[demencia_total]

I've always been at a crossroads when it comes to online. It can be fun playing with friends, but playing strangers results usually in the same tactics again and again, which is the nature of a lot of gamers as Carlos stated: winning at all cost. And when I say "friend", I mean people who you know in real life or at least come into communication often. The reason I make this distinction is that I've added people online who I've come in contact with but it always results in a futile attempt to start a proper game in games that have more than 1vs1. Everyone wants something different, then starts making their wishes known in a less than civil manner through the mic, and if their wishes aren't met, then they begin to annoy everyone in full force and/or leave the session. Again, It's just people being people, it's not like this doesn't happen in some other form in other facets of life.

I remember the days of playing games like Age of Empires on LAN with a bunch of people who were less than adept at strategy games because we weren't hardcore gamers at all, but that was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences ever because even in our vast ignorance of pc's and such games that were deemed "too geeky", everyone was on the same page of having fun with whatever it was we were doing. After work, some would stay at the office to use the computers and the Dreamcast and we would just battle it out in Marvel vs Capcom 2, NBA 2k1, Rival Schools, etc.

After that experience, I relived it with Halo LAN parties even if I had no idea what I was doing and kept getting murdered over and over again. Eventually, I got pretty good at it and bought an Xbox and ventured into Halo 2 online, which cemented my feelings on online gaming. When I played with friends, it was awesome and even when you lost, you gained something from the experience. When I played against strangers, it felt like a routine where everyone would use the cheapest tactics while screaming incoherently through the microphone. It didn't matter if they were 12 or 24, it was the most immature crowd of gamers that made me really wary of competition online. I know this isn't the case for ALL games as I realize that example is coming from one of the most overrated - and probably most hyped - games in history, but the trend has continued through sports games and pc gaming, even if to a lesser degree.

In sports it's a little easier to find competitors that are willing to play a more "relaxed" style through sites like OS since it's mainly 1vs1, but now with the addition of 5vs5 in bball and 10vs10 in football, the same problems are going to arise. "YOO STUPID #*&$*&$ IM LABRON!" I can already hear them shouting in the lobby. If I could amass at least five friend gamers that were online pretty frequently I probably wouldn't be writing this, but being in my half 20's, most of my friends don't even own a console, much less ventured online. Most of us have partners to attend to, studies, jobs, some have kids, activities, etc.

Unless you're willing to venture into online socializing, it ain't gonna work for a lot of us. I think online works great for people who are willing to do this and for the younger ones who have all the time in the world and grew up with the newer generations of gaming, but I'll always remain wary of it.