Peaceful World of Warcraft Player Hits Max Level Without Kills

[Aeshi]

Not that this will stop the whiners going "WoW just kill X of Y"

 

[MGlBlaze]

Therefore what was the point of mindless repetition to do something that essentially doesn't need to be done?

You just pretty much described gaming in a nutshell, now sit back, grab a drink, and stop worrying about such silly things.

I'm a little confused - that part of my post was quoting Mazty on something he said so I could try and argue against it specifically. Though my argument was pretty much what you said about it more or less being Gaming in a nutshell.

Games tend to be violent. Due to the success of games like CoD, no one seems to care anymore.
However what was done here was frankly a complete waste of a lot of time.
Is it possible? Obviously it was as all you would need to do is basic math. Therefore what was the point of mindless repetition to do something that essentially doesn't need to be done? The amount of hours required would be alarming. The kind of stigma this brings to it is the sort that is seen in South Park's episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft". It's not dedication as much as it is a complete waste of time.

Games tend to be violent as it offers an easy source of conflict and obstacles for the player.

Also the "Therefore what was the point of mindless repetition to do something that essentially doesn't need to be done?" thing you said can essentially translate to the entire World of Warcraft experience, or indeed a lot of other games. Why? A lot of it is repetition, and none of it 'needs' to be done by the virtue that computer games are an optional leisure activity for the majority of people who play them.

As for actually doing it rather than just leaving it to the math; what would be the point of that? It was possible through the game mechanics, but what about when you factor in the player? Would they be able to have fun all that time, or would they get fed up of gathering and make a new character or just start Killian stuff with their current one?

I still think reaching level 85 with 0 kills is quite a feat, and is an impressive display of actual role playing.

What is the challenge of doing what was done? The challenge was the time it would take, which isn't a challenge.
As I said, all it is doing is making World of Warcraft seem more & more fitting for the WoW players the Southpark characters became.
Factor in the player? What the hell does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. Most people would get bored of doing something so mindlessly repetitive, and that is normal. Spending so much time to do something that is unneeded is simply going to label games like WoW for the odd.

Challenge: Avoiding monsters, trying to escape without dying if she got engaged by a monster (If you're not already mounted - and you wouldn't be if in the middle of gathering - this is very hard if not impossible as you can't mount in combat. I suppose there's shadowmeld but that's on a two-minute cooldown) without fighting back. Avoiding enemy players if on a PvP server. The lack of quests and other such things - as well as the profile - shows a complete lack of gear as well, which would make surviving a lot harder.

And what the hell do you think 'factor in the player' means? Subjectivity, my dear boy. What one individual finds a boring chore another might find relaxing or even fun. Yes, this might surprise you, but people out there have a lot of different opinions, interests and beliefs. Some might even not be the same as yours! Amazing, isn't it?

Okay, enough of being needlessly condescending; seriously, exactly what do you have against the way this player has chosen to enjoy themselves? Okay, yes, you mentioned some things about 're-enforcing stereotypes' and that South Park episode, but South Park is mostly about humor and satire so should not be taken seriously anyway, and it's hard to reinforce stereotypes with one and precisely one person. Actually, wouldn't the stereotype be mindlessly killing anything that moves or devoting hours to a single Raid, not being a pacifist? Those arguments don't really hold water.

Actually I play WoW a little myself, and another stereotype could be people constantly whining about patch changes ruining one class, making another overpowered, making suggestions that would only result in their prefer ed class being overpowered, et cetera. Then again the constant whining seems to be what a lot of gamers do in general, which is a real shame [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitle643yzv8u]. I play a Paladin and the 20-second Word of Glory cooldown for protection and retribution is a shame, but I'm also seeing many other buffs and changes that seem to have some potential for being quite good for Paladins at first glance. But no, everyone focuses on the WoG nerf.

But I'm going off on a tangent now.

I fail to see how the way this player has gone about the game would have any negative impact on anyone other than the people who decide to get annoyed about it because they don't personally approve.

 

[Quellist]

Bravo to this person for playing the game the way they wanted, i hope they continue to enjoy WoW. That said i would never have the patience or desire to do this myself...

 

[Knight1172]

People like Everbloom are a massive help to my self-esteem.

 

[Kavachi]

Hmmm, I would really suggest that s/he plays something like RuneScape instead. That's a game where you truly don't ever have to kill anything and aren't punished for it.

That sounds really nice, except that RuneScape is even worse than Farmville.

OT: I applaud the patience of this guy/girl, and I could never ever do this myself. Gratz

 

[Nimcha]

That's some insane dedication. *claps*
Wow. It's incredible! It shows you don't have to kill every single thing to have fun.

I'm pretty sure 'fun' wasn't the goal...

 

[Haydyn]

I think it's more amazing then it is sad. God knows getting to about 65 was enough for me, and I killed anything that would give me xp. I'm not one to tip my top hat to vegans/anti war type stuff, but I am impressed.

