Online Gaming Rant

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:06 pm

So last night I was playing some Halo: Reach online. And I'm not terribly good at it. Preface: I solely owned a Wii from 2006 to 2010, and in the fall of 2010 picked up my 360. Wasn't into FPS games until about 6 months ago or so, and only started playing Halo games about 2 months ago (before then it was a little Call of Duty here and there). And only in the last 2 weeks have I had a Gold subscription to play online.

Anyways, as I finished a round of online multiplayer with a whopping 5 kills and our team lost, some guy goes off through his headset with a jumble of expletives about me and another player on the team (who only managed 2 kills) about just being terrible and to go back to playing the campaign.

I was kind of miffed by this last night, and just told the guy that I have a life and couldn't play Halo all day long, what with a house, one kid and another on the way, and a 5+ days a week full-time career. And that didn't really make it better for this A-hole.

Anyone else run into these kind of idiots? I don't know how it is over in the UK or otherwise, but it seems to me that there are a lot of ass clowns here in the States that solely believe you need to be uber-awesome at online games to even play. I enjoy winning for sure, but sometimes I just want to play and see if I can get better. Not sure why I'm even bothering writing about this, just a bit irked at the guy. How can people be so thick-headed?

(On a side-note, the next game I played had 3 people on my team that were pretty level-headed about my traditionally sub-par playing level. Whether or not they were just being nice up front to me, I don't know.)

Anybody else get these types of experiences? Or at least irritated by stupidity?

electro girl · Post by **electro girl** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:54 pm

This is partly why I've never been that fussed about online gaming (not that I let a few arseholes ruin my fun) especially the FPS genre. Mostly I prefer to play with friends in the same room.

Maybe the problem is with the big titles selling so much the chance of running into a complete tool is greater or maybe its the target age range, gender, group etc. But I like to have a little faith in humanity and know that gamers can be nice and have a healthy competitive spirit its just that you hardly hear people say "man you shoulda seen these guys online they were so polite".

That said I do lose pretty much all my faith when I hear about the likes of what kind of abuse people face in online gaming and the abuse given to people who address the issue such as the brilliant Anita Sarkeesian.

I'm not sure what else I can say. From personal experience and what mates have told me its usually young boys and who knows, they may yet grow out of it but that conculsion isn't a very good one as it does more to ignore the problem than to stop it.

Paul053 · Post by **Paul053** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:10 pm

Oh yes, oh yes. This is gonna happen everywhere. And that's why I generally avoid online games (unfortunately nowadays there seems no way to avoid that).

Back in the old days when I was playing DOOM, people were just cheated with one click head shot. That was fine since I didn't get to hear or see what they said.

Then I remembered few years ago I was playing iMob on iPhone, man! Few people there were just irritating. The game itself was fun but the whole experience was ruined by those people playing it. I still don't know how they got educated like that. Then I deleted that app and swore I will never play those kind of online social game again.

Then WFC is the first console game I've ever played online. And like you, I don't have much time a day to play and when I play, it's usually at night after kids went to bed. And gee! There were people screaming and yelling all the time that forced me to turn the volume down to minimum. Or people dropping F bomb all the time, or people totally not cooperating while playing team (and it's not the skill issue, you can tell the differences), etc. Honestly I had only very few enjoyable time playing online.

Now I haven't played any single console game since WFC due to my lack of time. FoC does again temp me but I don't want to spend 60 bucks for only the short campaign mode. And I don't have enough energy to deal with these people since I'm even few years older now since WFC. Guess I'm old now

and the Metal Gear style one man show probably suit me better. And guess that's why people want to make friends so they can create and play in their own room.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:39 pm

Paul053 wrote:Oh yes, oh yes. This is gonna happen everywhere. And that's why I generally avoid online games (unfortunately nowadays there seems no way to avoid that).

The sad irony: the online gaming experience gets worse as more and more games emphasize multiplayer over singleplayer, especially in first person shooters.

Also some circular logic: people do not care about single player campaigns because developers do not make single player campaigns worth caring about because people do not care about single player campaigns...etc

Sigh.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:36 pm

Tetsuro wrote:The sad irony: the online gaming experience gets worse as more and more games emphasize multiplayer over singleplayer, especially in first person shooters.

Also some circular logic: people do not care about single player campaigns because developers do not make single player campaigns worth caring about because people do not care about single player campaigns...etc

Sigh.

It's truly sad. I can't remember a recent FPS that actually had a decently loaded campaign mode. Half the time it feels tacked on (CoD and Battlefield - I'm looking right at you!!!)

