What its like to play online games as a grownup

[xSkyDrAx]

This type of douchebaggery is not tolerated in real life any more than it is in online games. You couldn't go out bowling with your friends (if you had any) and 3 frames into the game say "sorry guys GTG, don't be hatin' it's just a game right?".

That's how I see it. You are essentially willingly and knowingly wasting other people's time and enjoyment simply because 'it's not as important' to you. This is understandable when it's truely an emergency and was honestly unexpected but if you know you have to leave in 10 minutes or have a high chance of being interrupted then you are a total douchebag for wasting other people's time. Why not just find something else to do that doesn't involve the commitment of other people's time?

You may not care because they are only games but your inconsideration of others is simply not a behavior that is 'acceptable' online or off. It is particularly annoying in situations such as LoL because once a player quits it becomes almost impossible to win a match and the other players will either have to take a leave or a loss and since most people don't want to risk being banned they will usually play it to the end which takes upwards of 30-50 minutes.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Meh, it's all due to anonymity. These forums are really case and point to how people interact on the internet. While I may be pretty opinionated and stress my opinions on the internet, I try to be respectful in my comments. This holds true in real life. I also have found that people who are total asses online, are asses in real life, generally much more subdued and awkward (like someone stated earlier).

Competitive gaming in real life or online takes on a whole new concept because people get heated up over competition. You can say it's just a game, when in reality it's still an ego thing. That's why Hockey games break out in fights. That's why rappers shoot each other over diss's(ohh look what I did!) Adrenaline gets pumping and people talk smack. Different people handle this differently.

 

[SunnyD]

That's how I see it. You are essentially willingly and knowingly wasting other people's time and enjoyment simply because 'it's not as important' to you. This is understandable when it's truely an emergency and was honestly unexpected but if you know you have to leave in 10 minutes or have a high chance of being interrupted then you are a total douchebag for wasting other people's time. Why not just find something else to do that doesn't involve the commitment of other people's time?

You may not care because they are only games but your inconsideration of others is simply not a behavior that is 'acceptable' online or off. It is particularly annoying in situations such as LoL because once a player quits it becomes almost impossible to win a match and the other players will either have to take a leave or a loss and since most people don't want to risk being banned they will usually play it to the end which takes upwards of 30-50 minutes.

Tell me, why is your time any more important or valuable than my time?
Short Answer: Because it's yours.

Long Answer: It's not. My time is valuable to me, just as your time is valuable to yours. By FORCING me to participate in YOUR time, you're devaluing MY time. This is just as unacceptable to me as me "disappearing" from your even unexplained would be to you.

Even Longer Answer: We all need to get over ourselves and just learn to play nicely together. A little common sense goes a long way.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Tell me, why is your time any more important or valuable than my time?
Short Answer: Because it's yours.

Long Answer: It's not. My time is valuable to me, just as your time is valuable to yours. By FORCING me to participate in YOUR time, you're devaluing MY time. This is just as unacceptable to me as me "disappearing" from your even unexplained would be to you.

Even Longer Answer: We all need to get over ourselves and just learn to play nicely together. A little common sense goes a long way.

I'm assuming that you're agreeing with what I'm saying but I'm not sure what you mean in your long answer.

 

[QuantumPion]

In the first place, this isn't about bowling. It is about online gaming. So you aren't one of only 4 people who can play. What was being discussed was 1 of 30-40 people in a game where there are potentially several hundred. And one man is not going to be missed or make or break anything of any consequence BECAUSE IT'S A GAME.

Allow me to clarify.

You wouldn't invite your friends to a team bowling match which you knew ahead of time you would have to bail on. You couldn't justify that to your friends in terms of "it's just a game and my time is more important than yours". So why do some people think that behavior is acceptable online? Simply because you can get away with it? We have a term for people like that, and it is called "douchebag".

And we are talking about organized games like WoW or DOTA, not a public deathmatch game that people regularly drop in and out of.

