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Life with the Internet :-) or :-( !
Over the last 6 years Internet use has grown at an astounding rate, for many of us the advent of Windows 95 or 98 gave us our first look of an alien online world. My first online experience was actually with Windows NT at Swansea University, sure it was slow (still is!) but email is what really made a difference to me, particularly as many of my mates were studying far away from the sunny w****s of Swansea Bay (Were the sewage meets the sand!).
The early years were exciting with the browser wars between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer a particular highlight, things however have now moved on. Within the last two years the cost of getting online has decreased to a point where even I can afford to surf the night away.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Many of my social hours are now spent in front of a monitor, typing away. It doesn’t stop me going out, but it takes up a fair amount of my time, and if your reading this its taken up a fair amount of your time. Has it now become socially acceptable to spend hours on your PC? Is the Internet more fun than the drudgery of reality, or has the Internet become so commercialised in recent years that its no longer worth surfing? Have your say here, on anything related to the internet be it online gaming or internet chat rooms saying whether you think its for the better, or for the worst…
Over the last 6 years Internet use has grown at an astounding rate, for many of us the advent of Windows 95 or 98 gave us our first look of an alien online world. My first online experience was actually with Windows NT at Swansea University, sure it was slow (still is!) but email is what really made a difference to me, particularly as many of my mates were studying far away from the sunny w****s of Swansea Bay (Were the sewage meets the sand!).
The early years were exciting with the browser wars between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer a particular highlight, things however have now moved on. Within the last two years the cost of getting online has decreased to a point where even I can afford to surf the night away.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Many of my social hours are now spent in front of a monitor, typing away. It doesn’t stop me going out, but it takes up a fair amount of my time, and if your reading this its taken up a fair amount of your time. Has it now become socially acceptable to spend hours on your PC? Is the Internet more fun than the drudgery of reality, or has the Internet become so commercialised in recent years that its no longer worth surfing? Have your say here, on anything related to the internet be it online gaming or internet chat rooms saying whether you think its for the better, or for the worst…
Simple answer : :-)
I love it :-D
I love it :-D
Goatboys and Wookies experiences online seem to highlight the problems of online gaming where experienced players beat the newcommers to a pulp as soon as they come online. Im not sure how this can be solved, but hopefully when online games become more mainstream (i.e. when the price of broadband goes down!) there will be more newbie online gamers which should make the whole online gaming experience less intimadating.
As a man with a gun has said the internet has at least given us email, which has helped many of us keep in touch with good friends who live far away. As for myself, I found ICQ annoying due to the amount of unwanted adverts, however the ability to share files directly with friends who are online is deinately the way forward. However until the advent of widespread broadband use this feature will be limited due to the slow file transfer rates.
The internet is now deinately a big part of our lives, however like Wookie, I'd rather get some beers in, invite a few mates around and play a multiplayer game such as Perfect Dark or Point Blank.
As a man with a gun has said the internet has at least given us email, which has helped many of us keep in touch with good friends who live far away. As for myself, I found ICQ annoying due to the amount of unwanted adverts, however the ability to share files directly with friends who are online is deinately the way forward. However until the advent of widespread broadband use this feature will be limited due to the slow file transfer rates.
The internet is now deinately a big part of our lives, however like Wookie, I'd rather get some beers in, invite a few mates around and play a multiplayer game such as Perfect Dark or Point Blank.
i think that the internet has improved my life. i can send my friends a message that i know will get to them without the risk of it being half forgotten by who ever answers the fone thanks to email, talk to everyone i know at once without having to spend weeks arranging a meeting thanks to icq, talk to people from all over the world without having to spend thousands travelling thanks to irc and enjoy myself doing all of it. when im bored i can just boot up my pc and play games i've never heard of before, talk to people i've never met before and find out things i've never known before. to me this kind of freedom seems like heaven.
there are some problems though. most of the time it seems dreadfully slow, and as more and more people gain access to the net then an ever growing number behave immaturely, with script kiddies and crackers doing their best to ruin the internet for others. this is also rife in online gaming, which i play a lot of. cheaters and lamers seem to have taken over many servers, using aimbots and insults to make themselves feel superior at the cost of everyone elses enjoyment. i dont think that we will all be able to enjoy the internet properly until broadband access is common, and security is increased at every level, as the internet was originally used only by academic types and big universities that could trust one another, it is now competely unprepared for every 12 year old kid that can read a file on hex editing. i dont think that there is a solution for the lamers of the internet (a lamer, if you dont know, is someone that uses lame tactics like camping and spamming other players with insults constantly)
either way, playing 2v2 on red alert 2, getting nearly killed by a surprise attack at the start and having to evacuate the remains of your army into the middle of your allies base to rebuild as one super base is an unbelievably exciting, though stressful experience.
there are some problems though. most of the time it seems dreadfully slow, and as more and more people gain access to the net then an ever growing number behave immaturely, with script kiddies and crackers doing their best to ruin the internet for others. this is also rife in online gaming, which i play a lot of. cheaters and lamers seem to have taken over many servers, using aimbots and insults to make themselves feel superior at the cost of everyone elses enjoyment. i dont think that we will all be able to enjoy the internet properly until broadband access is common, and security is increased at every level, as the internet was originally used only by academic types and big universities that could trust one another, it is now competely unprepared for every 12 year old kid that can read a file on hex editing. i dont think that there is a solution for the lamers of the internet (a lamer, if you dont know, is someone that uses lame tactics like camping and spamming other players with insults constantly)
either way, playing 2v2 on red alert 2, getting nearly killed by a surprise attack at the start and having to evacuate the remains of your army into the middle of your allies base to rebuild as one super base is an unbelievably exciting, though stressful experience.
