Anti-Aliased: Keep crying, sportsmanship is dead
Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Anti-Aliased
One harsh world PvP battle later, your corpse lies on the ground as your opponent stands triumphant over you. Both of you put up one good battle, as even your opponent is down to barely any hit points -- the kind of battle where a few randomly generated misses turned the tide of the engagement. Yet, what do you get for your efforts against this opponent? Do you get a /salute, or a /kneel? Maybe even the honor of a /bow? No, of course not, you get the /spit and an orcish teabag in your face just so the 12-year-old on the other side of the keyboard can get his daily jollies.
Of course, that's not counting the 7 more times he's going to camp your corpse just so you can't progress for the next 3 hours. And it's also not counting the ninja looters, the belligerent kids in battlegrounds who take orders from no one, and the lying little brats who spew language fit for a factory worker but cry to their parents the second you try to enforce some authority.
We have many ways of quantifying these behaviors; things like "If you can't stand PvP then go to a carebear (normal) server," "If you don't like it being done to you then do it to someone else," or "Get better gear, n00b." We all know what's going on here, and it's none of the above. Let's just say it aloud and come clean about it: Sportsmanship is dead, and it's been dead for a long time.
Of course, that's not counting the 7 more times he's going to camp your corpse just so you can't progress for the next 3 hours. And it's also not counting the ninja looters, the belligerent kids in battlegrounds who take orders from no one, and the lying little brats who spew language fit for a factory worker but cry to their parents the second you try to enforce some authority.
We have many ways of quantifying these behaviors; things like "If you can't stand PvP then go to a carebear (normal) server," "If you don't like it being done to you then do it to someone else," or "Get better gear, n00b." We all know what's going on here, and it's none of the above. Let's just say it aloud and come clean about it: Sportsmanship is dead, and it's been dead for a long time.
So where did it go and how did it get there? To be honest, I'm not exactly sure myself. Maybe the whole concept of sportsmanship was just something that was instilled into me when I grew up or maybe it was something I learned from all of those Mighty Ducks movies. In either case the basic goal remained the same: Have fun whether you win or lose. The important part was that you were playing, you were trying to enjoy yourself and you'd still learn something even in defeat.
But when it comes to MMORPGs, and other places on the internet, the concept of shaking your opponent's hand and saying those all-important words, "good game", has died. According to those in the hardcore and younger generations, a game's not worth playing if you can't be the best. It doesn't matter how many people you have to step on, kick over, or kill to make your way to the top. All you need to do is get there and stay there. Quite Machiavellian, no?
Sympathy is a sign of weakness, intelligence is seen as lack of brute strength, and offering your hand to help your opponent up deserves a loogie from the back of your mouth. It doesn't sound very welcoming when it's said out loud, but it is, without a doubt, the current way of gameplay in a competitive setting.
Part of this may certainly be due to the anonymity of the internet coupled with the ability to get away with these types of things, but that very same explanation seems like a giant cop-out. We're basically saying to ourselves that all of this is completely acceptable on the internet. In other words, we're not to be held liable for our own actions, like we can't take responsibility for what we do in our virtual worlds.
Now, I have no doubts that many of you are, at this point, wondering why I'm tackling a topic such as this. Surely one person's article isn't going to change the world and make all of the idiots on the internet start behaving as respectable human beings. Rather, I'd like you, the reader, to look at this subject from a very different angle - what are we teaching others with this type of behavior and can this type of behavior spill over into the real world?
The short answer is yes, this behavior can and does have an impact in our daily lives. Parents and many other activist groups complain and cry about how much the physical game content may be setting a bad example for our children who play these games. But, truly, the game content isn't what is teaching our children arrogance and a lack of ethics -- it's us.
When we start trends in our games, like unsportsmanlike conduct, those behaviors are followed up by anyone who views them, child or no. While we may understand that that type of conduct is "acceptable" in the game world and not so cool in the real world, kids don't have such a firm stance. It's already easily appearing in schools and other institutions across the country - discipline problems are on the rise. Of course MMORPGs are not, let me stress that again, not the main cause of this. The sharing of culture and ideas through avenues such as MMORPGs and the internet does, however, affect things like this. Ever consider that the kids of today know a lot more than we did at the same age? We can thank the internet and its lightning fast communication and sharing of information for that one. Connectivity has many positives, but it also has many negatives.
