Underaged Gamers

[Damien Granz]

I'm sure we've all seen the videos of players trolling underage children on the mic in TF2 before, but I'm curious as to the opinions of the Escapist. I can speak from experience that it's annoying, I was once (And can be still considered) an "underaged gamer" or "squeaker" as some say. First time I joined a server with my mic, I spoke alot. And got kicked with the reason "Come back when your balls drop." I took this very literally, and didn't use my mic until afew years had passed. That was say, 4 years ago. I'm 15 now, I use my Mic in CSS and TF2, and I rarely get comments on it. If it annoys people, I shut up and use the regular chat. But that's my experience. What do you guys think?

I don't know why I'd care, honestly. I ain't your mom. Sure, if you're 12 and speaking like an idiot and trash talking with a prepubescent voice, it makes you look twice as dumb than usual, and I'd probably mute you a lot faster, but I don't think I'd ban somebody for their voice.

But if you were respectful or interesting, I ain't sure why I'd care.

Note: Some mature girls sound a lot like prepubescent boys over bad internet connections with bad mics too.

 

[TehWinged]

Well then, informative thread was informative, the people who bothered to respond mainly shared my viewpoint on the subject. Whoo.

 

[Smeggs]

There's a mute function for a reason.

Unless of course it's one of those annoying little brats who somehow think they're the pinnacle of gaming. That deserves some jibes.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Use a wheel gun, Use a wheel gun!

Theres some great gamer kids out there. Its all about maturity not age. Some people have it some don't. And in general I respect the kids that have a good head on their shoulders.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

As long as they aren't being completely stupid, like insulting me and making themselves seem better just cause they managed to get ONE kill on me, then ok, go for it. Oh, and as long as they're not constantly talking. THAT drives me nuts

 

[Ectoplasmicz]

Mute them if they're annoying. simple as that.

 

[Sharalon]

I hate when people use voice chat no matter how old they are.
If I wanted to talk to you I would have added you on skype or something.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Stop tight there, criminal scum!
You are under arrest for underage gaming!

then throw his squeeking ass in the imperial dungeon.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

Squeekers, good name for them, do not bother me in the slightest and are welcomed with open arms on our servers. We recognize that the gaming community is getting older, with some of us around since the C64 era, and that new blood in not only inevitable but a requirement for our continued survival. For this reason we will respect you, and anything you have to say, as long as it is within suitable reason.

Mute will always exist if you get to the point of bothering us after all, and we will kick you from the servers if you do NOT respect other players. I doubt, as you are posting here with a quite reasonable experience and actually stopped speaking for a time being out of respect for other players, you where ever a problem at any age. For that reason I am sorry that some other gamers out there mistreated you because of your age, some of us older folk do not have the respect we really should have for the youth.

Now... people who think a game server is the best place to 'share' their taste in music... those people really do deserve to be kicked and I can not hit the mute button fast enough.

For those who go into game with mute always enabled: I recognize why you are making this choice and I will not fault you for it either. I do have to say that, should you get into a reasonable server, you are missing out on a lot. Not only do teams that communicate with each other tend to have more enjoyment in the game, they tend to work better together. There is nothing like sharing intelligence on enemy movements to give your side a decisive upper hand.

 

[ubersyanyde]

You rarely find anybody on Halo who is bearable to talk to, regardless of age. I once went through an entire ~10 minute game with a 'squeaker' going "f**king asshole" for no reason throughout the entire match. I didn't mute him (or her ) just to see if he would get bored and shut up.

But there are people who are actually really nice in any gaming community and I have had mature conversations with 'squeakers' as well.

 

[Memoriae]

Squeekers, good name for them, do not bother me in the slightest and are welcomed with open arms on our servers. We recognize that the gaming community is getting older, with some of us around since the C64 era, and that new blood in not only inevitable but a requirement for our continued survival. For this reason we will respect you, and anything you have to say, as long as it is within suitable reason.

Mute will always exist if you get to the point of bothering us after all, and we will kick you from the servers if you do NOT respect other players. I doubt, as you are posting here with a quite reasonable experience and actually stopped speaking for a time being out of respect for other players, you where ever a problem at any age. For that reason I am sorry that some other gamers out there mistreated you because of your age, some of us older folk do not have the respect we really should have for the youth.

Now... people who think a game server is the best place to 'share' their taste in music... those people really do deserve to be kicked and I can not hit the mute button fast enough.

For those who go into game with mute always enabled: I recognize why you are making this choice and I will not fault you for it either. I do have to say that, should you get into a reasonable server, you are missing out on a lot. Not only do teams that communicate with each other tend to have more enjoyment in the game, they tend to work better together. There is nothing like sharing intelligence on enemy movements to give your side a decisive upper hand.

Significantly this.

Opening rcon, and typing "kick " is a hell of a lot quicker than escaping out, opening up the connections list, scrolling down, and then going into another menu to mute them...

Especially if it's some immature ass who insists on dragging down the server as a whole. I've had to deal with a number of them in the past, and despite reasoning with them as a first measure, a sadly high number of them decide that it's better to argue with the admin logged into rcon, than it is to heed the warning.

