However the biggest difference between JP player and EN player is that you seldom see what is known as shijichu (指示厨) from the Japanese players. Shijichu is NOT taken favorably at all. So what is “Shijichu” it’s a Japanese internet slang word, it doesn’t exist in proper Japanese. It basically mean “Being puerile (childish) and telling people what to do”. EN players like to give unsolicited advice like “Stop using cleric stance, Stop using this and stop doing that”. That is considered Shijichu.
JP players usually let you do what you want (even if you gimp the party DPS or heals). They don’t preemptively point out your choices or mistakes unless something goes wrong and the group wipes. Even if they do point out they do it just in 1 sentence and don’t harp on it, like EN players. There are cases (not the norm) where Japanese players haven been shijichu,to me but a swift “shijichu ka?” (are you being shijichu) from me often puts them in place.
The post is interesting throughout. The comments are also worth reading. In particular, there's a comment from a Chinese player comparing the two sides:
NA players are free style. They don't give you a constantly enjoyable gaming experience. But the diversity itself makes playing with them more fun. And they are more open mind and willing to share which makes it easier for a foreign player like me to make real friends in the game.
I find it very intriguing that the "elite" NA players (at least from Reddit) are very envious of the Japanese playstyle, but the American experience is regarded as friendlier, even if it is more inconsistent.
Although it is a limited sample size, it is an interesting split.
ReplyDeleteI'd be more curious about more formal surveys covering perception vs. reality on playstyles. The only problem is that while I'd like to get info from across the MMO spectrum, that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
This has me thinking a lot about the difference between how hardcore guilds interact with each other versus the way more casual guilds treat each other.
ReplyDeleteOne comment about the Chinese player: He may have been using his experience of Chinese players as opposed to Japanese ones.
ReplyDeleteCulturally, though I am honestly unfamiliar with the Japanese, I believe theirs is a culture of keeping silent to give face and show respect, being almost chronically polite, even if their inward thoughts don't match.
Chinese, though, tend to be rougher and more pragmatic. Ruthlessly so, sometimes.
I can only use two anecdotal experiences of PUGing in GW2 with a group of players that I believe were from Taiwan and either China or Hong Kong based on guild tags and language used.
They were very no nonsense, didn't say much, expected everyone to know the dungeon and be in optimal builds. They tend to naturally form better group compositions I've had over PUGing with NA players, honestly and I suspect it's because many of them pragmatically follow guides to be up to standard.
Their own -guildie- who was evidently a newbie and didn't know the dungeon got summarily kicked when he failed to follow the short explanation they typed twice. Which is as elitist as they come, imo.
Americans tend to be more open-minded, tolerant and patient as a whole culture, though we've all been exposed to the elitist gamer jerk subculture that has developed via the internet too.
No greater disparity between the two cultures than what i saw during my time playing FFXI almost a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteJapanese players tended to never go AFK, while NA players constantly did. This was a huge issue and why players craved "JP" groups since the entire game was based on group leveling. They were just so much more efficient and tended to form groups properly.
Japanese players took offense if you ever inspected their gear without asking first. They also tended not to shout or speak in general chat.
I learned a heck of a lot playing with them for 5 years and have respect for their culture.
Sometimes i miss the fact that every server back then was a mix of every region. Good think we had an auto translate feature in game!