Loot Envy - root of all evil?

I apologize in advance for all the sarcastic quotation marks, but the concepts in them are so ill-defined and twisted that I can't afford to leave any doubt.

"Casuals versus hardcores" is an age-old problem in WoW. Obviously, it's an issue of envy, as it usually is with "the 99%" calling for the expropriation of "the 1%". Funnily enough, today we're through the looking glass: so many demands of self-titled "casuals" have been made reality that the "elitists" are the ones complaining.

According to "casuals", it's a case of "special snowflake" syndrome. The "elitists" are upset that they are no longer special, so the argument goes. Keep in mind the base, malicious envy with which this is said. It isn't an argument in itself, but it pays to be wary of people who gloat over others' misfortune.

Anyway, the "special snowflake" syndrome. Using this as an argument for homogenization is a classic case of begging the question: if one assumes that wanting to be special is bad in itself, why, the makers of rules have their work cut out for them. Be they Blizzard or the Politburo.

The thing is... distinctions will exist. And simply by the way the world works, these distinctions will usually result in a small portion of the population being a lot better than the bulk in some way. And that is not a problem in itself, especially if the majority are doing perfectly fine by themselves.

That's why I'm highly suspicious of Blizzard's motives in dumbing down the game. The underlying argument seems to be that players will leave en masse if they're not showered with epics. It suggests that the developers believe, on a fundamental level, that more "equality" is inherently better. But saying so assumes that envy is the prevailing feeling amongst those less successful in the game.

I dispute that. Envy is not a dominant emotion in most people. If it were, human civilization would have gone to hell a long time ago. Sure, it's there in all of us, just like base lust and hatred. But - and this should be obvious, but apparently it isn't - that darker side of human nature is to be ignored, and fought when it boils to the surface.

The fact that Blizzard is a business, not a political organization, doesn't change the basic nature of the fact: catering to envy is a bad idea. It can never be satisfied, and will destroy any system if allowed to grow.