Thursday, June 16, 2011

Why is it called Welfare Gear?

Welfare is something you get when you do not work.

Point gear is something you get from grinding heroics that you were bored of grinding two weeks after the game came out.  It is work and depending on the groups it can be very hard work.

If you work for your gear it is not welfare gear.

I laugh every time I read the forums and someone is calling point gear welfare gear.  Perhaps we should introduce them to what the word really means.

When you work (grind dungeons) to make money (points) to pay the rent (buy gear) you are not on welfare.

Having someone else pay the rent (get you gear) for you is being on welfare.

So far, I have not found anyone that just wants to give me gear without working for it.

If there is some place to get welfare gear in game please let me know, I have a Rogue I don't play much that can use some epics to make him look cool when he sits around doing nothing.

Where exactly is all this welfare gear I hear everyone talking about?

5 comments:

  1. Hehehe, I've also raised an eyebrow at that expression, but I think you hit the nail on the head (although I see more/other connotations in the word welfare as I live in a nordic welfare state) it's about the idea of working for something, and badge gear is not considered "real work" or perhaps "hard enough work" as raiding is. I think that's where the logic lies.

    But you are right, it fails to call it welfare. If it really WAS welfare, it would be the grind of others which awarded the players that didn't do anything with gear.

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  2. The best RL analogy for me is designer clothes. You want them in season, you pay through the nose for them. You wait a few months and you buy same stuff in outlets at great discount.

    Same with gear, you still worked for it, but the effort invested is lower, ie, you pay less.

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  3. The term Welfare gear is so derogatory, it serves no purpose other than to make those wearing highest available tier feel better about themselves by belittling other peoples efforts. And it IS an effort surviving pugs these days most of the time. So what if the clothes you're wearing came from a sale? They still cost a pretty penny and they're still shiny.

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  4. @Anon, I like the designer clothing analogy... that seems pretty close to what it is really like I guess.

    @Raffles, I dread this patch coming out because that dungeon grind is hard work with pugs, work I do not want to do any more in this game.

    @ironyca, as Raffles said about dungeons, badge gear is real work. Very hard real work. I think I have wiped more on the last boss of ZG with pugs then I have on any raid boss this expansion. And no, I am not kidding.

    I get your point however, most people see running dungeons as taking the easy route to gear. Back in Wrath I would have agreed, now I don't. Dungeons are the hardest way to grind gear now.

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  5. Oh it's not like I don't consider badge gear hard work, I was just quoting what I think is the perception of the people who keep calling it welfare gear, you know, trying to explain what thinking is behind the word.

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