I don't think I've ever really seen an example of gimpage this obscene, and I've seen some things I just absolutely could NOT believe. Well, I mean ... I couldn't believe it before I saw these screenshots. This guy is unreal.
I would have thought that he would have been halted before being able to get this far, simply by the sheer fact that his gimpness is too intense for him to progress. I always assumed that there would eventually, at SOME POINT, come a moment where the stupidity would be too much for even the most desperate of potential party members, and a person just can't keep edging along any longer.
I was mistaken.
You know how this guy has survived, even to fifty? It's clearly not because of any ingenuity on his part. There's only one reason, and it makes me more frustrated with the community at large than him. It's the fact that PEOPLE KEEP LETTING PERMA-N00BS LIKE THIS RIDE AROUND ON THEIR BACKS.
This level of ignorance, at this stage of someone's game-life, is generally caused by the following attitude:
1) It takes too long to make the money to upgrade my equipment. I don't have as much time to play as these losers do, so it should be alright for me to do nothing but level.
It never occurs to them that everybody has to divide whatever time they have available between equipment needs and pure levelling progression. This guy needed to stop levelling COMPLETELY 30 levels ago, and focus on equipment exclusively. He never did, because he thinks he shouldn't have to, and people let him get away with it.
2) Everyone that tries to change the way I play, or act like they're better than me, are just Nazis. All "play styles" are equally valid ... I can play however I want, wear whatever I want, and every other stuck-up bastard can go to Hell.
They tend to be overly defensive when someone has the audacity to venture forth with some criticism. Granted, it's not always presented in the most tactful way possible, but someone, somewhere, SOMEHOW (pun intended) has to eventually have the fuggin' balls to forcefully give advice that was never asked for.
People like this guy, however, will react aggressively towards even the most tenderly-presented information he's given. If it's even slightly contrary to the way "he wants to do it," or has been doing it, it suddenly becomes about maintaining his ego. The "o ya? i bin playin' dis game 4 2 yrz ur duh n00b" viewpoint tends to cloud all vision at this point.
The warriors you see walking around with great swords exclusively "because it makes them look cool," the black mages that nuke as hard as they can at the beginning of every pull until they're out of MP, and the Summoners (like this dumbass) that leave their avatars out 100% of time and let them melee are examples of this mindset.
3) Everyone else is the n00b. I'm perfectly fine.
Once again, if anyone ever grabs them by the scruff of the neck and tries to rattle sense into them, they dig their heels in.
I understand that for many people, the chance of nasty ego-driven reactions prevent you from saying much. You don't want to ruin the party, you don't want to hurt feelings, you just don't want to "start anything." It's a regretful thing, however, that this well-intended point of view is the sort of environment SeeMeHow has been thriving in. He's still playing like he always has, today, because of this. I'm almost certain of that.
I'm not saying that there needs to be an increase in "OMG ur a n00b" outbursts ... don't think I'm making any justifications for that. Developing the spine necessary to offer constructive criticism where it is BADLY NEEDED, however, can only go a long way towards preventing situations as horrific as SeeMeHow's.
They might kick, scream, and gouge up a resentful storm ... eventually, however, if enough people are drilling the basics into their heads, they're going to pick some of it up. If they refuse to even give accepted common wisdom the benefit of a TRY, in spite of your best efforts, it's time to either kick them (if you're the leader), or leave yourself. The most important thing to remember is that if someone does something absolutely ridiculous, and doesn't initially respond well to you delicately trying to change that, it's alright to do something to try to convey the degree to which they're being an arse.
"I don't use headbutt" should NOT be the end of the conversation. It's alright to press onward, with an increasing level of assertiveness.
Whatever you do, do not let them continue leeching from you. Do that, and you're only keeping them around in their current state for the next unlucky bastard that has to deal with them. Try your best to "fix" them, as soon as you notice a particularly dire problem, or give them up for dead.
It's either that, or we accept the fact that we're going to be drowning in these guys in order to avoid "starting something."