One of the things that I remind myself of on a regular basis is that I am not the average player in an MMO. I am not middle-of-the-road. Even disregarding experience and my profession, I also know that I’ve been playing my MMOs of choice longer than the average person, I spend more time dissecting lore than the average person, and I certainly have a more fixed stake in these games than the average player. I do not fit the profile of the average World of Warcraft player or the average Final Fantasy XIV player or anything else; I am an outlier.
This is somewhat difficult for us to parse as human beings, because all of us tend to see ourselves as the default. It’s easy to think that if you like open PvP with free looting, the average player does as well. If you like sandboxes that heavily de-emphasize combat, most other players feel the same. If you’re a hardcore raider, well, that’s the norm; the people who don’t fall into that category are weird. And since you tend to make friends within the sphere of people who share your interests, it can easily become an idea that you reinforce for yourself.
Statistics, despite Mr. Twain’s opinions to the contrary, prove quite helpful here. Sure, they can be twisted to serve a point, but they also serve as a good barometer for how close you really are to the “average” player in an MMO. But we’re not worried about that today; we’re interested in the feeling. How well do you think you represent your main MMO’s average player? Do you think that you’re an average player? More or less devoted to the game? In step with what the majority of players do for content or entirely out of step? Where do you fall as a part of the average?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
