A few weeks back, the Skyrim Grandma – aka Shirley Curry, who’s been profiled in our own Massively Uplifting column more than once – made headlines for a video she made about viewer comments that stressed her out. Some folks initially assumed she meant abusive comments and got super angry on her behalf, but as it turned out, what she actually meant was the kind of well-meaning but inconsiderate fans who’d show up in her comments and tell her she wasn’t playing right, needed to change her build to be more effective, should be speedrunning instead, or wasn’t even playing the “right” game. Essentially, she wants to roleplay on her channel and is simply tired of know-it-alls and condescension and min-maxers.
This frustrates me on so many levels. Obviously, I feel for Grandma Shirley. I’m annoyed at livestream culture that makes people think they’re welcome to show up and critique what they are seeing or hand out pro tips unasked. I’m irked at the eternal (and wrong) assumption that roleplayers are bad gamers and just need proper instruction. But above all else, I am irritated that gaming is still stuck in this deep rut of min-maxing everything, even when it comes to wide-open sandboxes where you’re supposed to try everything, not just zip to the end with the most effective build. And that mentality is constantly showing up in MMOs, even MMOs where there’s very little truly hardcore gameplay to justify it.
What do you think: Are you (still?) a min-maxer in MMORPGs?
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!
