Viewing Thread:
"Seriously, this is serious."

It has come to my attention that some gamers on Xbox Live dedicate their life and souls to their videogames, taking them incredibly seriously and not allowing one spot of fun to interfere with their strict competitions with strangers. I think these people should be really concerned about their wellbeing, after all, it’s only a game!

These gamers are sad cases. They can be PC gamers who spend most of their time using ‘mods’ to create levels based on other games, or those who tweak their games ever so slightly to make it more hardcore. Some get so obsessed that they start their own forums specifically about these games and start ‘pwning’ people when they can’t play as well.

Then there are those who worry too much about their scores. Sure, Xbox Live and the various other online services allow you to compete in games. But what’s the point in being the best at a game? After all, it just means you’ve got a high score on a database until it either gets deleted or someone beats it. Scoring well on games can be a fun process, but getting self obsessed and dedicating yourself to beat scores, build up a rank or beat your own time by a nano-second is quite ridiculous. You’re only doing it to benefit yourself and it is quite possible that no one else really cares. Wow! So you got so many points, medal?

You could argue that it gives a person something to aim for, a goal. But there’s a difference between trying hard and cry-baby obsession. For example, the person who leaves a game, such as Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, before the results screen loads so that they don’t lose points. Why bother? If you can’t take losing, then why play? But what’s worse is the person who then doesn’t gain the points because of that other person leaving. So you play for the points now? You play merely to gain a digital number? If you want an increasing digital number, buy yourself an electronic calendar!

Then there’s the antisocial gamer. “You haven’t played this game for 200 hours and got a super high score!” That sentence is often followed by a kicking of that player who only wanted to play for a little fun. It would be different if there were other factors involved, but that reason alone is why so many people tend to start disliking their onlines games and is why opinions on PC online gaming vary so much. Think of it logically. How can that person increase their abilities if no one will give them the chance?

I admit, I have an obsession with videogames. I’ve been a semi-fanboy of Nintendo’s for around fifteen years now and I have all the major formats currently on the market. I play games a lot and I spend a lot of time here on the UKchatforums board. I am a serious gamer, I wont deny that, but I don’t let myself get obsessed with stats or beating other people (especially those I only know from the internet). Sure, I’m disappointed if I lose, but I give it another go or do something else.

I play entirely for fun. That’s why I find the majority of the stealthy games aren’t for me, and why games such as Rallisport Challenge 2, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Halo and the many other games I play are. I couldn’t give a monkeys if I lose a point, I couldn’t give a monkeys if my stats lower, and if my memory cards were deleted, sure I’d be disappointed, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

I’m just surprised that some gamers take things way too seriously. After all, it’s not real. It is a bunch of three-dimensional computer images and two-dimensional sprites interacting with other three-dimensional and two-dimensional ‘objects’. It would be different if it really mattered. Gaming should be about the fun. Not purely about the numbers. If you take gaming too seriously, you need help.

Not entirely true. I had around +12000 kills by the time I originally finished with Rainbow Six 3 on LIVE, always played it for fun, as I am sure Monkey mongst others would agree with.

The scores don't bother me, when it is 2 v s2 and someone leaves making the game void then that is annoying as it completely throws the balance of the game. As I say, the scores aren't a problem, lost about 8 on the trot against level 10's the other day on Pandora Tomorrow, still enjoyed the challenge as no one left the game.

What is probably more off putting about LIVE is that you can hear the idiots where as with PC gaming you don't really find out how serious people are taking it as typing something doesn't come across in the same way as saying something.

You think thats bad, biggles did 136 last week.

Strafio wrote:
> Double post - happens.
> Tripple post - clumsy, but again possible...
>
> Quadruple post? Oh dear! :-Dq

That's nothing, I just 'read' all those posts of yours, without realising they were all the same...

Double post - happens.
Tripple post - clumsy, but again possible...

Quadruple post? Oh dear! :-Dq

It's not so much that, but how they become elitist to the point of kicking people who don't share their overly-serious outlook to gaming and get worked up over petty things like statistics... you know...

Goaty's light hearted approach to the UK Dentists not only appealed to several members of (the creators of the game they were playing) but also wound up some of the more "serious" players to the point that most of them were talking about coming to England to "sort him out".

:-D