Poll: I'm not as good as you, and that should be ok

[RaikuFA]

Let's start this off by saying I rarely play games online anymore. The only exception would be Splatoon. The main reason why is because there's no voice chat or PM for the Wii U.

And that's the issue I want to talk about. It seems that treating others like garbage for not being as experienced as them is like a common thing and it seems acceptable. But why? When I was younger, these assholes at some arcade during a trip one time actually tried their damnest to make sure I couldn't play other games cause I couldn't "prove my worth" in a fighting game(my first experience mind you). Nowadays if I try to play Payday 2 or TF2 I automatically get kicked from the server for not choosing the right class or not having enough EXP or the right hat. MOBAs are the worse these days. Yet people just go "that's how it is". No, it's not how it is or should be. How would you react if one kid in little league goes "I'm gonna find where you live and slit your throat because you can't pitch as good as me and you're always playing first base" to his teammate? You'd be mortified. But in online gaming it's like "that's how things are" or "they probably deserve it". I get the easy answer to this is G.I.F.T. but I don't buy it. I know another easy answer is blocking muting or reporting that person but it doesn't seem to work sometimes. And if it's in the middle of a match, if you leave you get punished as well.

Discussion: Why is harrasing and attacking people for not being as experienced as you considered OK? And if you don't think it's OK, why isn't it considered a bigger deal?

 

[CritialGaming]

I think people put to much weight on online chatter and comments. People are fucking shitbags on the internet, just in general. But when you add the internet and you mix it with competitive gaming, shit gets even worse. It is up to you to be the bigger person and understand that the behavior you here is just part of normal competition.

Think of it as talking smack. Sure it can be a bit more vulgar and surely more offensive, but it is basically the same thing. The problem is, people take the fact that someone can't hit them back a little too far and that is where you get the racial slurs and terrible comments about people's mothers. Oh lord it is aweful.

In the context of MOBA's or online games, you have to realize something. People are competitive and people want to win. You are part of a team, and if you are not playing correctly (intentionally or otherwise) you are ruining those player's experience. So that frustration get spit out towards you in vulgarity. But you have to realize that it doesn't come from a place of hate, it comes from a desire to win, a desire to do well, and when you are not holding up your end of the deal in a team game....well frankly slurs and swears are much easier to type quickly than full on constructive criticism.

If this toxic spit bothers you there are a few things that you can do to help keep it away from you.

1. Play with friends on your team, preferably on a team speak so that they can tell you what to do and nicely walk you through things.

2. Visit forums and ask questions about how to at least be a good enough player that you aren't drastically screwing your team over, because while it isn't nice to rip on you, it is perfectly reasonable for these players to expect you to be good enough to not be a ball and chain upon the team.

3. Play bot matches, this practice will not make you amazing, it will allow you to become more comfortable with your favorite character's abilities and how they move around the field.

4. Play single player games and fuck those internet shitheads! (this one is a joke.)

 

[Chairman Miaow]

In my experience in League of Legends, the complete lack of punishment for toxicity led to those I knew getting more and more frustrated at being flamed, to the point they just assume everybody is that same kind of arsehole and flame right back, even before the other flames them.

I feel like games just need more strictly enforced rules.

 

[RaikuFA]

1. Play with friends on your team, preferably on a team speak so that they can tell you what to do and nicely walk you through things.

2. Visit forums and ask questions about how to at least be a good enough player that you aren't drastically screwing your team over, because while it isn't nice to rip on you, it is perfectly reasonable for these players to expect you to be good enough to not be a ball and chain upon the team.

3. Play bot matches, this practice will not make you amazing, it will allow you to become more comfortable with your favorite character's abilities and how they move around the field.

4. Play single player games and fuck those internet shitheads! (this one is a joke.)

1. Don't really have many friends.

2. Some forums are not that great. The riot forums are kinda good but sites like SRK and dustloop are pretty bad.

3 and 4 I already do.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

It varies from game to game. If you're in a team and you bring everybody down I can see why you would get yelled at. In real life team sports it is like that too.

