When Home Games Become Fortresses

Tags

community, ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, gatekeeping, MMO, mmo communities, mmo community, mmo games, mmorpg, mmorpgs, mmos, white knight, white knighting, xiv

I’m going to have to thank MOP’s editor in chief and my awesome boss Bree for this prompted post. We were talking in the work chat about how sad and dangerous it was when people wrap their entire identity around a single MMO or single game, and that got me thinking a lot about the topic.

If you’ve been even near gaming discourse on any platform or website, you pretty much know the type. They’re often referred to as “white knights” and usually charge headlong into keyboard battle to defend the honor of their favorite game and, by extension, their home. And while I can certainly appreciate the desire to battle back against misinformation or misconception, or even the need to argue online (in good faith, ideally), there’s also a point where it becomes clear that a home game — a place meant to escape to in comfort — turns into a fortress that must be protected against all comers.