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Spwug 4, Guest Writer, games. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.