Are you a fan or a fanboy?

In most dictionaries, a fan is defined as “an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.”  A fanboy as defined by the Urban dictionary, is “a passionate fan of various elements of geek culture (e.g. sci-fi, comics, Star Wars, video games, anime, hobbits, etc.), but who lets his passion override social graces.”

How does this affect the MMO world?  People can become very passionate about their game.  Those that play MMO’s, for instance, tend to spend a lot of time in their virtual world, developing a passion for it that can become addictive.  But that doesn’t make them a fanboy, does it?  They are enjoying their pastime and just happen to be devoted to it.  They aren’t necessarily so passionate for their game that they might disregard or override social graces.

So why do people lash out at others who choose to play a different game than them?  What is the reasoning behind the whole my game is better than your game attitude?

Are fans predestined to become fanboys?

Do people that play ” game A” have to hate people that play “game B?”  For instance, do people that play EVE automatically have an animosity towards people that play WoW or EQ2?  Can they curb their feelings and be civil to each other without all the mud-slinging and name-calling?  Do we really need to choose sides in this so called MMO vs MMO conflict, or can we just say that both games win because both companies get our hard earn money every month?

I enjoy playing World of Warcraft, but I don’t spend my days trolling Everquest 2 forum sites telling people how they should dump their loser of a game for something as exciting and rich as World of Warcraft or spend my free time pointing out how superior WoW is over their game.  I respect that people have different tastes and some people favor Everquest 2 just as I would expect them to respect my enjoyment of WoW.

Will I defend my decision to play WoW?  Of course, because I enjoy the game, but that passion for WoW doesn’t make me a fanboy, it makes me a fan – someone who will enjoy the game for what it is a simple mmo game.  Sure I’ll be cheering its accomplishments, but I’ll also be telling people when developers screw up and do something stupid to break the game, because being a fan means being able to criticize as well as praise something you enjoy.

The truth is you can be a fan without being a fanboy.   The trick is to not become so passionate that you forget your social graces or common sense.  You can have a difference of opinion, but you can also be civil to each other and understand that there is no us against them mentality when it comes to gaming.  We are all MMO players no matter what game we play.

- Oakstout