In that case, let me reassure you, this post isn’t even in the top 50 most viewed I’ve ever written.

You want to know why he’s not in a Felmyst guild?

No, not really. What guild he is in and that guild’s progression doesn’t actually matter to me. I value effort and progression for itself, regardless of how it places you on SK-gaming’s arena ranking or WoWjutsu. That’s not my worldview.

Stop is not a “scrub.”

Good, we agree on one thing.

Regardless of what you may think about “10 months late to the party,”

Me, I actually don’t care whether you got world 1st or world 1 millionth. What I believe is that it’s great that you guys cleared almost all of the game’s PvE content. I don’t give a damn when you do it. I’m merely pointing out that the voice which Stop represents so often in the blogosphere does actually give a damn. Not my voice. His voice.

You’re an asshole, even by your own standards.

I never claimed otherwise. However, since we’re into exchanging compliments, I would actually appreciate if the next time you took just a couple of seconds more to try and understand what I was actually saying (and blast me for *that*) rather than missing the point.

EDIT: For future reference, the TLDR version of my post is: if you spend your time criticizing people for driving a fiat punto, expect to get criticized when you reveal your car is, in fact, also a punto.

I’m Stop’s GM. You want to know why he’s not in a Felmyst guild? It’s because his friends of varying skill levels and availability are in our guild. Stop is not a “scrub.” He’s a very good player whose current priorities have him raiding with us. He’s also done a nice job pushing for our guild to be stronger and each of us play to our potential. He’s trained the very best enhancement shaman on our server and I believe he’s the best fury warrior on our server.

Of course, he’s going to represent the hardcore player view in his blog. Regardless of what you may think about “10 months late to the party,” I believe we were around the 750th US guild to kill Illidan. Given the player base of WoW, it’s logical that players who raid as much as we do and get as far as we do are still the minority. That minority player needs a place to voice and vent their frustrations.

The difference between Stop and you is the only person Stop’s ever named specifically “Stan” is a pseudonym AND after venting his frustrations, Stop helped the guy. Stop taught him how attack power affects him and gave him outside resources as well as one on one help. Other than that, he’s just railing against Blizzard. You’ve railed against him as an individual. You tried to make what was a sign of our respect for him, and gratitude for a job well done into something worthless. You’re an asshole, even by your own standards. I’ll take being a little over cocky over asshole any day.

But this ties into the larger issue where some people keep claiming that things like removing attuning, arena gear or other ways to give other players access to more content somehow lessens their own accomplishments. A world view which I still do not begin to understand. Stop still has his warglaives. His guild cleared Illidan under patch 2.3. It took a lot of work to be there, coordination, team play and execution had to be just right. Nothing I write or say will remove anything from this, it is still something very few players have done and seen out of the 10 million in this game. And I do think they are right to be proud of what they’ve achieved. If my post just managed to get another blogger to question, but for a moment, the strictness of his world view which denies himself said well-deserved pride for a job well done, confirming that I am indeed a prick in the process is something I will gladly do with.

I will give you the reason I commented on your post, though. Like I said, in your post you are trying to devalue Stop’s entire raiding career by pointing out to him that, by his own standards, his accomplishments are worthless. You have a good point, in general. But you are using your point to shoot down one guy at the moment that he’s proud of his achievement. And I felt that was a bit of a cheap shot.

So I called you on it. I am reasonably sure you did not spend as much time on this post as Stop on his raiding, and I am also pretty certain I am not devaluing your blogging career with my criticism. That’s why I don’t think your post and my comment on it compare.

I am going to stop this argument now, I think. I won’t comment on this post anymore and I’m giving you the last word, if you want it :-).

“It’s called returning the compliment.” How about: “Two wrongs don’t make a right”?

Yes, I fully did that. It’s called returning the compliment. Do I believe it doesn’t amount to much? Nope. But at some point, having dual standards is going to bite back.

Essentially, what you are doing is taking all your anger at elitist raiders out on one guy. And you’re doing that RIGHT at the moment that he’s achieved a pinnacle in his playing WoW, by telling him that by his own standards, it doesn’t amount to much. So basically, you are trying to tell him that what he spent a lot of energy for is worthless. By his own standards.

Now I admire your timing and your cunning on this post. You have got a point in saying that this hardcore elitist attitude does not hold up to scrutiny too well.

However, to do so in such a personal attack is pretty despicable. By making your point in this way you are trying to make one guy feel like the accomplishment that he is proud of does not amount to much. Keep it a bit more general next time.