The proud gamer: where is he?
Even though most of the time it is a he, there are some girls too, but the point still stands: the gamer who plays games with pride and honor, where is he?
When playing HoN online in pubgames I mostly use a sub-account, to avoid getting spammed, and also so that people don't know who I am. This gives me the chance to play pubs exactly the way everyone else plays pubs. I become just like one of them.
In these experiences I've seen that every game consists of players of different skill levels. It's something you come to expect when you join a pub, you realize some people are better then you, and some people are worse.
It seems that no matter what though in every game and on every team someone gets labeled the "noob". It doesn't matter if this player is a noob or not, but in a public game it seems like you always need someone to blame.
The easiest targets are the healers. Other common "noobs" are the guy that doesn't buy wards, the solo mid that doesn't gank enough, farmers that don't farm enough, etc. There's always going to be that one noob/feeder.
Besides the noob there's also the fact that every team also has to have that one flamer/whiner. These are the worst kinds of players. When you look at it logically, no matter what you do as a flamer, the player with the least skill isn't going to get better in that one game. He's playing the best that he can, and no amount of flaming is going to get him to change that over one game.
But the flamers insist on doing what they do, and as a result they make the entire team worse. I'm sorry to admit that I've never ever played a game where there has been only good sportsmanship. And the very few games that I did play with zero flaming from either side it's always been either a concede win after 15 minutes, or a near perfect victory.
Still, for me it doesn't really matter. If I have to I can just play scrims and clanwars, or simply logon and play exclusively with friends. But I would like to highlight the simple fact that by allowing this behavior to happen we are working completely against our own interests as gamers.
I want to be a proud gamer. I want to take pride in what I do, and I honestly think you should all feel the same way as well. Just ten years ago gaming was directly associated with people sitting in their parents basements, never letting the sun inside and having no lives outside their computers.
Today, gaming is something completely different. We see even more girls gaming now and Dreamhack is actually a gaming festival instead of a gathering for people who just want to copy warez from each other.
This brings up another important point, that online tournament gaming is still broken. There are still teams showing up 30 minutes late for games, and there are still admins that approve of this happening. There are still people who play in public games that act in ways that could possibly lead to them being beaten to death if it they did it in real life. There are still people who use language that is just downright awful.
Where's the dignity?
Where's the pride?
Where's the joy?
I think we should all consider our own behavior inside the game. Even if you don't truly understand how much damage you could cause through your own actions to people in game, do it for my sake. Do it for gaming's sake. Make being a gamer something to be proud of, not something to be laughed at.
Even though most of the time it is a he, there are some girls too, but the point still stands: the gamer who plays games with pride and honor, where is he?
When playing HoN online in pubgames I mostly use a sub-account, to avoid getting spammed, and also so that people don't know who I am. This gives me the chance to play pubs exactly the way everyone else plays pubs. I become just like one of them.
In these experiences I've seen that every game consists of players of different skill levels. It's something you come to expect when you join a pub, you realize some people are better then you, and some people are worse.
It seems that no matter what though in every game and on every team someone gets labeled the "noob". It doesn't matter if this player is a noob or not, but in a public game it seems like you always need someone to blame.
The easiest targets are the healers. Other common "noobs" are the guy that doesn't buy wards, the solo mid that doesn't gank enough, farmers that don't farm enough, etc. There's always going to be that one noob/feeder.
Besides the noob there's also the fact that every team also has to have that one flamer/whiner. These are the worst kinds of players. When you look at it logically, no matter what you do as a flamer, the player with the least skill isn't going to get better in that one game. He's playing the best that he can, and no amount of flaming is going to get him to change that over one game.
But the flamers insist on doing what they do, and as a result they make the entire team worse. I'm sorry to admit that I've never ever played a game where there has been only good sportsmanship. And the very few games that I did play with zero flaming from either side it's always been either a concede win after 15 minutes, or a near perfect victory.
Still, for me it doesn't really matter. If I have to I can just play scrims and clanwars, or simply logon and play exclusively with friends. But I would like to highlight the simple fact that by allowing this behavior to happen we are working completely against our own interests as gamers.
I want to be a proud gamer. I want to take pride in what I do, and I honestly think you should all feel the same way as well. Just ten years ago gaming was directly associated with people sitting in their parents basements, never letting the sun inside and having no lives outside their computers.
Today, gaming is something completely different. We see even more girls gaming now and Dreamhack is actually a gaming festival instead of a gathering for people who just want to copy warez from each other.
This brings up another important point, that online tournament gaming is still broken. There are still teams showing up 30 minutes late for games, and there are still admins that approve of this happening. There are still people who play in public games that act in ways that could possibly lead to them being beaten to death if it they did it in real life. There are still people who use language that is just downright awful.
Where's the dignity?
Where's the pride?
Where's the joy?
I think we should all consider our own behavior inside the game. Even if you don't truly understand how much damage you could cause through your own actions to people in game, do it for my sake. Do it for gaming's sake. Make being a gamer something to be proud of, not something to be laughed at.
Powerful words from an important figure in the community, words that should be addressed in kind. GosuGamers will continue to bring you more information on this subject as it becomes relevant, but we'd love to hear your comments on PapaDrayich's thoughts in the comments below.
