Editor’s Note: The following is a community post by PSLS member kyuubi_clone, who discusses how online anonymity has ruined multiplayer gaming.
I wanted to talk about what the state of gaming has become. There was once a time when games were playable at home with earlier consoles, and the only way we could play with friends was when they came over to visit or if we went over to visit them. Now, times have changed for the better (mostly). We can play with any and everybody from all over the world with just the click of a button – amazing! But, with all that available at our disposal, somehow, the douchebag/keyboard warrior was born.
This new breed of gamers are killing the fun in games. They constantly look for glitches and cheats on YouTube for their favorite games and then they come online to cheat their way to the top – all while yelling insults and whatever derogatory remarks they can utter through their microphone. Sometimes, they come onto the forums of their favorite games just to troll the community and annoy the gamers that actually came to the forums for help or advice pertaining to the game. Why? Why do they go through all this trouble to be a nuisance? Because they are/can be anonymous. Plain and simple.
Back in the early days of gaming, you had to actually face your opponent, you had to be there side by side competing or cooperating. You had to have some serious balls to insult the random dude playing against or with you. Online gaming is not for the faint-hearted, it is not a safe environment for underage children, not with all the cussing, racism, homophobia, hate etc. People can be very, very mean to you for no reason whatsoever. How times have changed – instead of progressing with technology, it seems we are regressing to a more primitive way of interacting with our fellow man. It has become such an issue that some states are looking into making laws to prevent cyber bullying and trolling, making it an illegal and punishable offense.
Will there ever be a day when we can return to a world where we respect the random gamer? Will we ever have consideration for the gamers that may be disabled or color-blind? Not every gamer may be as good as you, or have lightning-fast reflexes like you do, some may be missing fingers or thumbs, or some may have really terrible internet connections. Nevertheless, we should not berate these gamers for something that may out of their control. Often, I’ve heard gamers insult others over their playstyle or connection, calling them poor, retarded, *insert random nationality here*, etc.
In essence, this new breed of gamer is killing off the offline community. Numerous games and their communities are branded as immature, n00bish and pubescent. The games lose good community members to these tryhard easy-mode gamers. It seems all they like doing is boasting about their stats online to measure their e-peen. Many friends and gamers alike are returning to their single player games because of the frustration that comes with the online fraternity. Ashamed that their family might end up hearing some random tryhard cussing at the top of his voice because he’s having a bad game or afraid that they may be insulted by the random child that’s being babysit by a console. Honestly, gamers really need to practice some online etiquette. It makes for a much more rewarding online experience, it makes it easier to make friends and influence people to be more respectful to others. The human stain on online gaming can be a pleasant one if WE choose for it to be as such, we just have to have consideration for others and their families that might be watching them play or be playing with them. All we have to do is evolve to complement the technology as it advances.
If you enjoyed kyuubi_clone’s post, be sure to vote for it to win the community writer award once all the entrants are published.