Philosophically, humanity enjoys seeing negative things more than positive things. Turn on the news and what do you see? Accidents, murder, death, betrayal, scandal... It goes back to the psychological aspect of comparison levels, or CLs. When our level of happiness, or our comparison level, is compared to someone who has a lower level than us, we become more secure with what we have. Seeing those negative events bolsters the, "My life isn't so bad, look at that person" line of thinking.
What we should do with things like our beloved MMOs, though, is push the positives more. Push the success, push the social connectivity, and push the power that people have in interconnected groups.
This type of thinking can go beyond our children and beyond those who are impressionable; it can go straight to the community of the server or of the game in it's entirety. Back when I played Final Fantasy XI, I was pretty young and still pretty new to the genre as a whole. The North American camp of players was finally getting their hands on the first online Final Fantasy game, and were treating it pretty much like EverQuest. Shouts were going up for parties, random chatter was spewing from every player you passed, and things were pretty chaotic.
Then the Japanese stepped up, and those who spoke English began teaching the other players how things ran in their game. Some might have found it restrictive, others may have found it invasive, but their ways slowly permeated the community. Ninja invites, the current bane of City of Heroes, was uncalled for in Final Fantasy and quickly extinguished. The proper ways to pull and kite monsters, as well as zone them, was taught to the NA players by the Japanese. In turn for embracing their ways of doing things, they helped us with quests, leveling, and where to go to get things done.
Things had gone from crazy amounts of chaos to a great and workable amount of order, just because the Japanese passed on what they knew. A culture was quickly established and Final Fantasy XI began to play in a very, very unique way. Players were, for the most part, courteous and respectful thanks to this intervention, because everyone knew if you didn't do it, you weren't going to be welcomed.
So, it wasn't just the young players like myself who learned something from that game, it was an entire culture of people who had already played MMOs. But instead of acting in an arrogant manner, they learned the finer points of sportsmanship and ethics so they could play the game with everyone else. I, for one, learned how to respectfully ask for a party, how to tactically combine my main job and sub-job to get the maximum benefit for my character, and how to work with others in groups effectively and assess situations. A game helped me be polite, respectful, and strategic -- qualities that easily can carry into my real world life.
So the next time you pwn that Alliance character, or the next time you blow up that ship in EVE or the next time you cut off the head of your enemy in Age of Conan, remember there's another player behind that keyboard. Respectfulness is like a smile, highly contagious.
Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who will salute you in defeat. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane roommates. If you want to message him, you can do so in Second Life (SL: Seraphina Reymont), or send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-29-2008 @ 5:09PM
Kyoji said...
The reason for this behavior is mainly because of a games popularity. I've played quite a few MMO's, from Guild Wars, Warcraft, and on to Lord of The Rings and Phantasy Star Universe, to name a few. GW, LoTRO and PSU have, by far, much more solid and helpful communities than WoW does, and I believe that this is mainly to do with the fact that those games have a much, much smaller community than WoW. The more a game permeates the general public the more immature players its going to get, I'm afraid thats just how it is.
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6-29-2008 @ 5:53PM
Bigfoot said...
Agreed. If anyone plays on XBL, you'll understand this from the behavior of people on games like Halo 3 or CoD4.
I used to play DAoC a lot, and the community was small but it was a great community. Sure, there were griefers from time to time, but it's nothing compared to what you'll see on WoW. I'm not saying every player on WoW is like this, it's just since there are so many players that it's just much more common.
7-02-2008 @ 12:53AM
Colin Brennan said...
Great point here. Very true.
6-29-2008 @ 5:14PM
Alarie said...
It's very dead. When you can hide behind a computer in complete anonimity it's open season to everyone including the asshats.
My last PVP experience that I did on a regular basis was back in DAOC days when it was riding high. I never remember getting the grief I did when I tried AoC pvp just for kicks.
I remember getting /bows a lot when I died in DAOC and the person or group would move on.