Now what if there was an MMO game that didn't involve everybody armed to the teeth with weapons and/or spells.

 

[lokicdn]

Speaking as someone who recently got over my Wow addiction, her achievement, sounds really really boring. Node hunting and archeology are proven cures for insomnia.

 

[Nemesha]

I couldn't possibly imagine a more spectacular waste of time.

Well spoken. I can't see what's so remarkable or great about this 'achievement'. All you're doing is skipping 90% of the content in the game in favour of grinding. Doing quests and dungeons are the heart of the game.

 

[Kyoufuu]

Hmmm, I would really suggest that s/he plays something like RuneScape instead. That's a game where you truly don't ever have to kill anything and aren't punished for it.

Damn ninjad!

 

[Dhatz]

I was seriously disappointed that crysis 2 cant be finished without killing, many sections only have one solution, often require killing. At this point I think DX:HR wont allow nonlethat playthroughs either. I can live with it, but its improper.

 

[Bags159]

When Cataclysm came out gathering was more xp/hour than questing and dungeoning because the nodes were glitched and spawned way too fast.

I couldn't possibly imagine a more spectacular waste of time.

Well spoken. I can't see what's so remarkable or great about this 'achievement'. All you're doing is skipping 90% of the content in the game in favour of grinding. Doing quests and dungeons are the heart of the game.

Dungeons and quests aren't grinding? If you only do each dungeon once, maybe that's true.


I see a lot of jelly people here. Not sure why people care so much; it's his/her life, they can spend it how they want. The people who think it's "very sad" are actually the very sad ones.

 

[Chiefwakka]

When you don't enjoy the journey it's called a grind.

When you do enjoy the journey it's called fun.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Challenge: Avoiding monsters, trying to escape without dying if she got engaged by a monster (If you're not already mounted - and you wouldn't be if in the middle of gathering - this is very hard if not impossible as you can't mount in combat. I suppose there's shadowmeld but that's on a two-minute cooldown) without fighting back. Avoiding enemy players if on a PvP server. The lack of quests and other such things - as well as the profile - shows a complete lack of gear as well, which would make surviving a lot harder.

And what the hell do you think 'factor in the player' means? Subjectivity, my dear boy. What one individual finds a boring chore another might find relaxing or even fun. Yes, this might surprise you, but people out there have a lot of different opinions, interests and beliefs. Some might even not be the same as yours! Amazing, isn't it?

Okay, enough of being needlessly condescending; seriously, exactly what do you have against the way this player has chosen to enjoy themselves? Okay, yes, you mentioned some things about 're-enforcing stereotypes' and that South Park episode, but South Park is mostly about humor and satire so should not be taken seriously anyway, and it's hard to reinforce stereotypes with one and precisely one person. Actually, wouldn't the stereotype be mindlessly killing anything that moves or devoting hours to a single Raid, not being a pacifist? Those arguments don't really hold water.

Actually I play WoW a little myself, and another stereotype could be people constantly whining about patch changes ruining one class, making another overpowered, making suggestions that would only result in their prefer ed class being overpowered, et cetera. Then again the constant whining seems to be what a lot of gamers do in general, which is a real shame [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitle643yzv8u]. I play a Paladin and the 20-second Word of Glory cooldown for protection and retribution is a shame, but I'm also seeing many other buffs and changes that seem to have some potential for being quite good for Paladins at first glance. But no, everyone focuses on the WoG nerf.

But I'm going off on a tangent now.

I fail to see how the way this player has gone about the game would have any negative impact on anyone other than the people who decide to get annoyed about it because they don't personally approve.

Avoiding monsters is hardly a challenge, especially as a healing class where you can quickly negate any damage taken. Also when we consider the complete lack of AI in WoW, avoiding monsters is hardly a challenge. If they engaged on sight, it would be extremely hard, but this is not the case.
Don't refer to me as 'boy' when I am your elder Let's be honest, no one should find extreme repetition entertaining. Actually scratch that, indicators of autism are engaging in extreme repetitive behaviour.
What I have against it is that everytime gaming looks like it may be socially accepted, it takes on step backwards because of some peoples actions. South Park had a point - that is how people can perceive WoW players, and when someone buries so much time into a needless act, it goes to reinforce such sterotypes. The sterotype of WoW players are people who spend far too much time in front of their PC, sacrificing social life for a game. Spending so much time to level to 85 without questing goes to reinforce that sterotype. And yes you are right, one sterotype is that people do whine about patches etc, but this all falls under one umbrella: nerd. Whether it is true or not is subjective, but what was done here just gives more ammo for the "WoW is for nerds" crowd.

Upon what are you basing who is whom's elder? I don't care very much for an arbitrary number associated with how long someone has been alive anyway - I prefer how someone acts. Although if you did claim you were older it's just something as simple as putting a number down, and I have no reason to believe it. Likewise though my profile lists my age as 21, for all you know I could be 12. Or 30. Or 50. So the question of our respective ages is moot.

