Claims that tech tycoon and Twitter mismanager Elon Musk is some sort of Diablo and Path of Exile savant gave way last week to accusations that maybe he doesn’t actually play at that level after all. According to PC Gamer’s account, Musk streamed himself playing a hardcore character on Path of Exile 2, but players immediately began pointing out all the bizarre contradictions in his gameplay skills and UI – and how his demonstrated knowledge of the game fell short compared to his rank.
In other words, gamers think he’s probably just been paying someone to play his account. This is not really the worst sin on the planet, frankly; MMO players especially have been doing this for decades, and I don’t even necessarily mean paying goldfarmers to do it. Back in the day, I used to play a guildie’s account to manage his crafting and another’s to level our town. Multiple guildies used to account share in WoW specifically to help rank up someone in PvP, back when ranks were more about how long rather than how good. I log into my husband’s accounts sometimes to level him and vice versa. There are lots of reasons to do this, and I don’t feel that judgy about it.
Likewise, I had to roll my eyes a little bit at the “Oh you play Path of Exile 2? Name five exiles” reaction. I personally don’t even care if you suck at games. I forget the name of my specs all the time. Who cares, just have fun.
But lying about being a world-class player and thinking you can fool gamers who haven’t touched grass in years? When you’re already a bajillionaire and don’t need validation anyway? That’s a whole new level of yikes on bikes.
How about you? Have you ever participated in account sharing, either to level someone up or get leveled yourself? And have you ever paid for it?
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!
