Multiplayer Madness and Why Things Need to Change

Multiplayer Madness

So in the beginning of online gaming, there was few big players in the game scene who were as impactful as Microsoft with Xbox Live. This new system and platform opened a new kind of gaming. A way for people to get along gaming without wires and distance holding them from getting together on the couch. You could form chat parties with friends and communicate and work together to defeat a common enemy. The future was looking awesome, and for most of us, we were beyond impressed at the concepts of gaming online. That was 10 years ago.

Now we have gamers who sit and hide in shooters “camping” while waiting for their next meal to walk into their space so they can ambush said unsuspecting gamer. Or you have that guy who uses lag switching to get the drop on people. There are modder’s and cheaters around every corner, and every game. Eventually the “tricks” go live on YouTube and the rest of the world wants to use said trick or glitch to gain an upper hand in their games. They want to be the best they can be. The best of their peers, then better than the world. And once we had the chance to gauge those stats in every game with online features, we have created an over-attached form of competition that is reliant on being dishonest, unfair, and just plain rude.

Thing is, some gamers have formed groups to combat this issue, so likeminded gamers can play together. The “lone wolves” of the scene are basically either super-competitive and want nothing more than to be a rockstar. On the other side these people often come off as trolls because they act it out with every kill, or successful maneuver. While many of us used our forum groups, or “Clans” as they became known as, to play our games; others were doing what they could do to disrupt this for themselves. So in the end we have a rat’s nest of mixed types of players in the scene. And Microsoft even tried with the Xbox 360 to utilize Gamer Zones to organize gamer types. Developers have done what they can to curb cheaters, and another amazing fad of rage-quitting gamers.

Rage-Quitters are ridiculous idiots who quit a game because they are losing and don’t want to finish the matches. We are all guilty of it from time to time, others WAAAY more than some. My biggest problem with these kind of gamers is that most often than not it is inconvenient, or even retaliated against in other ways. I once saw a story involving a kid who called in a threat to someone’s house by hacking his IP and tracing the address. If we have kids out there with this kind of problem, it’s time for therapy. Video games aren’t life, they are meant for entertainment. Life should be taken seriously, not what level you’re on. And I say that as a gamer who has logged more than half of his life, maybe more into console generation after generation.

So just like when people want others to become better people for today’s world, I ask people to become better gamers. Forget the competition unless your competing, the leaderboards are not competition, they are statistics. If you play to win, stick to ranked matches. If your there to have fun, casual modes like “Player Matches” are for you. Don’t cross the line. Bring your headset, check your attitude, and be ready to game. It is all about the conversation, and the community. Without online gaming, the immersive communities would have never grown. So please, if you read this, understand I am not intending to attack anyone (except the dicks), and my message is to remind people the games are nothing with the people who play them. Would you walk in the street cussing out random people because they got in your way? Why do it in a game?