2010-04-24, 09:45 AM
Actually I'm level 102, my signature is just being a jerk and won't update.
Anyway, it really isn't hard to train a Beginner, it's just incredibly time consuming. Because of this, leechers (and even non-leechers) argue that I must have "no life" having never leeched my character and that they're somehow better because they put a few months into their character while I've been around for a few years. The most I can say is that I simply enjoy playing my character and I see no reason to leech a character that you enjoy playing.
I'll copy something I wrote in a BasilMarket thread a few days ago:
"It's not worth it to dispute whether leechers or non-leechers are better or worse because we're all playing useless characters in a game that does little to further our real lives. Personally, I think the leechers probably deserve as much respect as Keeth, Alex, Nikki, or myself because despite having to deal with the same harsh comments (or even more) from judgmental people, some of them are still keeping at it. And they obviously have better in-game friends, or more money than the rest of us otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get that far with their characters."
I say that because the few leeching Beginners that I know are fairly nice people and my favorite, Alon, is a really great guy. His honesty in admitting that his character is nothing special and that he considers it more the combined effort of all of his friends than any personal achievement helped me realize that they're not all spoiled kids hanging on a rope.
I agree that the double standard is crap and that no player really deserves more or less respect based on the way they chose to play a game. Respect is earned through setting a good example for others, being kind, being reliable, etc... But meh.. What are you going to do?
Among the Beginner community no one really cares to argue about this anymore. When the leeching boom happened a couple years ago it was non-stop drama and killed a lot of the fun of being a Beginner. Though we're nothing special, being a part of a tightly knit community is part of the appeal and the fighting got so out of hand that some pretty great people stopped playing altogether. I know there is still some bias against leechers among the non-leechers and I'll admit that I'm a bit disappointed when a friend starts leeching (whether they're jobless or not), but I just don't see the point in making a big deal of it. The most I do is try to discourage leeching among the odd Khainian population and show everyone that you can still get up there without leeching as long as you keep having fun with it.
Anyway, it really isn't hard to train a Beginner, it's just incredibly time consuming. Because of this, leechers (and even non-leechers) argue that I must have "no life" having never leeched my character and that they're somehow better because they put a few months into their character while I've been around for a few years. The most I can say is that I simply enjoy playing my character and I see no reason to leech a character that you enjoy playing.
I'll copy something I wrote in a BasilMarket thread a few days ago:
"It's not worth it to dispute whether leechers or non-leechers are better or worse because we're all playing useless characters in a game that does little to further our real lives. Personally, I think the leechers probably deserve as much respect as Keeth, Alex, Nikki, or myself because despite having to deal with the same harsh comments (or even more) from judgmental people, some of them are still keeping at it. And they obviously have better in-game friends, or more money than the rest of us otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get that far with their characters."
I say that because the few leeching Beginners that I know are fairly nice people and my favorite, Alon, is a really great guy. His honesty in admitting that his character is nothing special and that he considers it more the combined effort of all of his friends than any personal achievement helped me realize that they're not all spoiled kids hanging on a rope.
I agree that the double standard is crap and that no player really deserves more or less respect based on the way they chose to play a game. Respect is earned through setting a good example for others, being kind, being reliable, etc... But meh.. What are you going to do?
Among the Beginner community no one really cares to argue about this anymore. When the leeching boom happened a couple years ago it was non-stop drama and killed a lot of the fun of being a Beginner. Though we're nothing special, being a part of a tightly knit community is part of the appeal and the fighting got so out of hand that some pretty great people stopped playing altogether. I know there is still some bias against leechers among the non-leechers and I'll admit that I'm a bit disappointed when a friend starts leeching (whether they're jobless or not), but I just don't see the point in making a big deal of it. The most I do is try to discourage leeching among the odd Khainian population and show everyone that you can still get up there without leeching as long as you keep having fun with it.