What Irks Me About Class Warfare

 

"I don't know why you're rolling a priest. Shadow damage can't manage to top me. I'm like a ninja with invisibility... I'm a fireballin' M-A-G-E." ~ Nymh, M.A.G.E. (not pictured)

Hey all,

There's a few things that annoy me about class warfare.

This term keeps coming up on TV every so often, and it's even worse on the Internet. Wikipedia defines it as "the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes." It's the rich against the poor and the poor against the rich. Buffett Rule. Socialism. Bush tax cuts. Occupy Wall Street. I'm tired of hearing it.

It's just like the constant bickering of gamers on the Internet. The "poor" see their favorite set ups consistently beaten by other players who use overpowered classes and characters. They almost always call out for the nerfing, or reduction in power, of these better classes. "Paladins are OP!" "Assassins are OP!" "MK is OP!" Shut up! If you don't like it, re-roll or learn something new. The cool players don't cry like babies: They take their supposedly underpowered classes or characters and take them to another level.

Meanwhile the "rich" users of the "overpowered" and "broken" classes don't see any problem. Some of them sensibly call out for buffs for some of the other classes. Of course they do need some improvements sometimes, but this isn't always the answer. You can't keep making everyone better. Warcraft did that and look what happened! There are some of these "rich" players who are only good because their character is good. I'm talking about those people who win battles all the time because they get in trouble but have 5 more outs than anyone else would have to get out of such a jam. They tend to call for no changes or nerfs, so that the rich will get richer. These people are denser than a concrete brick.

On another level: how come class combat is always structured the same way? Mage beats warrior, warrior beats rogue, rogue beats mage. Speed beats power, power beats deception, deception beats speed. Snipers or shotguns beat everything else. Jack-of-all-trades can't beat anybody. I can go on and on, but you get my point. No one ever gets creative. Just about everything follows one of these common formulas. How about a little creativity? Fire Emblem does sword > axe > spear > sword. There are even weapons and classes that break this rule to mix it up. It's an oddball system, but it works well. C'mon, game devs! I know everything hasn't been done yet! Now show me something new.

Maybe I've been watching too much Daily Show.

Later,
ArgentStew, the Gaming Sage