I agree completely with it. I played WoW during Vanilla and during Cataclysm (as a raid leader too). What I noticed in Cataclysm was how the ‘hardcore’ were so focused on social hierarchies. Getting into that special guild and all. People would get a mount and sit on it in front of the bank as if it was an achievement. I would say, “This is a game about you killing fantasy dragons. It is just a game.” They got upset over this.

Consider Starcraft. In Brood War, most people didn’t play ladder games even in South Korea. What most people played was Big Game Hunters which was a 4v4 map with a ton of resources. It was crazy, but it was fun. And what is the point of playing a game but to have fun? However, with Starcraft 2, the game is not about just hanging out and having fun. It is about E-Sports. It is about Master league people laughing at the Diamond league players and those players laughing at the Platinum league players and so on down. It’s stupid. It’s just a game.

I’m hoping Blizzard is realizing that this E-Sports and ‘elite players’ nonsense is only hurting their games. Blizzard should instead focus on a strong game universe (meaning, quality universe writing).