Some cheese to go with that w(h)ine?

The entitlement is strong in this one...

Back story:

The above quote comes from the LotRO forums. Turbine's the Lord of the Rings Online mmo is celebrating its' fifth anniversary. This year, while all player accounts receive some gifts, the company has chosen to give other rewards based on how long a subscriber has been playing, from one to five years, with five year subs getting the most rewards. All of the rewards are purely cosmetic in nature, such as an item of clothing or a different type of character portrait. (I got the little one year portrait, whee!)

Rewarding subscriber loyalty is quite nice and cosmetic or "fluff' items seem very appropriate gifts to me, as none of the rewards offer any in game advantage nor do they have any kind of stats or use other than fun, vanity items.

Turbine isn't the greatest company around, they are kind of known for not communicating with customers and not having the best customer service. I don't personally have any real issues with them (although sometimes the store promotions get a wee bit intrusive...I'm adventuring in Middle Earth, I don't really want to have ads hanging around my character sheet. Hrrumph!) I just don't think they deserve some of the complaints that have been lodged at them. And to be fair, they have also gotten a number of forum posters thanking them for a fun anniversary celebration.

I think some folks really miss the mark, and heck, maybe I am one of them. I just think it is a bit sad that the "Oh, my money spent makes me so much more special than someone else...gimme gimme gimme" attitude is so pervasive. Like a kid at a birthday party demanding the biggest piece of cake. No, Jimmy, no Sally, you AREN'T more special than everyone else, so deal!

I know I'm rambling on a bit and my discussing this doesn't make me think I am better than anyone, gosh knows I have plenty of character flaws...but I guess a "gimme" attitude isn't one of them. It just makes me a bit angry and frustrated (and yes, amused in a snotty way as well) to read stuff like the post I quoted. As Veruka Salt put it:

Oh and does anybody think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one of the scariest, most "effed" up kids movies around? I sure do. Yeesh...what about that freaky boat ride?!

(I'm not referring to the Johnny Depp movie version, but the old one that get's rerun on TV every so often).