My opinion if you need/like to grief in game then you got real life issues that need to be addressed. Which you are probably an ahole in real life.
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6-29-2008 @ 7:26PM
possum said...
"The reason for this behavior is the games popularity" what frakking hole did you crawl out of?
the reason for that behavior is one thing, lack of parental control and punishment. The child that fears consequence will behave, the child that knows the difference between right and wrong....will behave, the child, and saying child for the third time because most folks in wow are children, that understands the concept of live and let live will behave.
Those little freaks need their asses beat down because they are protected by an ate the hell up eula or that monitor sitting in front of them and feel no fear, nor any consequence, sad the parents of those little ingrates need their asses beat to for letting their children evolve into what alot of folks see in mmo's today. and yes peers and environment have a small part, but parents are the key to making non animalistic kids, these kids are what grow up into..............other things.
but fear not, at many large lan events i have watched foul mouthed smartasses get both their comps and their asses handed to them, sadly the person doing the correcting is also tossed but, meh.
one of my big wishes is that in every online game the persons full address and phone number is given, i doubt mouths or actions would be as asshat as alot are today. and before they come, screw any lawyer remarks or comments.
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6-29-2008 @ 8:43PM
Kyoji said...
What hole have you just crawled out from?
We can sit and talk all day about what -should- be done about so and so group of people, and how they are all 12 year olds with no parental guidance, etc. Thing is, its not going to change the fact that there are a LOT of people out there that grief in one form or another, and there always WILL be.
I'll provide an example: Lets say we have a tub filled with red and blue marbles. For every 10 marbles there is one red one. If I take a handfull of marbles from the tub, I'm going to have a lot more blue marbles than red. The same applies to online games-the smaller the sample of the population the game draws from, the less the "red marbles" have an effect on your population. The more a game draws in, the more profound the effect of the griefers, since there are more of them.
Thing is, griefers will never go away. Sure, game designers can take some steps to make griefing less rewarding, but anywhere there exists open PvP, there will be griefing.
6-30-2008 @ 12:57PM
Rational said...
I would tend to believe that bad sportsmanship is mostly an artifact of having many very young players in the game, the 9-16 crowd. Basically what we're talking about here is immature behavior, so actual immature players would tend to exhibit it most frequently.
Of course, some people never grow up, so you'll always have the possibility of bad behavior from any age player. But if anyone remembers elementary school, they know that the worst behavior comes from children.
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7-01-2008 @ 4:43PM
Brandon said...
Mr Brennan you nailed it right on the head. I think this lack of respect for any player is a trend that i don't see going anywhere anytime soon unfortunatly.
I remember playing XBL on my old system and just the language that little kids use these days really shocked me. This is all language that they love to say in chat so they can seem like a tough guy but if confronted in real life they would never say those things. That is what stopped me from playing XBL at all, there are very few players that will just play a game for the sheer enjoyment of playing with others.
Besides just getting old and redundant, the behavior of players on world of warcraft contributed to me not renewing my subscription. It's unfortunate when a great online game comes out but you don't have any interest of playing it when you can safely assume you will not be welcomed once you log on.
I agree with the posts here that the main issue lies with younger players, who think it might be "cool" to use language that they hear on TV, or in Music, they would like to sound tougher than they really are; my girlfriend's brother is one of those kids, he thinks it's funny to get on people's nerves in game. However he would never do that to me because he knows I don't stand for disrespect, these kids feel though they can hide behind the internet and their idle threats and disrespect won't go any further than the game.
I'm sure I’m not the only tech in here, how about tracking IPs and making some trips = ) LOL j/k...maybe
Seriously though, it's always just a game. Kindness goes along way, it doesn't matter if the person is around the world and you will never see or talk to them again. You wouldn't want anyone to disrespect you or call you and name; therefore the same discretion should go when interacting with others, in game or in real life.
great article
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7-01-2008 @ 6:19PM
raven said...
I have to disagree with the consensus about young players. For the most part, young players will learn and reflect what they see in the gaming world. It's a cop-out to blame the "kids", and (as a 32 year old father) I see it as basically another form of the "not my problem" excuse.