I was pretty sure some people ion here had these similar experiences, I just had to vent. The ignorance of some people online just blows my mind sometime, and they seem irrational to talk to. Ugh.

Just to play online I may end up sticking to playing with people I know who are level headed, and in modes like Survival/Firefight/Escalation. I have a blast when I can joke with people regardless of their or my playing ability. When idiots open their mouth in Slayer/Free-For-All modes, I guess I'll just have to mute them.

@Paul053: I'm the same as you. I play only when the wife and kids have gone to sleep. I live in the middle of the country on Mountain time, so if I play against others, they're usually just an hour behind on the West Coast, or if they're East they're 2 hours ahead. So when I'm playing at 11 PM at night local time and hear some players who haven't even hit puberty yet (very diagnostic voice tone) I wonder, "Who the hell is letting their 12 year old play Modern Warfare 3, especially at this hour?" The young ones are usually the ones I find dropping F-bombs like they're going out of style! I guess I'm getting old too...

I enjoy FPS games, but I may just have to stick to the campaign or just go back to focusing on Action/RPG games!

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:54 pm

online multiplayer...its like forums, but you can hear the abuse....

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:22 pm

I have yet to find any online gaming experience enjoyable. I think I've mentioned here before that online gaming for me basically equates to waiting a long time for a game to load in order to go against someone who either annihilates you with a 30 move combo, or faces the wrong way doing the same kick move because they don't know at all what to do. I much prefer fighting AIs since they're built for balance.

I played a little Need for Speed: The Run online, and regretted it. I don't have a headset, and there is no way to turn off chat capability except to pause in the middle of a race, figure out who's saying what, and individually mute each person. So when you race, you get to hear garbled conversations between high schoolers trying to impress each other, or foreigners practicing English cursing. Big fun either way.

Kind of a tangent, but I have a hard time with the online "friend" thing on the PS3 as well. I have no friends on my account, but occasionally get a random request from someone who happened to see me on SSX, even though they have no idea who I am. Do people typically just pump out requests to anyone they run into online, or is it more proper to have some knowledge of them beforehand? I see a couple people online here who have posted their PSN handle, and I'm tempted to friend them, but I'm also scared of rejection or being too forward. Sweet mercy, PSN has digitized high school for me!

Post by **Sades** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:33 pm

Isn't there a way to just... not listen to people when you're playing a game? Then they can rant and scream all they want, and you get to enjoy your gaming experience. Win.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:34 pm

For me it's hit or miss.

I do what I consider the smart thing. I don't play so I can hear everyone else. On my 360 I only play a few games. The Transformer games and Space Marine where the last ones I really played online with it. I don't see/get a lot of abuse there, mostly because everyone is muted.

For the computer, however, I do see/hear some abuse. While I might use Vent or Skype to talk to my friends as I play with them, most online games I play (League of Legends, a few MMOs) you get the occasional typed abuse. I usually brush it off as it's rarely typed very well and that usually means a kid or a moron behind the keys, so whatever.

Selkadoom · Post by **Selkadoom** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:57 am

I just usually play a round and see who I thinks the funniest to listen to. Then mute everyone else. Generally its the 8 year Olds who play MW3 who I leave on. Then I enjoy myself.

ganon578 · Post by **ganon578** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:26 am

Notabot wrote:Kind of a tangent, but I have a hard time with the online "friend" thing on the PS3 as well. I have no friends on my account, but occasionally get a random request from someone who happened to see me on SSX, even though they have no idea who I am. Do people typically just pump out requests to anyone they run into online, or is it more proper to have some knowledge of them beforehand? I see a couple people online here who have posted their PSN handle, and I'm tempted to friend them, but I'm also scared of rejection or being too forward. Sweet mercy, PSN has digitized high school for me!

I've had a few random people on Halo do that so far. It's kinda weird, so I just ignore it. As for you adding people on here, it's not so weird. Everyone's kinda chatty on here so you kind of all ready 'know' them. You can add me on the PS3 if you like; we may never get around to playing online, but I'm always curious to see who's playing what.

So far it seems like muting people is the best way to go, and I'm glad everyone here has had their fair share of ignorance online. I just don't know why some people (even older ones) need to be such twats.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:50 am

ganon578 wrote:I've had a few random people on Halo do that so far.

I've had some people do that on League. Usually they are people I've played with, had a good time with, and end up teaming up with again in the future in a "Dude, you've got to help me. I need my daily win." "Alright. Let's do this!" sort of thing.

