MassivelyOP’s 2023 Golden Yachties: Best Worst Misapplication of Pay-to-Win

December 28, 2023 4:00 PM

Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards as we present our award for Best Worst Misapplication of Pay-to-Win in an MMO. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. (Stay in school, kids.)

And the winner is…

NEW WORLD PVPERS

Well, some of them, anyway.

Words mean things, friendos. The term pay-to-win has been around for a very, very long time; it refers very explicitly to swiping a credit card for some sort of clear advantage over other players. It does not, however, refer to buying an expansion that raises a level cap, which is what a small but loud contingent of New World PvP gamers tried to argue this year. I shudder to think how some of y’all would’ve gotten through the early years of the genre. I remember watching the Amazon video where the devs, wearing pained faces, tried to gently explain how MMO expansions work to people who (I guess?) were new here. Guys, please stop giving Scot Lane grey hairs.