While you get the occasional bad apples, most kids I've seen on game are just exploring or enjoying the game. While they can make mistakes, commit social faux pas, or be ignorant of the basic rules of grammar, they are usually quick to behave once an authority figure gives them a proper and firm scolding. In contrast, some of the most vulgar, unrepentant, and mean-spirited players I've seen are in their 20's, 30's, or even 40's, that for whatever reason make the game world their personal punching bag. Perhaps whatever inadequacies they suffer in their real life forces them to invest that much more in the virtual life, but I've seen example of griefing, harassment, collusion, cheating, gold-buying, and flat-out raging (google for "ventrilo harassment" or "onyxia wipe") from adults who should know better.
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7-01-2008 @ 6:26PM
Colin Brennan said...
"But, truly, the game content isn't what is teaching our children arrogance and a lack of ethics -- it's us." - from the article above.
As you can see, I've very much agreed with you. :)
7-02-2008 @ 12:53AM
zupa said...
All hope is not lost!
I, for one, am the kind of player who will salate you after a good fight. I might even sheep you back to full health and be on my way.
btw, if this ever happens, a mage beats you in a fight, but rather than deliver the killing blow he turns you into a sheep... HE DID THIS ON PURPOSE. Don't attack him again, he will probably just kill you next time. Srsly ppl think I mistakenly gave them a free heal and this is their chance to win the fight... >.<
My attitude has a lot to do with a memorable fight I had with a druid in the wilds of EPL. We were both level 60, and merely crossed paths. The druid was fighting a mob, so I let him finish, heal up, (while standing next to him) and then we fought it out.
It was one of those epic fights where you use every single cooldown, all your mana, and all your health. As I went OOM, one more fireball would have killed him, but no mana, no fireball, and druid heals himself back to full.
I accept defeat, bow and kneel, ready to be executed.
The druid sits down next to me for a snack. I join him, we both med up to full, /wave and go our separate ways.
So now I always look for that kind of honorable fight, and that kind of opponent, and I try to act that way myself.
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7-02-2008 @ 12:53AM
Colin Brennan said...
Hooray for you, sir. Hooray for you.
7-07-2008 @ 1:11AM
kunitx said...
Ok.... First off these are just games. There is no problem with a person camping your ass all day. Its part of PVP and pvp plays a big role in games like wow. I mean horde vs alliance right. If your horde and you see an alliance your not going to wave to him and say hi, you can if you want but he might not feel the same about you. He is a enemy and so you kill him and this is where its just a game part comes in. No one is really getting hurt or any type of harm is coming to them so hey I'm going to kill you all day if I want and I dont know about you guys but it's funny camping players and I think its funny when someone is camping me but it can get old after a little while but like I said at the end of the day its just a game no one is getting harmed from it. Now ninja'in items and foul language is a different story I dont agree with it.
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7-10-2008 @ 12:19AM
ImbriD said...
Part of the problem is the games themselves. Over the years, MMOs have gotten "dumbed down". This is going to attract a lower caliber of players. I've been playing RPGs since the Apple II (I still have Ultima I) and MMOs since the BBS days and games have consistently required less and less brain power as the years go on. As brain power diminishes so does the respect and decency level of the person. Just look at people on Jerry Springer. Lets look EQ, WoW and AoC as examples. EQ is a game that makes one think. It requires strategy, planning and learning. It's true there are goofballs and grief players in EQ, but no where near WoW and AoC. WoW has nice cartoony graphics and you are taken by the hand and lead everywhere. No thought and no challenge. This brings a lower caliber of player. AoC requires as little thought as WoW but adds blood and scantily dressed women. Tell me you can't see Beavis and Butthead saying "Hehe...that chick has big hooters". People actually had an issue with a breast size bug! Where is the maturity level there? It's a game, not porn. With each game the quality of players has gone down. Almost every EQ player has fond memories of fun with friends as their major memories. For some people, these friendships have lasted since 1999. WoW has some similar social success, but is known for kiddies and grief players. There have been many threads and blogs about such things. As for AoC, I have not met a single person I wanted to group with, let alone be friends with and I have heard the same from many people on many boards. I know there are exceptions in each game, but there is a definite link between intelligence needed and quality of players.
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