Online gaming is fantastic fun.
Sometimes.
I'm not a hardcore player, so chances are you'll stumble into a game that contains expert players and die lots.
Unreal Tourny, doesnt matter, you respawn and off you go again.
Counterstrike however, can get frustrating with only one life per round.
You die? Tough, wait it out for the next round (3-4 mins away).
Fun if you get players of your own ability, horrible if you get into a game with top players.
Sometimes.
I'm not a hardcore player, so chances are you'll stumble into a game that contains expert players and die lots.
Unreal Tourny, doesnt matter, you respawn and off you go again.
Counterstrike however, can get frustrating with only one life per round.
You die? Tough, wait it out for the next round (3-4 mins away).
Fun if you get players of your own ability, horrible if you get into a game with top players.
New Jimmy wrote:
> Does anyone here play online games much, I dont,
> however your input on that area and how its affected you would be
> appreciated :-)
I have only ever 'seriously' played online once, and that was against a friend - I think it was X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter.
The other few times I've tried I was (rather rudely I thought) booted for 'not being good enough'.
Many of the online people, in my experience, have little or no patience for people new to online games, who may not be upto their 'acceptable' standard. And you can't seriously improve without playing against 'the best'. So I rarely bother.
To be honest, online gaming never did hold much interest for me, but I gave it a try... and the attitiudes I've encountered when I have tried it haven't served to change my opinion!
I am looking forward to getting my PS2 online, but - strange as it may seem - not for gaming purposes. I'd rather get some beers in, have a few mates round and play something multiplayer on a console.
> Does anyone here play online games much, I dont,
> however your input on that area and how its affected you would be
> appreciated :-)
I have only ever 'seriously' played online once, and that was against a friend - I think it was X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter.
The other few times I've tried I was (rather rudely I thought) booted for 'not being good enough'.
Many of the online people, in my experience, have little or no patience for people new to online games, who may not be upto their 'acceptable' standard. And you can't seriously improve without playing against 'the best'. So I rarely bother.
To be honest, online gaming never did hold much interest for me, but I gave it a try... and the attitiudes I've encountered when I have tried it haven't served to change my opinion!
I am looking forward to getting my PS2 online, but - strange as it may seem - not for gaming purposes. I'd rather get some beers in, have a few mates round and play something multiplayer on a console.
The internet definately has its plus points, it allows you to email scanned photos to friends (All of them at once) for example. However at the same time the Carbon Copying (CC) of emails can make them impersonal which can be bad.
As for the social side of things, I probably watch TV less so my social life hasnt been effected much.
Does anyone here play online games much, I dont, however your input on that area and how its affected you would be appreciated :-)
As for the social side of things, I probably watch TV less so my social life hasnt been effected much.
Does anyone here play online games much, I dont, however your input on that area and how its affected you would be appreciated :-)
Life with the Internet :-) or :-( !
Over the last 6 years Internet use has grown at an astounding rate, for many of us the advent of Windows 95 or 98 gave us our first look of an alien online world. My first online experience was actually with Windows NT at Swansea University, sure it was slow (still is!) but email is what really made a difference to me, particularly as many of my mates were studying far away from the sunny w****s of Swansea Bay (Were the sewage meets the sand!).
The early years were exciting with the browser wars between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer a particular highlight, things however have now moved on. Within the last two years the cost of getting online has decreased to a point where even I can afford to surf the night away.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Many of my social hours are now spent in front of a monitor, typing away. It doesn’t stop me going out, but it takes up a fair amount of my time, and if your reading this its taken up a fair amount of your time. Has it now become socially acceptable to spend hours on your PC? Is the Internet more fun than the drudgery of reality, or has the Internet become so commercialised in recent years that its no longer worth surfing? Have your say here, on anything related to the internet be it online gaming or internet chat rooms saying whether you think its for the better, or for the worst…
Over the last 6 years Internet use has grown at an astounding rate, for many of us the advent of Windows 95 or 98 gave us our first look of an alien online world. My first online experience was actually with Windows NT at Swansea University, sure it was slow (still is!) but email is what really made a difference to me, particularly as many of my mates were studying far away from the sunny w****s of Swansea Bay (Were the sewage meets the sand!).
The early years were exciting with the browser wars between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer a particular highlight, things however have now moved on. Within the last two years the cost of getting online has decreased to a point where even I can afford to surf the night away.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Many of my social hours are now spent in front of a monitor, typing away. It doesn’t stop me going out, but it takes up a fair amount of my time, and if your reading this its taken up a fair amount of your time. Has it now become socially acceptable to spend hours on your PC? Is the Internet more fun than the drudgery of reality, or has the Internet become so commercialised in recent years that its no longer worth surfing? Have your say here, on anything related to the internet be it online gaming or internet chat rooms saying whether you think its for the better, or for the worst…