That, and muting anyone as a server admin is a schoolboy error, you just cannot do it when you have rules to enforce. Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean that they've stopped.


And yes, I'm using immature. Age has nothing to do with it. I'd prefer a server full of 14 year olds on helium, over a server of 18+s playing music, throwing rapid-fire insults, and generally being twats.

 

[Devon Dent]

On topic, i was in Gamestop a few days ago and a child in the store pointed to the MW3 game on the shelf and said to his father "That's the game I have" and laughed. I wanted to say something, bit I didn't. Kids are annoying in general, but my problem with them is this: I am 26, however I do have a rather higher pitched voice over the Xbox headset or a webcam or on a MIC or whatever then I would like to admit, and can often find myself muted by squadmates in Battlefield 3 because of it.

Off topic but still kind of on topic, I don't mind having a few kids on my team in such games because while I am distracted by being engaged and having to work so i can have rent and hydro. However most kids pitch a freaking fit if they are not allowed to play their games, and parents these days seem all to ready to bow to the oppressive wills of their god children. So they can be better then me sometimes. I do mute them however because as I stated earlier, kids are annoying, it's not their voice that is annoying, it is that they are annoying. they say annoying things that I really don't care about, and being a polite person I refuse to swear around kids, even over Xbox. I realize that the game swears and other people still swear around them, but I'm not like that.

 

[hutchy27]

Well I'm 15 as well and I hardly ever use my mic on multiplayer game unless someone on my team says "anybody got a mic" or something along those lines then I'll put it on because then we can talk about tactics but apart from that it's when I'm in a party with friend and playing multiplayer or were all on different games and just having a chat.

But I most of all hate it when people have the mics on and all you can hear is a buzzing sound throughout the match.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I knew I didn't like Team Fortress 2 and first person shooters in general.

Kicking someone for having a high pitched or less deep voice than the rest of players?

Don't believe the sheep. TF2 has one of the worst communities I've ever played in. Doesn't stop it from being a good game, but still.

It's funny, I had a team of "squeakers" I hung out with on Halo 3 that I used to troll the living SHIT out of people. Seriously, find some kids online who are damn good at the game (they're not hard to locate) and enjoy the lulz that ensue after you beat 30-year-old alpha (OMG I'M MLG HARDCOAR) douches with a team of kids.

Yes anyone who disagrees with you is a sheep. Ill just ignore that insult right there.

I play on Lob UK 2fort server and everyone on there is REALLY nice to me. Find a server hosted by people who are awesome, stick to it. Outside is hell ill agree, but once you find nice people the game improves tonnes.

The voices hurt my ears and annoy me. Smaller children tend to shreak when they lose and it rips through my heard like a thousand tiny razors. I dont want them to speak. When your voice irks others and sometimes actually hurts their ears i think its politer to stay quiet.

 

[SwiggleDyl]

From my online chat experience the people usually abusing me for whatever (yeh I don't often venture into multiplayer until I have a full team of people I know) are obviously a lot younger than me (I'm only just 20 so I'm not in the older age group or anything), if I find someone who sounds more my age I can usually strike up a conversation, "squeakers" usually pull out words even I don't like saying to strangers... And aim them at me

 

[scrambledeggs]

I knew I didn't like Team Fortress 2 and first person shooters in general.

Kicking someone for having a high pitched or less deep voice than the rest of players?

Just like making black people sit in the back of the bus or keeping droids out of your cantina... people never change.

lol that's the most outlandish, stupid comparison I've ever heard? Comparing the hundreds of years of racial segregation to kicking an annoying teenage boy who talks too much? Do you know any boys betwen 10 and 13? They don't shut up. I still can't believe you said that. Lol.

 

[Lictor Face]

You think squeaking kids are bad? Once i played in a server where someone was streaming PORN through their mics. I practically had to unplug my speakers to play without having odd looks when someone walks past the window.

Back to topic, age does not really matter. If people in a game tell you your voice is annoying or pissing them off, just stop using the mic. You may not believe them, OF COURSE YOU DON'T BELIEVE THEM. It is human nature to not acknowledge your physical flaws.

 

[Daget Sparrow]

For me, it's gotten to the point that I mute almost EVERYBODY and never bother plugging the mic in. Call me a misanthrope, but now I don't bother even giving them a chance to prove to my ears that either team I'm playing with/against won't penetrate my ears with a verbal spear of any age. The few time I don't, they ruin their chance for redemption in the first two seconds with something like (and I quote) "anyone cool online?" in the highest possible pitch achievable.

...maybe that's 'cause I still play Halo: Reach multiplayer. Hmm...

 

[Gali]

I don't care how old other players in my team/match are. What I hate are people who behave like jerks during the game, like insulting others. Sadly, in my experience (WoW and Xbox Live), most of them are younger players. But that doesn't mean I want to kick a player who sounds like 12. As long as he/she acts right, it's ok.

 

[Legendsmith]

If we're talking about TF2, I don't think people aged under 15 should be playing a game that is rated MA15+
It's not meant for that age group. Their parents are not doing their duty if they let their kids play it.