 

[thespyder]

That's how I see it. You are essentially willingly and knowingly wasting other people's time and enjoyment simply because 'it's not as important' to you. This is understandable when it's truely an emergency and was honestly unexpected but if you know you have to leave in 10 minutes or have a high chance of being interrupted then you are a total douchebag for wasting other people's time. Why not just find something else to do that doesn't involve the commitment of other people's time?

You may not care because they are only games but your inconsideration of others is simply not a behavior that is 'acceptable' online or off. It is particularly annoying in situations such as LoL because once a player quits it becomes almost impossible to win a match and the other players will either have to take a leave or a loss and since most people don't want to risk being banned they will usually play it to the end which takes upwards of 30-50 minutes.

I don't think anyone said anything at all about intentionally joining for 10 minutes, KNOWING that you were going to leave people hanging. That wasn't portrayed in the comic, nor was it anything at all like any of the responses that I read.

I think that some people inferred that and took the ball and ran with it.

So to clarify.

"I am going to sign on for just 10 minutes to intentionally cheese people off" = Bad.

"I am playing and intend to continue, but life interferes" = good, reasonable and the entire point of the comic and thread.

Allow me to clarify.

You wouldn't invite your friends to a team bowling match which you knew ahead of time you would have to bail on. You couldn't justify that to your friends in terms of "it's just a game and my time is more important than yours". So why do some people think that behavior is acceptable online? Simply because you can get away with it? We have a term for people like that, and it is called "douchebag".

No one said anything like that. Not even close. What was in the comic, what was discussed in examples and in intent was "Life interferes"! And I am not going to Not bail because I have a life because it might leave someone who doesn't have a life in the lurch IN A GAME.

Games=fun and good. But Life = more important.

 

[QuantumPion]

I don't think anyone said anything at all about intentionally joining for 10 minutes, KNOWING that you were going to leave people hanging. That wasn't portrayed in the comic, nor was it anything at all like any of the responses that I read.

I think that some people inferred that and took the ball and ran with it.

So to clarify.

"I am going to sign on for just 10 minutes to intentionally cheese people off" = Bad.

"I am playing and intend to continue, but life interferes" = good, reasonable and the entire point of the comic and thread.

Well ok, but I am going by what you said:

And if you can't do without me when I leave, understand that "Its only a game".

Which I think has pretty clear meaning of "my time is more important than yours and I don't care if my leaving negatively affects you".

 

[Zenoth]

It's a fun comic.

Basically the issue it points at is the general immaturity of gamers in on-line games. What I always found interesting about on-line gaming - as long as voice chat is available (since voice chat alone seems to give birth to the issue) is that the community on the server (be it 12, 24, 32 or 64 players, the actual number never seems to be relevant) acts like a crowd in real life, and it has striking similarities with crowd (disorder) psychology. The bottom line is that the psychology of the crowd (community/players) differs significantly from the psychology of those individuals within it. I myself read a bit about that some years ago (as a hobby, nothing professional) and whilst the phenomenon has been present amongst humans for as long as we can look back it looks like virtual/digital reality/gaming could only be a barrier to that for as long as the players couldn't communicate together by voice.

The chances are that individually you could have fun social activities with many of them, have intelligent discussions and form bounds of friendship. But in their privacy or sometimes even in public (demonstration stands, competitions with prices/rewards involved, etc.) they "lose it" and they can literally become "someone else", psychologically-speaking. What is even more interesting is that the "fault" (mostly when on-line, and not necessarily while playing an on-line game, but even on mere discussion forums without voice involved) is often attributed to the younger players/gamers (while in reality the crowd psychology phenomenon applies to and affects individuals of all ages and social status). It's an interesting subject, but taking it with a grain of salt that comic made me laugh, it's a nice one.

 

[Red Storm]

People are referring to thespyder's comment about relating to only having 10 minutes to play. There are two different things being talked about here:

Scenario A: I have around 15 minutes of playtime before I have to leave. I join some friends in a group effort that will more than likely take over half an hour to complete. 15 minutes in I tell them I have to go. I am at fault here, I knew how much time I had and shouldn't have joined in on something that would extend beyond that time.

