MMORPG Games & MMO News – MMOCrunch

David over at Trembling Hand makes a very good case that, out there in the MMORPG community, there are actually two flavours of the gamers we have come to term as fanboi’s. He dubs these two flavours, “The Fan” and “The Apologist” – and I think he’s pretty spot on.

The Fan I can live with. They are, on the whole, pretty decent individuals and are described, in part, with the following lines:

…a good Fan will balance praise and feedback (the carrot) with the threat of leaving (the stick), and they’re driven by the desire to make their favourite game even better.

Meanwhile, it’s The Apologist that, personally, I can’t stand and, if you’re a relaxed kind of individual, with a sense of balance, you probably can’t stand them, either. They are described, in part:

They’re trolls, but not in the traditional sense. They tend to lurk on the official forums, and they’ll pounce when someone makes a criticism. In fact, in the twisted mind of the Apologist, the critic is the troll.

This is a very savvy analysis, and perhaps something that we should all be thinking of, next time we go to write someone off as a mere fanboi. Stop. Wait. Ask youself, “Is this fanboi just a Fan, or is he actually an Apologist?” In the case of the former, hey, try and cut them a little slack. Fans are, ultimately, a good thing. If it’s the latter, meanwhile, let it rip. Both barrels. Unleash hell. No mercy.

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