In 1v1 stuff like a fighter it makes little sense though. Anyone doing that would only be doing it as an overcompensation mechanism to hide their insecurity. The actual high level players who are reaply good love to nurture new players and ae some of the most inviting competitive communities of gaming.


Edit; Hold on, what is wrong with dustloop now? That place has the best sources of info in the western world about airdashers and a very highly moderated community with little tolerance for idiocy and shenanigans. Their wikis alone are great to start up with and each character forum has its own mod and a topic full of advice and another full of combos and people sharing tech and you can even go to the matchmaking page and meet people who live near you to play with. Through that site I met a ton of awesome competitive folks who became friends wih me, I even personally know one of the admins. Are you sure you're not bein oversensitive here?

 

[CritialGaming]

1. Play with friends on your team, preferably on a team speak so that they can tell you what to do and nicely walk you through things.

2. Visit forums and ask questions about how to at least be a good enough player that you aren't drastically screwing your team over, because while it isn't nice to rip on you, it is perfectly reasonable for these players to expect you to be good enough to not be a ball and chain upon the team.

3. Play bot matches, this practice will not make you amazing, it will allow you to become more comfortable with your favorite character's abilities and how they move around the field.

4. Play single player games and fuck those internet shitheads! (this one is a joke.)

1. Don't really have many friends.

2. Some forums are not that great. The riot forums are kinda good but sites like SRK and dustloop are pretty bad.

3 and 4 I already do.

Well I am sorry then bro. As much as I would like to say that we could change the word from a forum post, it aint happening anytime soon. Either ignore it, or move onto other games. People can and will be toxic and there isn't much you can do about it, because being an asshole is not illegal.

 

[Saelune]

I tend to be very good at the games I play, but I try not to be an ass. Though extreme acts of stupidity are annoying, but I try to limit that to things that even unskilled people should know. Though at times in a bad mood I may vent on the innocent.

Really though it would be nice if games could master skill filtering. Games are more fun when you play against others of similar skill. Being completely wiped is no fun, but winning against people completely below your level isn't really fun either. I personally feel bad, and depending on the game may hold back, but it sucks when that hurts some sort of personal score, or may even come off as mean to them.

 

[renegade7]

Discussion: Why is harrasing and attacking people for not being as experienced as you considered OK? And if you don't think it's OK, why isn't it considered a bigger deal?

Because online video games are Very Serious Business (TM) and some people become unhealthily invested in them. Thus they take success in these games very seriously and perceived failure due to factors out of their own control (another player's skill, network quality, etc) can easily cause frustration.

I also think lack of moderation plays a role. There's no one actively enforcing the rules, so even when people do face consequences for their behavior it's not a large enough portion of the number of times they have been abusive for it to effectively set the example.

I think the worst cases of internet fuckwaddery, though, are due to the fact that some people are just such assholes that they can't make friends in real life so they compensate by substituting online interaction for social interaction.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

And you have just summed up why I will never touch a MOBA, and tend to shy away from ANY online multiplayer team-based games. I always hear the argument, "It's not that bad" or "There are only a few people like that. The rest of us are pretty nice," but that's not what I've seen. The vast majority of people playing those games are people I would walk across the street to avoid in real life.

I don't think it's okay, and it baffles me that so many people seem to think it is. "It's just part of the experience." Yeah? Well your 'experience' sucks then and I don't want it. If I'm playing a game and someone asks me for help, I will give them as much help as possible. I will explain how things work, where to go, and basically be a guide for the person. Sadly, it seems like I am often in the minority, so I rarely play with strangers.

 

[RaikuFA]

Hold on, what is wrong with dustloop now? That place has the best sources of info in the western world about airdashers and a very highly moderated community with little tolerance for idiocy and shenanigans. Their wikis alone are great to start up with and each character forum has its own mod and a topic full of advice and another full of combos and people sharing tech and you can even go to the matchmaking page and meet people who live near you to play with. Through that site I met a ton of awesome competitive folks who became friends wih me, I even personally know one of the admins. Are you sure you're not bein oversensitive here?

