History Main / Whoring

* "Sound Whoring", an act of turning up the volume and relying on [[SuperSenses hearing the sound of the enemies from a ridiculous distance]], sometime combining with in-game perks that mute the ambiance and your character's own sound to amplify the effect.

Whoring undermines the strategic aspects of the game as originally envisioned by the developers, and often completely changes the way a game is played. A player who whores the right trick/s can become unbeatable to anyone who doesn't do the same thing. This can be particularly vexing to people who know every part of the game's mechanics, since it often makes their efforts worthless (a sort of player-induced AntidoteEffect).

See MinMaxing for the TabletopGames equivalent trope. Very common among StopHavingFunGuys, and even ''more'' common among GodModders. Not to be confused with what the HookerWithAHeartOfGold does. Crosses over with ComplacentGamingSyndrome, where people will abuse moves, characters, or strategies over and over again for the sake of winning the easy way. Often the reason for DiminishingReturnsForBalance.

* "Tier Whoring", the act of only using the best TierInducedScrappy in a game, even to the point of lacking any loyalty to said character and immediately switching to a different one if they become better.

Whoring is a widely-used catch-all term that describes the process or act of focusing all effort or resources into only one or a couple aspects of a game's mechanics with the intent of drawing massive profit or advantages from it. Depending on the game and/or tactic, this can be extremely effective. So effective, in fact, that people will consider it cheating, or at least a good way to spoil other people's fun.

''This is a fanspeak definition. No examples are wanted.''
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'''[[{{Munchkin}} Red Mage]]:''' Oh, it's quite simple, really. I took a variety of low impact flaws to add points to my character point pool. Thus, I maximize my powers and minimize my disadvantages.\\

-->-- ''[[WebComic/EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]''

'''Red Mage:''' Oh, it's quite simple, really. I took a variety of low impact flaws to add points to my character point pool. Thus, I maximize my powers and minimize my disadvantages.\\

''This is a fanspeak definition. No examples are wanted''

[[IThoughtItMeant NOT]] about TheOldestProfession in any way, shape, or form (except perhaps by analogy).

The designers may or may not choose to {{Nerf}} a strategy that's just a little too successful, because it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" proposition. One particular trick might be defeated, but everyone who relied on it will protest, and there's no guarantee that some even more horrible trick isn't lurking just around the corner (bonus points if the original trick being removed was consistently able to beat its replacement -- that is, the original exploit was ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero keeping an even worse exploit in check]]''). That said, if even the professional player base doesn't manage to develop new strategies in response to whoring, a tweak might be necessary just to keep the game interesting at all.

* "Sound Whoring", an act of turning up the volume and relying on only hearing the sound of the enemies from a ridiculous distance, sometime combining with in-game perks that mute the ambiance and your character's own sound to amplify the effect.

'''Red Mage:''' Oh, it's quite simple, really. I took a variety of low impact flaws to add points to my character point pool. Thus, I [[MinMaxing maximize my powers and minimize my disadvantages]].\\

* In any game, repeatedly using a verified glitch to your advantage.

* In a strategy game, creating massive armies of a single type of unit ("ZergRush").

'''Fighter:''' Gee, I just put everything into my "Use Swords To Kill Stuff" skill.\\
-- ''[[WebComic/EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]''

The designers may or may not choose to {{Nerf}} a strategy that's just a little too successful, because it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" proposition. One particular trick might be defeated, but everyone who relied on it will protest, and there's no guarantee that some even more horrible trick isn't lurking just around the corner (bonus points if the original trick being removed was consistently able to beat its replacement -- that is, the original exploit was ''keeping an even worse exploit in check''). That said, if even the professional player base doesn't manage to develop new strategies in response to whoring, a tweak might be necessary just to keep the game interesting at all.