Because of boorish players I've encountered, I nearly quit TF2 after my first game 3 years ago. I was completely new, trying to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the nine classes, when some guy inexplicably began mocking my username for no reason other than my apparent noobishness. Within seconds, the entire server began following the leader, soon moving on to a barrage of denigrating comments about race (even though I'm primarily white), gender (even though I'm a guy) and sexuality (even though I'm straight). Of course, I didn't bother trying to correct them, incorrectly assuming that they'd go back to the game and forget I was even there. Unfortunately, they didn't, and one comment I still recall years later drove me off of the server and away from Team Fortress 2 for months.
It was as follows: "Why the fuck are you here, you gay-ass noob? Are your parents too fucked up to deal with you? I hope they beat your faggot ass every fucking night. Just go kill yourself so they don't have to deal with you anymore."
Maybe it was the utterly hateful way he said it to me, who he doesn't even know, maybe it was the fact I was new to the game, but this was the only time where a douche on the internet actually drove me away from a game. So guys, I implore you: If you rage at your server or act like an ass to others for any reason, STOP. It may be a release to you, but think about the other guy. If he's playing a game you enjoy, maybe he likes it too. Maybe it's his first time playing. Maybe your xeno/homo/theophobic attitude is going to drive him away from the game, maybe for life, and the what are you? Victorious? Successful? No. You're an asshole whose tactic for getting an edge has fractured your community as a whole. So next time you see a noob struggling to get a hold on a game, don't mock him, give him pointers. If that's too hard, then stop talking and play the game.
This is a simple problem to fix in TF2. Find a regular community, typically with no greater than 24-men on a server, with a culture that you like.
(32-man servers, particularly with insta-respawn, are idiosyncratic indicators in TF2 that your community standards are pretty low, as the game is not designed around those assumptions. Besides, you'll find that your successes are better rewarded when you're forcing respawn timers on the enemy team and dictating the pace of the game. If your mistakes go unpunished, then then they will go uncorrected.)
This is far more difficult to do in MOBA's, because MOBA's generally require a lot more commitment to play.
There isn't a jump-in-jump-out server and it's easier to lose your temper when literally one guy can ruin your half-hour time commitment.
The only thing worse than a bad loser is a bad winner. Trash talkers are automatically in a lower class of player than the true elites. It's the difference between, "They are good." and "They are good, but such jerks."
Skill speaks for itself.
This is a laudable, but idealistic expectation.
Idra definitely was one of those guys in the professional SC2 scene, and he's since been let go from his team because of his inflammatory BM ways.
There are good LoL players with egos. It just doesn't always come out because individuals in a five-man team aren't necessarily going to get face time.
There are people who need to play up and assert their dominance on a ladder to compensate for their weaknesses and inability to introspect. Then there are people who are pretty good at finding their weaknesses and have plenty of ability to introspect who are better at the game than you and are still jerks; because after all, they measurably are better than you.
In the case of Idra, it's not necessarily that he's ab egotistical ass, so much as he is an impulsive ball of temper.
(Talking maily about LOL) The thing that gets under my skin the most is when I knew I could have done better, when I get someone killed or missed my skill shot.
kevin garnet is an asshole; this has been well documented over the course of his career, especially after he got out of minnesota
ali called basically frazier an uncle tom (among other things) in the service of promoting their fights, and frazier never forgave him
mike tyson was/is, frankly, a crazy person who was a great boxer
perhaps we are willing to say we tolerate these things when we're talking about the best in the world in their respective competitive areas; like hey you know what, this guy might be an asshole but he's really good at basketball/boxing/LoL so I guess we'll put up with him. But we should certainly not be willing to tolerate it in your run of the mill gaming situation where everybody's an amateur/hobbyist and the need to belittle opponents is less a mark of competitive fire than the mark of low self-esteem and lower intellect.
and besides, lots of athletes have managed to be among the best ever without being total assholes, and lots are even really nice people, so I'm not sure why "but they're really good" should even enter into the conversation
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I don't agree with the portion regarding trash talk, not as a whole. While on a certain level, yes some people do so to gain an advantage over the opponent and it can put people off to have trash talk leveled at them, I think it's the anonymous nature of most games that exacerbates the level of offense that people take from it, because it's often easy to go too far when you don't have to face the person you're talking to. And that's really it, people taking a natural extension of the game, the personal aspect, and going beyond the normally acceptable levels with it.