This was back in 06 or 07. Outside of that arcade experience this is my first foray into fighters. I was playing as Faust and wanted to learn how to play better. Yet I didn't know what terms were what yet so I was lost. I keep asking and one guy apparently took it personally, just bringing up my lack of knowledge in anything I posted. I kept reporting him but nothing was done about it. I just said "fuck it" and left . Left a bad taste in my mouth after that.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

And you have just summed up why I will never touch a MOBA, and tend to shy away from ANY online multiplayer team-based games.

If you do get into one, you gotta get in right at the start.

Yeah, I've found that if I get in on the ground floor of a multiplayer game, I'm usually one of the best players out there. I ripped the entire opposing team apart in BioShock 2's multiplayer by playing on day one, and I'm pretty decent at Star Wars: Battlefront.
But if the game has been going for a month or more, the learning curve is just too high and by then players have pretty much already set up the class system. Like Overwatch? Not a chance in hell I'm touching that. Even if I started as soon as it comes out, I know I'd get stomped and mocked and it just won't be worth it.

 

[RaikuFA]

And you have just summed up why I will never touch a MOBA, and tend to shy away from ANY online multiplayer team-based games. I always hear the argument, "It's not that bad" or "There are only a few people like that. The rest of us are pretty nice," but that's not what I've seen. The vast majority of people playing those games are people I would walk across the street to avoid in real life.

I don't think it's okay, and it baffles me that so many people seem to think it is. "It's just part of the experience." Yeah? Well your 'experience' sucks then and I don't want it. If I'm playing a game and someone asks me for help, I will give them as much help as possible. I will explain how things work, where to go, and basically be a guide for the person. Sadly, it seems like I am often in the minority, so I rarely play with strangers.

I'm the same way. Heck I'm the same way with souls games. I know those games inside out so I can teach people.

 

[Pyrian]

It's not okay but nobody has figured out how to deal with it, without spending money or simply banning unscripted and unsolicited communication.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

Here's the thing about online multiplayer (where you play alongside other players): Your performance affects their experience. And even in games where there's nothing like rank or any kind of incentive for doing well or punishment for doing poorly, your performance still uses up their time, time which might very well be quite limited.

Is it rude? Yes

Is it understandable? Also yes.

Of course, there will always be those that take it too far etc etc, but the point still stands.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

And you have just summed up why I will never touch a MOBA, and tend to shy away from ANY online multiplayer team-based games.

If you do get into one, you gotta get in right at the start.

The issue with that is that most games seemed to be based off of one past game that everyone wants to emulate.

I was super excited to go into Titanfall. Giant Robots for the win. But the only online shooters I played with any regularity were Team Fortress 2 (as a Demo), Monday Night Combat, and Rainbow Six Vegas. Then I find out that Respawn Entertainment were ex Call of Duty developers.

I came in with the wrong skill base. Everyone else just treated the new window dressing as business as usual. I felt very out of place.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

Here's the thing about online multiplayer (where you play alongside other players): Your performance affects their experience. And even in games where there's nothing like rank or any kind of incentive for doing well or punishment for doing poorly, your performance still uses up their time, time which might very well be quite limited.

Is it rude? Yes

Is it understandable? Also yes.

Of course, there will always be those that take it too far etc etc, but the point still stands.

While this is true, this raises another issue - how does a new player get experience and learn the game if everyone is expecting excellence from the getgo? I've never tried to get into LoL or Dota because there seems to be no way to learn the game/s without running the gauntlet of extreme hostility that characterizes those communities.

Personally, I pretty much avoid online multiplayer games unless it is co-op PVE (eg. WoW raiding) or solo play (eg. Street Fighter). I just can't be bothered dealing with drama, so I mostly just stick to single player games.