I struggle with this concept a lot.
To me, to be 'elite' is a good thing- elite is a word for someone that has struggled, has worked hard, has really put the time into whatever it is they are elite at and thus have earned that word.
Is it exclusive? Â Yes. Â It does exclude people who have not done those things. Â Does it mean be a jerk to/talk down to/offer unsolicited advice to those one feels is -not- elite? Not at all. Â That is rude, not elite.
However, the concept of 'you have to be nice to everyone that RPs and accept what they do' is one that I find unrealistic and frankly ridiculous. Â I have been told (repeatedly) in other MMOs that my character walking away ICly means -I- am rude and elitist because the person I'm RPing with is, frankly, bad at it but no one is allowed to judge them. Â I do not do or say anything to the player, I do not mock them, I do not laugh and call them 'a bad'. Â I simply choose to not to continue to RP with said person- but this is bad to many people because roleplayers -must- be inclusionary, after all, we're all part of a larger subset of the commonly excluded/teased/picked on and therefore we must all present a solid front.
Community is very, very important, absolutely. But I feel that not having standards and taking the 'everyone can do what they want and nobody is allowed to censure them in any way' tact is a detriment to the community as a whole. Â We should -want- to be elite. Â We should want to be great at this craft. Â There will always be folks that just want to play what they play and not be told any differently which is all well and good, but to throw around the term elitism as a bad thing is, imo, basically the same thing as saying "Person that has put time and effort into this is -required- to interact with person that hasn't because we're all RPers and that means we -have- to be a big happy family and if you -don't- do that thing that means you are elitist and a bully and bad." Â Which is, admittedly, an extreme view but it is one that I have encountered before.
I do not generally speak whenever this topic comes up because I know my words are not popular and that people will use them to determine that I am some elitist jerkwad that doesn't want anyone else to have any fun. Â For the record, I don't care what people play. Â Be the half-fairy/half-dragon. Â If you're having fun, have fun, but don't automatically decide that just because you're roleplaying that means everyone -must- accept you- and if they don't that means they're ~elitist~.
To me, to be 'elite' is a good thing- elite is a word for someone that has struggled, has worked hard, has really put the time into whatever it is they are elite at and thus have earned that word.
Is it exclusive? Â Yes. Â It does exclude people who have not done those things. Â Does it mean be a jerk to/talk down to/offer unsolicited advice to those one feels is -not- elite? Not at all. Â That is rude, not elite.
However, the concept of 'you have to be nice to everyone that RPs and accept what they do' is one that I find unrealistic and frankly ridiculous. Â I have been told (repeatedly) in other MMOs that my character walking away ICly means -I- am rude and elitist because the person I'm RPing with is, frankly, bad at it but no one is allowed to judge them. Â I do not do or say anything to the player, I do not mock them, I do not laugh and call them 'a bad'. Â I simply choose to not to continue to RP with said person- but this is bad to many people because roleplayers -must- be inclusionary, after all, we're all part of a larger subset of the commonly excluded/teased/picked on and therefore we must all present a solid front.
Community is very, very important, absolutely. But I feel that not having standards and taking the 'everyone can do what they want and nobody is allowed to censure them in any way' tact is a detriment to the community as a whole. Â We should -want- to be elite. Â We should want to be great at this craft. Â There will always be folks that just want to play what they play and not be told any differently which is all well and good, but to throw around the term elitism as a bad thing is, imo, basically the same thing as saying "Person that has put time and effort into this is -required- to interact with person that hasn't because we're all RPers and that means we -have- to be a big happy family and if you -don't- do that thing that means you are elitist and a bully and bad." Â Which is, admittedly, an extreme view but it is one that I have encountered before.
I do not generally speak whenever this topic comes up because I know my words are not popular and that people will use them to determine that I am some elitist jerkwad that doesn't want anyone else to have any fun. Â For the record, I don't care what people play. Â Be the half-fairy/half-dragon. Â If you're having fun, have fun, but don't automatically decide that just because you're roleplaying that means everyone -must- accept you- and if they don't that means they're ~elitist~.