Scenario B: I have time to play. I join some friends and then half way through I get a real life interruption that must be dealt with. Nobody's at fault, that's just real life.

Two completely different situations. In Scenario A you are a douchebag, in Scenario B you're a gamer with a life.

 

[Aikouka]

Scenario B: I have time to play. I join some friends and then half way through I get a real life interruption that must be dealt with. Nobody's at fault, that's just real life.

I think that there's a bit of contention in this scenario as well. The question that usually comes up is what is the real life interruption? No sane person is going to fault you for something you really have to leave for (family emergency, etc), but if a friend calls you up, asks you to do whatever and you just decide that you're going to leave... it's still disrespectful.

It isn't about putting someone's time ahead of yours... it's about considering both party's time equivalent. They put in the time to do whatever activity it is, and that's expected of everyone (barring some unforeseen situation).

I've seen this discussed quite a few times on MMO-Champion... the thread rarely goes well.

 

[Golgatha]

The point is, if you only have 10 minutes you shouldn't be joining a game with other players that you know takes > 10 minutes to complete. It's disrespectful. Yes, it's only a game but you just messed up that game for all the other players just trying to play a game. They might have only had the time for one game and now they can't enjoy it.

I'm also going to start using dickpickle and noobcock as insults now.

And if you ever watch any video game competitions, the vast majority of players are teenagers or college age people. I watched the League of Legends championships and couldn't help feel sorry at how one of the best players in the game looked so awkward and out of place when on stage in the spotlight. Of course, he's known to be a douchebag in game.

I agree about using dickpickle and noobcock as insults. My vocabulary has expanded today!

 

[QuantumPion]

I think that there's a bit of contention in this scenario as well. The question that usually comes up is what is the real life interruption? No sane person is going to fault you for something you really have to leave for (family emergency, etc), but if a friend calls you up, asks you to do whatever and you just decide that you're going to leave... it's still disrespectful.

It isn't about putting someone's time ahead of yours... it's about considering both party's time equivalent. They put in the time to do whatever activity it is, and that's expected of everyone (barring some unforeseen situation).

I've seen this discussed quite a few times on MMO-Champion... the thread rarely goes well.

This. For organized team games, if you can't commit the time you are being rude and inconsiderate to everyone else. If you regularly get interrupted by real life than stick to single player games or multi games where dropping in and out is acceptable (e.g. L4D).

 

[ImpulsE69]

I agree about using dickpickle and noobcock as insults. My vocabulary has expanded today!

LOL I was thinking the same thing. I've been looking for some good new expletives. I am so sick of noob. It really needs replaced.

 

[PowerYoga]

don't be silly guys, nobody bowls.

More seriously, if you leave in the middle of the league game your teammates might understand, but that doesn't mean they'll be happy about it. They'll be more understanding but don't confuse tolerance with acceptable behavior.

 

[Red Storm]

I think that there's a bit of contention in this scenario as well. The question that usually comes up is what is the real life interruption? No sane person is going to fault you for something you really have to leave for (family emergency, etc), but if a friend calls you up, asks you to do whatever and you just decide that you're going to leave... it's still disrespectful.

It isn't about putting someone's time ahead of yours... it's about considering both party's time equivalent. They put in the time to do whatever activity it is, and that's expected of everyone (barring some unforeseen situation).

I've seen this discussed quite a few times on MMO-Champion... the thread rarely goes well.

True, but I did say things that "must be dealt with" and not just "anything out of game."

I used to be in a competitive DoD clan (once upon a time I was a pretty deadly sniper). Even though I was one of our better players, I knew I probably wouldn't be able to go a full match without having to get off the computer to deal with something, so I usually just declined invitations instead of risking a scenario where I had to leave in the middle of a ranked match, effectively screwing my team.

People may simply think less of their online playmates because of the anonymous nature of online play, but I always lower my expectations when it comes to things like this. That's why you make some good friends and just play with them.

 

[ImpulsE69]

don't be silly guys, nobody bowls.