Also, I have a legitimate diagnosis for Aspergers Syndrome. I suggest you take greater care in what you're saying. I am likely to be one of the more tollerant types of person.

Moving on, you once again asert that 'no one should find extreme repetition entertaining' with no argument to back that up. For that matter you aren't saying why you consider gathering herbs to be extreme repetition over fighting monsters or attempting the same raid dungeons n number of times. Of for any other game for that matter**. You're just stating it and expecting people to accept it, and it is approaching the Argumentum ad Nauseum fallacy. The same goes for your near-constant citation of that episode of South Park.

Okay, I'll give you this, I suppose it could re-inforce that steriotype... if you tell it to someone who has a pre-concieved narrow view in the first place, in which case it is doubtful that anything would change their minds anyway. It also seems that you are making those same assumptions - where in the article says she poured far too much time into it? Can you prove that he/she accomplished this at the cost of a social life or work? The player more likely played for a bit every now and then to fill in free time or something. Alternatively if the player did pour in a significant amount of time a day into the endevoar, there is still no way to tell if this was at the cost of their own personal lives.

A steriotype that is perpetuated not by the actions of those who are targeted by the stereotype, but by people who jump to conclusions without considering any possible alternatives no matter how likely.

Yes, the player could have wasted a lot of time and could have lost friends, family, jobs et cetera, but 'could' isn't good enough for me and it shouldn't be good enough for anyone with a little 'common'* sense.

So, the only reason that gaming will be taking a step back because of this is if many other people arrive at the same baseless conclusions you seem to have done. I have no doubt that this will happen no matter what, but I'm still not convinced how this player specifically will have done anything to make the apparent situation worse than it apparently already is.

As for the issue of difficulty, I'm not familiar with how healing classes play, but I'd like you to explain a few things to me. Mobs often seem to be able to follow for a significant distance and most travel at a faster speed than the player can. There is also a monster daze affect that can happen if the player has their back turned to a mob, which was designed into the game to stop people from just rushing through dungeons. Taking into acount various delays and interupt effects, as well as the fact that he/she never killed a mob to get them off him/her, I would like to hear your explaination for why it would be just as simple as healing off the damage that was being done.


*Not very common at all, unfortunately.
**In FPSes you generally just shoot anyone deemed the opponent, in games like Rock Band you're just pressing buttons when the game tells you to, in RTSes you're moving your dudes around to blow up things that aren't your dudes, in platformers you're jumping to different bits of the level. If you boil things down, every game ever becomes 'extremely repetitive'; the differences is presentation or maybe some gimmicks that have been thrown in. Repetition can be overcome by good design hiding it or if the player sets themselves a goal to overcome it themselves. Yes, I suppose this means I'm admitting that gathering herbs all the time would be repetitive, but I don't see how questing or dungeons are that much different.

Also this individual made a good point, so I'm going to put this here;

When you don't enjoy the journey it's called a grind.

When you do enjoy the journey it's called fun.

On a mostly unrelated note, I'm going to put this here right now to rob a possible 'funny' person making a snarky comment about this argument to either of is of their satisfaction in the event it happens. [http://xkcd.com/386/]

 

[Odlus]

Therefore what was the point of mindless repetition to do something that essentially doesn't need to be done?

You just pretty much described gaming in a nutshell, now sit back, grab a drink, and stop worrying about such silly things.

I'm a little confused - that part of my post was quoting Mazty on something he said so I could try and argue against it specifically. Though my argument was pretty much what you said about it more or less being Gaming in a nutshell.

Yeah, I messed up the quote tree. Sorry about that


edit: Anyway, the only stereotype I see being reinforced is from the comments about how this is just a waste of time because there's "no challenge" and that it's "pointless repetition." Challenge doesn't necessarily have to be a requirement for something to be fun and the problem with comments like "pointless repetition" is that gaming in general can be called just that. All you do in Counter-Strike is kill people, how tedious us that?

And using South Park as your argument is pretty silly; at the end of the day the point of South Park is to be funny, and making fun of fat, anti-social gamers is funny. Leveling up without killing anything isn't anymore a "waste of time" than anything else someone might do in that, or any other, game.

 

[Jamous]

I think she needs to get some serious recognition from Blizzard for this. A special award maybe?

 

[Tipsythegza]

He or she deserves an achievement

 

[Jymm]

Everbloom explains a bit more how this all happened:

I started her shortly after the xp for gathering thing came out, played her for a few days, got to about 12 or 15 and thought to myself "This is going to take forever, I'll never be the first to do this" and more or less put her on the back burner, she was my collector, I only took her out if I needed stuff for alts, or if I was watching TV on the laptop I would fly around doing archaeolgy.
Totally blown away that I was first, I keep checking this thread waiting to see a "I did this 2 months ago!!" post.
I didn't work at this 24/7 for the last 6 months, once you get the hang of it the XP (especially with rested xp) is awesome.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2353107047?page=16 post#302