What its like to play online games as a grownup

[chalmers]

I don't like playing online games unless I'm reasonably competitive, and since I work and have sex with my girlfriend, I don't have time to to deal with online virgins.

 

[shortylickens]

I dont have sex or work so its kinda difficult to relate.
Also, I hate most people online regardless of age. The majority of SC2 players are snooty dickholes. As are TF2 people.

 

[Wyndru]

I have a kid now, so it's more like "honey, a diaper needs changing", and then the raid has to wait for a few mins. Needless to say I don't get invited to many raids anymore.

 

[videogames101]

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?".

Actually, you can, if you're a teenager

 

[fantolay]

haha.

I think with the newer generations of people who grew up with video games becoming adults, gaming adults will become more and more common.

 

[videogames101]

I dont have sex or work so its kinda difficult to relate.
Also, I hate most people online regardless of age. The majority of SC2 players are snooty dickholes. As are TF2 people.

what? SC2 and TF2 are so mannered compared to my usual HoN fellows!

 

[Remobz]

haha.

I think with the newer generations of people who grew up with video games becoming adults, gaming adults will become more and more common.

I am almost 40 and I think that I might be the last generation to NOT have grown up playing video games. There was nothing to keep me glued to the house growing up in the 70's and 80's. Even early 90's as well. Sometimes they would have to literally drag my butt inside to wash up before dinner time.

I started playing computer games at age 25 and as the older I got I found it more difficult to play for hours and hours online.

Joined a clan once back in 2000 while playing tribes 1 (T1) and had some snotty 15 yr old clan leader bossing my ass around and making me call him Sir!! lol!!

Needless to say, that did not last long and NEVER joined another clan for any game since.

I also never owned any consoles in my entire life so far. Imagine that eh?

 

[wuliheron]

Grown ups play online? Is that the name of a porn website?

 

[PingSpike]

There's a lot of asshole things a person can do. It doesn't mean they should. The only thing that annoys me is when you're doing something people know darn well takes a while (like a game of LoL or a WoW raid) and people join for a few minutes and then are like oh sorry I only had 10 minutes to play. Wasting all the time 4-39 other people spent organizing it. If you're messing with other people's time respect it (it sounds like you do so I'm more just speaking in general about it than replying directly to you).

It's still a good comic though : p

I can see why that's annoying. But that's why I never play those kinds of games. I like to sit down and play for about an hour or when its no longer fun, whichever comes first.

 

[shortylickens]

Grown ups play online? Is that the name of a porn website?

Depends on what you consider grown up. With all the "fuck you lovely human!" I hear online these days I am thinking I was more mature at 12 than the average 16 year old is today.

Am 32 now and I still play some online games, not MMO's. I dont have the time available to get good at any one title like SC2, so its not as much fun for me. Every time I move up to Silver I immediately get murdered and go back down to Bronze.
And as little time as I have and as much as I suck, I wouldnt even consider paying money for WoW. Especially knowing I'd have to deal with spoiled children all day long. Thats my beef with going back to college, fucking kiddies irritate me.

 

[thespyder]

I am almost 40 and I think that I might be the last generation to NOT have grown up playing video games. There was nothing to keep me glued to the house growing up in the 70's and 80's. Even early 90's as well. Sometimes they would have to literally drag my butt inside to wash up before dinner time.

I started playing computer games at age 25 and as the older I got I found it more difficult to play for hours and hours online.

Joined a clan once back in 2000 while playing tribes 1 (T1) and had some snotty 15 yr old clan leader bossing my ass around and making me call him Sir!! lol!!

Needless to say, that did not last long and NEVER joined another clan for any game since.

I also never owned any consoles in my entire life so far. Imagine that eh?

I will be 44 this year and I played video games when I was a kid. I had Atari that I loved. and Nintendo. And even back then I was into PC games like Zork and HHGTG. Then Doom came along. so there were games even back in the 70s. No where near as prevelant as now, but there was stuff.

 

[Slammy1]

I will be 44 this year and I played video games when I was a kid. I had Atari that I loved. and Nintendo. And even back then I was into PC games like Zork and HHGTG. Then Doom came along. so there were games even back in the 70s. No where near as prevelant as now, but there was stuff.

We had an Odyssey system as a kid, before that my grandparents had a tavern with several crappy pre-Space Invaders titles (Pong, etc). I worked at the Video Arcade in HS, I like to think of myself as the first gen to grow up with video games.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Whats worst xbox players online or pc gamers?

Think fps games have some of the worst players period out of any type of game.

BC2 is so loaded with them i officially quit at rank 41 this week.

With me needing about 35k or so points a day per day till october 25 to hit rank 50, alot of moron teammates just made it impossible to score anything as also the whiners on the enemy team.

I can see why a veteran gamer friend of mine who still plays counterstrike and most older fps offline ,the newer ones online usually bring in new whiners and tactics that most won't agree with.

 

[sigurros81]

Whats worst xbox players online or pc gamers?

Think fps games have some of the worst players period out of any type of game.

BC2 is so loaded with them i officially quit at rank 41 this week.

With me needing about 35k or so points a day per day till october 25 to hit rank 50, alot of moron teammates just made it impossible to score anything as also the whiners on the enemy team.

I can see why a veteran gamer friend of mine who still plays counterstrike and most older fps offline ,the newer ones online usually bring in new whiners and tactics that most won't agree with.