More seriously, if you leave in the middle of the league game your teammates might understand, but that doesn't mean they'll be happy about it. They'll be more understanding but don't confuse tolerance with acceptable behavior.

Lies. On a whim the wife and I and a few of her coworkers joined a league for a couple years. Neither of us having bowled since school, many many years ago. Our handicap was so high we ended up taking first place We decided to stop while we were ahead lol

 

[sigurros81]

Honestly, I find it quite therapeutic to stoop to the level of a 14 year old once in a while--you work all day, pay bills, you do all these responsible adult things. It's a nice breath of fresh air to let it all go and act like a childish dumbass once in a while, because normally that sort of behavior would land you in deep trouble, but thanks to the buffer zone that is the interweb, you can do it without repercussions.

 

[greenhawk]

This is why I only play single player games now. Pause and resume when I want, save and exit when I want, no retarded 12-year-olds screaming into their mics.

+1, pitty the current trend in new games is towards online only with those same 12 year olds. At least some of those games need RL money to play so, by default, a lot of 12 year olds are filtered out. Unforunitly, the other trend is for games to go free to play bringing them all back again. It was one reason I liked WoW of Guild Wars, the monthly barrier to some of the rif-raf out and about. But then I am also cheap enough to still bitch about the monthly fee while paying it.

Unfortunitly, not seeing any suitable games to replace it with given my current heavly played game went free to play (TF2) and the next game I was looking forward to to have lots of offline gaming (diablo 3) is online connection only.

So, I've been buying indie games and playing them instead over the last year, and even at their lower asking price, have spent more money on them than on any AAA release.

 

[greenhawk]

to which I say "It's only a game". I can totally relate to "I only had 10 minutes to play". Doesn't mean I don't want to enjoy myself as well. And if you can't do without me when I leave, understand that "Its only a game".

+1

Though while someone might have had only 10 minutes. I might have had 60, but just spent 30 minutes waiting for someone to join so we can do that instance or that map. But because of needing to wait, most of my time is now gone as well, so I generally end up leaving with a comment of "taking too long to get started, off to play".

 

[QuantumPion]

Honestly I can't say I'm that familiar with the annoying 12 year olds in multiplayer games phenomenon. Then again I only play PC games. About the worst thing I experience is joining a CS game populated by french canadians. D:

 

[WelshBloke]

Sorry but you guys can put up as many arguments as you want.

The offer of freaky sex trumps them all, you should respect this.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Some games have this problem more than others. Mosts Runescape where it manifests as constant begging. Yes I will admit playing Runescape on a public fourm.

When I had an Xbox and a PS3 it was way worse. I left my mic off most of the time especially for Halo COD BC2.

CSS doesn't seem to have that problem, I like the gameplay better anyway.

 

[thespyder]

Sorry but you guys can put up as many arguments as you want.

The offer of freaky sex trumps them all, you should respect this.

+1.

As for the torrential flood of teen and pre-teen online gamers, I think this mainly runs in the FPS realm (though I could be wrong) like Halo and CoD etc... A realm that I thankfully don't delve much in. Although I have encountered some pretty young SC2 opponents.

 

[JoshGuru7]

It's great to have a rich life outside of gaming (and highly recommended), but if losing bothers you that much when you do play games then you should look at your own attitude.

If immature players are bothering you, then avoid them by finding people to play with who you like. I'm in a large raiding guild in Rift and the average age is probably around 35.

If lack of relative talent is the problem, then set more manageable goals. If you only play CoD two matches a week, maybe finishing 4th is a better goal than finishing 1st.

 

[Barfo]

+1.

As for the torrential flood of teen and pre-teen online gamers, I think this mainly runs in the FPS realm (though I could be wrong) like Halo and CoD etc... A realm that I thankfully don't delve much in. Although I have encountered some pretty young SC2 opponents.

I've been playing BC2 for 2 months on the PC and I haven't found too many immature players, I think I've been called a lovely human less than 3 times per gaming sessions so that's ok I guess