Notabot · Post by **Notabot** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:16 am

Sades wrote:Isn't there a way to just... not listen to people when you're playing a game? Then they can rant and scream all they want, and you get to enjoy your gaming experience. Win.

Some games have that option. However, muting the entire game kind of ruins the experience and/or makes the game harder. I do enjoy playing multiplayer with my friends and family on the same console. Little Big Planet and Rayman: Origins lend themselves to that quite nicely (as do most Wii games, of course). It makes me sad that most PS3 games don't even have a local multiplayer option.

borg72 · Post by **borg72** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:21 pm

I just hate everyone anyway, so the only online/mp games i touch are the ones that don't require any interaction with other players. (twilight heroes, kol, etc). the only thing with the dreaded 'other people' i've ever played has been travian, and i desperately wish they'd develop a solo offline version of some kind. also one that didn't just 'end' after three months.

my college roomie was a warcraft beta tester; he played literally 24/7 at times, and he always managed to maintain a zen-like calm. one of his buddys was a right gobsh!te though, would yell at full volume (like, girly screaming) at sports games, and when they occasionally dungeon-raided together (or whatever they were doing), all you could hear were f-bombs through my roommates headset. tosser.

did feel bad for roommates GF though, he was once so engrossed in an all night session that it got to the next morning and he was late for her college graduation. he really was quite addicted.

this is why i'll never play warcraft. ever.

Post by **Warcry** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:52 pm

electro girl wrote:This is partly why I've never been that fussed about online gaming (not that I let a few arseholes ruin my fun) especially the FPS genre. Mostly I prefer to play with friends in the same room.

This sums up my feelings in a nutshell. If the person I'm competing with isn't in the room with me I don't really enjoy the multiplayer experience any more than I do if I was playing with AI opponents. Since more and more 360/PS3 games are going to online-only multiplayer, any Xbox game I pick up is bought solely on the strength of the single-player mode. If I want to play a game with someone else I usually stick to the Wii, and IMO the Wii's strong focus on local multiplayer is a big reason why it outsold the other current-gen consoles.

Also, like the rest of you all the preteens who spent the whole match cursing, shouting racial slurs and teabagging corpses tend to get under my skin. If I'm playing locally with someone who does that, I can just smack them.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:47 pm

I've got my XBox 360 set up so that I never hear anyone with a mic unless my headset is plugged in as well. It can be done. I get to hear the game, in all it's glory, without some 16 year old screaming about how he f#$#ed my mom (when in reality, it might be reversed).

Addl · Post by **Addl** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 5:16 am

Although I have not played much, but during uni we did some counter strike nights with beer which was fun. For me i guess about 10 times, so my play skill sucked and I got shot as one of the first mostly by the online cracks and we got our share of insults because we did not contribute to the winning.

In German, the word for playing/gaming is "spielen" which also means something being not serious, but most people tend to not "play" but "work" games.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 8:06 am

Don't often play online with strangers, as there are too many people just out to be dicks. First time I played Red Dead Redemption online (so I was level one), I got stalked by some level 100 player with all the weapons and horses unlocked. I played for about an hour and a half, and levelled up a fair few times, since I did get some shots back, but I couldn't help but wonder how that was fun for the other guy. It's not like I could present any kind of challenge, I wasn't even duelling, just trying one of the online missions (I got bored of the team game after a couple of member of my own posse started shooting their own teammates in the back repeatedly). The only plausible explanation is that he was enjoying trying to prevent me having fun. I didn't mind the challenge, and probably got up to about level 10 (plus a few trophies), but that game (re)soured me on the online thing. That said, if anyone from any message boards or whatever I frequent adds me, with a message letting me know who they are, I'll happily add them to my friends list.

moonbaseone · Post by **moonbaseone** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:53 pm

I haven't played Halo Reach in some months, but when I use to play it, it wasn't that I was a terrible player, it was that I was bored as heck of the maps and some of the changes. When I am bored, I don't really try as hard to play, there for, I would not play terrible, just, not great. Maybe just OK. Even playing decent, there are people who will say offensive things after the match, especially if you lose. I've been called out by players when I did better than them in the match.

Bottom line, people are idiots everywhere. Some people like to complain online just to complain, and to look cool, or they really do take winning in a video game way too seriously. If I recall though, I heard worst when I use to play Gears Of War 2, especially Guardian, and especially when I first started out. Now, I either play with friends or mute to players who talk crap, laugh, and move on.