Over the last month or so, I took a small sabbatical from Stratics in order to concentrate on my final projects and exams in order to graduate. My intentions to do nothing but study started out well enough, however, like any seasoned gamer I soon gave into the multitude of different distractions that devoured a good portion of my time. I forced myself to stay off the Internet and computer unless school demanded, but I could not completely sever my ties with my beloved Xbox. One of my favorite distractions came from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. The Live aspects of this game are completely absorbing; my roommate is taking advantage of my keyboard time to play as I type this now.

Why all these non-WOW references you ask? Simply put, I had a lot of time to think about subject material for my editorial…new patches, Beta expectations, etc., but my time spent on Live has driven me to begin the first of two pieces about a true dilemma in the gaming industry. I am by far the first person to notice this black mark on our somewhat young online gaming community. Rather than explain exactly what I mean, I think our friends at Penny Arcade have hit the proverbial nail on the head, so I'll just show you here. There is strong language on this link, but hell, that's half the point of this rant anyway…

As often as Gabe and Tycho's comics are tongue-in-cheek, just as often they are dead on about the subjects they lampoon. Why is it then that veiled behind a LAN connection and undisclosed miles human beings feel they can act in such vile ways to one another? When I think of my friends from games - be they table-top, offline or online console games, or played on my PC, I imagine mature, reasonable people who enjoy the fun of the game for the sake of playing. Why has such a large portion of the gaming community degraded into spamming “leet-speakers” whose main goal appears to be to insult, infuriate, or in every general way hinder the gaming experience of others?

Having an extremely competitive roommate, I understand the gung ho nature of gamers. We're fairly evenly-matched in most games, particularly Soul Calibur 2. I have felt the elation of shutting his team down cold with once character coinciding with the complete agony of losing by a sliver of the life bar. The trash talk flies between us, and sometimes I'm ashamed that I kiss my mother with my mouth. But never in our eight years of playing games together has he pushed me, yanked my cord from console, or turned off the game seconds before I win. As heated as we've gotten over games, we realize they are just that, games. There will always be another chance to win, another bid for ephemeral glory. Most importantly, however, is the fact we have been friends for eight years…no amount of trash talking is ever taken seriously, and we are familiar enough to conduct a little psychological play concurrent with our gaming.

I have concluded this is the pivotal problem with the gamers who focus upon inciting others. My roommate telling me to expel plentiful quantities of heated substances from my primary source of defecation whilst experiencing communion with an ewe simply rolls off my back; telling someone off whom you've never met is guaranteed to receive a negative reaction. With the reason of aggravation isolated, we must convene to why such perpetrators revel in truly asinine behavior.

I'm sure you have plenty of theories about this; if you are one of these people you know why you harangue others, even if it's an unconscious act. I think it stems from an inability to cordially compete. To lose, in the eyes and minds of these degenerates, is something that is so inconceivable they cannot face it. In light of the majority of male players on these games, I shall use the analogy that they cannot man-up to themselves and others. They suffer from such an illustrious lack of self-esteem, sophistication, and ethics that in their minds, they do not lose if they can break the game connection or infuriate the other player(s) to a point of lost control.

Next time, I'll discuss the faction of these players that populate Blizzard's games, and how to deal with them. Until then, the best thing I can suggest is to keep your cool, avoid these lower-class players, and don't sink to their level.

By: Shadowlance

» Advertisement «