The good thing about BC2's chat system is that it's so poorly designed that chat scrolls by so fast you never get to see what anyone types. Voice communication doesn't work at all on BC2 and that was never fixed. So thanks to a broken communication system, whiners and trolls can be easily ignored.

 

[skipsneeky2]

The good thing about BC2's chat system is that it's so poorly designed that chat scrolls by so fast you never get to see what anyone types. Voice communication doesn't work at all on BC2 and that was never fixed. So thanks to a broken communication system, whiners and trolls can be easily ignored.

True the last time i played i was on a map in Oasis we played one round and i was kicking ass as medic.

Think i killed this one guy to many times in the previous map round cause he ended up base raping the entire next round and running around hiding in buildings at our base so finding him was not easy.

Very common problem especially in Oasis and the part that threw me off this guy was just talking s*** the entire time while doing it.

Get to good with this game and you piss off the rookies and its like why bother mixing rank 50 players with rank 7 players who just throw baby fits and just rape and camp when things don't go their way?

 

[thespyder]

We had an Odyssey system as a kid, before that my grandparents had a tavern with several crappy pre-Space Invaders titles (Pong, etc). I worked at the Video Arcade in HS, I like to think of myself as the first gen to grow up with video games.

LOL. I used to LOVE Gauntlet in the arcade. I got so good at it (spent a Buttload of quarters to get there) that I could actually play infinitely on one quarter. Assuming you got the right boards and the right special potions, you eventually got so that you literally couldn't die short of stop playing. Elf + Extra Shot Power + Extra shot speed = Win the game (sort of). And really you could do it with any of the four character types. Then they came out with Gauntlet 2 just to spite players like me.

 

[Slammy1]

I was like that on Joust, I'd sell the game at the end and get my quarter back.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

A better question might be, "What's it like to sit on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch movies as a teenager?"

There's absolutely nothing wrong with adults playing computer games. It isn't fundamentally different from adults watching stupid TV shows or watching movies. Arguably computer gaming is a higher form of entertainment since it's interactive in nature and online multiplayer gaming is socially interactive.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I have a microphone but I don't even have it set up. Don't see any reason to, even if I DID play online games.

If you're playing a team-based game and you want to communicate with your teammates so that you can coordinate teamwork, it's easier to do with a mic, especially for a first-person shooter.

Consider a 5v5 game of capture-the-flag where two captains draft-picked the teams (like in gym class) and everyone has assigned positions (defense, front door defense, offense, etc.). You would want to use your mic so that you don't have to stop in the middle of playing to type out the communication and communicating quickly is of the essence.

"Flag carrier going low."
"He's in his base."
"There's 3 guys waiting for you in our base."
"Take it high, I'm waiting to cover you."

As sophomoric as it might seem, a game like that feels like you're playing an athletic cybersport.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Nice...reminds me of WoW back in the days...
And Rift now...

Viva el singleplayer!

The problem with single player is that AI opponents can become boring very quickly, and playing AI just doesn't compare to the rush of playing a competitive game against real human opponents, especially if it's a strategy game (in which case your AI opponent has Down Syndrome).

 

[namtran512]

The problem with single player is that AI opponents can become boring very quickly, and playing AI just doesn't compare to the rush of playing a competitive game against real human opponents, especially if it's a strategy game (in which case your AI opponent has Down Syndrome).

Single player usually shore up AI with plot, world interactivity, sound, etc.


Basically... most single player games > multiplayer games in almost every department except like... that multi... player part.....



Don't get me wrong, multiplayer games are fun and all, but sometimes it is too much of a hassle dealing with people that have no sense of maturity.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

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.

Aren't most of the youngin's playing dumbed down console games anyway? At least with the games I play, the majority of the gamers are over 20 years old with many being over 30.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Single player usually shore up AI with plot, world interactivity, sound, etc.

Yeah, but if you want a plot, why not just go read a good science fiction novel instead of watching cheesy cut scenes?

Basically... most single player games > multiplayer games in almost every department except like... that multi... player part.....

Don't get me wrong, multiplayer games are fun and all, but sometimes it is too much of a hassle dealing with people that have no sense of maturity.

I suppose it depends on the genre. I don't think there's any comparison between online multiplayer and single player for FPS and RTS games. Single player is just completely inferior for those genres. In contrast, Baldur's Gate 2 and Morrowind work well as single player games. (Although, arguably, Neverwinter Nights online component may have been more interesting.)

 

[greenhawk]

One fix I have found that helps with the "age" gap is to play at times they do not. Unfortinitly, i've played at most times of the day at some point in my life that I have a rule of thumb of who I expect to see.

early morning, kids after one last hit and unemployeed.

late morning, unemployed

eaerly after noon, unemployed

mid after noon, kids and unemployed.

evening, working class gamers

late evening, kids

midnightm die hards and some unemployeed.

early hours of the morning, die hards.


Of course, if you add in a global game like WoW or similar, then it matters not at all as you get the worst of all of them.

 

[greenhawk]

I also never owned any consoles in my entire life so far. Imagine that eh?

+1

though I suspect for me it has been a mix of cost, who the consoles were aimed at and the games on offer on them.

All end up with me re-loading a 5 year old game and playing that on the PC instead.