I'll be the first to confess, I trash talk. But I don't do it to bring the other person down, or to gain an advantage over them. I do it because I think it breeds a healthy competitive air to the game, makes it more personal. It's no longer 'I want to get X amount of kills', it becomes 'I want to play a really great game and show that guy he's wrong'. I trash talk because I respect the people I play against and I want to bring out the best in them, so there's no question of who's better where the game is concerned afterward.
The respect factor is the difference, and I feel as though a couple of lines condoning the practice as a whole doesn't really explain the real problem, which is the malicious intent behind it.
One thing I want to point out regarding team-games and what happens when a team fails. I willingly admit when I bring my team down, but one thing I see happen REPEATEDLY is: TEAMMATES NEED TO COMMUNICATE. on Team Fortress 2, tell your teammates when a certain class is needed, ASK WHO'S GOOD AT PLAYING THAT CLASS. If you're good at playing that class but no one else is? Don't say "not my problem". Instead say, "That's my specialty!" and JUMP IN THERE. I've seen this sort of communication breakdown doom teams consisting ENTIRELY of TF2 aces get curbstomped thanks to this problem, and it's one of the EASIEST to fix. Just TALK to each other! Whether you do so via text or voice, the solution is two words long: SPEAK UP! I know that's not strictly what this episode was about, but it IS a RELATED problem.
In a deck with about 70 cards and about 40% lands, I once went 17 consecutive turns spanning 2 games of MtG without drawing a single one of those lands. Sometimes, mana screw really is at fault.
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This is a simple problem to fix in TF2. Find a regular community, typically with no greater than 24-men on a server, with a culture that you like.
(32-man servers, particularly with insta-respawn, are idiosyncratic indicators in TF2 that your community standards are pretty low, as the game is not designed around those assumptions. Besides, you'll find that your successes are better rewarded when you're forcing respawn timers on the enemy team and dictating the pace of the game. If your mistakes go unpunished, then then they will go uncorrected.)
This is far more difficult to do in MOBA's, because MOBA's generally require a lot more commitment to play.
There isn't a jump-in-jump-out server and it's easier to lose your temper when literally one guy can ruin your half-hour time commitment.
This is a laudable, but idealistic expectation.
Idra definitely was one of those guys in the professional SC2 scene, and he's since been let go from his team because of his inflammatory BM ways.
There are good LoL players with egos. It just doesn't always come out because individuals in a five-man team aren't necessarily going to get face time.
There are people who need to play up and assert their dominance on a ladder to compensate for their weaknesses and inability to introspect. Then there are people who are pretty good at finding their weaknesses and have plenty of ability to introspect who are better at the game than you and are still jerks; because after all, they measurably are better than you.
In the case of Idra, it's not necessarily that he's ab egotistical ass, so much as he is an impulsive ball of temper.
ali called basically frazier an uncle tom (among other things) in the service of promoting their fights, and frazier never forgave him
mike tyson was/is, frankly, a crazy person who was a great boxer
perhaps we are willing to say we tolerate these things when we're talking about the best in the world in their respective competitive areas; like hey you know what, this guy might be an asshole but he's really good at basketball/boxing/LoL so I guess we'll put up with him. But we should certainly not be willing to tolerate it in your run of the mill gaming situation where everybody's an amateur/hobbyist and the need to belittle opponents is less a mark of competitive fire than the mark of low self-esteem and lower intellect.
and besides, lots of athletes have managed to be among the best ever without being total assholes, and lots are even really nice people, so I'm not sure why "but they're really good" should even enter into the conversation
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I'll be the first to confess, I trash talk. But I don't do it to bring the other person down, or to gain an advantage over them. I do it because I think it breeds a healthy competitive air to the game, makes it more personal. It's no longer 'I want to get X amount of kills', it becomes 'I want to play a really great game and show that guy he's wrong'. I trash talk because I respect the people I play against and I want to bring out the best in them, so there's no question of who's better where the game is concerned afterward.
The respect factor is the difference, and I feel as though a couple of lines condoning the practice as a whole doesn't really explain the real problem, which is the malicious intent behind it.