Competitive team games and friendly communities - possible?

[GSH]

Reading the comments on http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/07 ... nds-speak/ , it seems -- I've not played League of Legends/DOTA/other MOBA games -- that while some people like the online competitive team games, many complain that they like the game and dislike the players. The competitive players all seem to diss "n00bs," and derogatory racist/sexual comments are the norm from a lot of players, no matter the skill.

Not as many complaints about the other players seems to be the norm in co-op games like Left4Dead/Borderlands/etc. Is it just the subject matter? Do competitive game styles (in general) turn more people into intolerant jerks that drive out players? Not sure.

Reading various political news and opinion sites, I've seen this observation: some pundits rate candidates by their 'BBQ test' -- does the candidate seem like someone you'd like to have drop by to a BBQ in your back yard. (Or watching sports on TV or dinner party or some other casual social interactions.) It's not just that candidate's positions on various items that matter, if they come across as cold, a jerk, or the like, they don't get as much support. Would competitive players (for any game) pass the same test? Does this test matter? Should it matter? Running forums and having to manage things, I'd say that it certainly helps to be able to pass this test.

-- GSH

[Red Devil]

it's the difference between playing poker/chess/bridge/checkers/monopoly/whatever with someone sitting across from you shouting/swearing at you/taunting you and doing the same with someone who is friendly, has a good sense of humor, and is polite/pleasant.

[Axeminister]

When there is no law, there will be lawlessness. Competition between people who are playing against strangers can be brutal when it comes to civility. If there were a test that could be taken, who is to say one couldn't just act civil for the test then turn right around and be total jerks in game. I say the answer is no, there can not be very much civility in competitive games with human beings of this age. I'm sure at another time in the past or future it might have been or would be possible. Currently you'd have to control the quality of the players by way of passworded games.
That being said, what now?

[Ded10c]

The L4D community is a mess.

[bigbadbogie]

I think MPI thugs (or co-op partners) can be just as rude as strat opponents, if not more so.

I assume this stems from their lack of ability to do anything much in a game, whereas a strat opponent has total control over their base and is not bored so easily.

Perhaps a new gamemode should be developed where each thug is given their own recy and the game has allied bases fighting aside one another. (Been done in G66 or FE? Probably )

[PCG-Oldfart]

I have rules for my General Forums and for Team Members if they don't like the rules that don't have to be part of our community if they break the rules they are warned once only the second time they are banned. I choose to associate with friendly none swearing or cheating gamers.

[Red Devil]

you should join Axe and Windy and me sometime

[Zax]

I think MPI thugs (or co-op partners) can be just as rude as strat opponents, if not more so.

I assume this stems from their lack of ability to do anything much in a game, whereas a strat opponent has total control over their base and is not bored so easily.

Perhaps a new gamemode should be developed where each thug is given their own recy and the game has allied bases fighting aside one another. (Been done in G66 or FE? Probably )

This is true. Although many a time will I be called a douche bag by hardcore stratters, at least they talk to me. 50% of anyone in MPIs doesn't so much as type a word, making it very difficult to communicate in a game where communication is key. I need MDM mortar? Tough, they don't read the chat either. They can get very very mean too...

[Shadow Knight]

I find that most of the time the communities suck for competitive games. Quake Live's community is an exception, everyone's really nice and willing to help out new players. So yes, it is possible.

[RubiconAlpha]

Maybe it's a generational thing. Seems worst now than in the beginning of online multiplayer for me anyway. Now with the XBox Live generation I have a hard time joining any type of game (racing, FPS, fighter etc) without everyone cussing and saying the rudest things to each other and using every cheap trick in the book just to win a game.

Then this carries over to the forums when the player lost badly. They cry foul and that the other guy's a cheat and so on.

Most of the time I just leave the headset off and do my best to help the team win. I play to enjoy the game and learn tactics, not just to win at any cost every time and talk crap to total strangers.

I bet if more players were in the same room with each other, the big talkers would shut up and just learn to play better and learn to win and lose with some grace.

[Zax]

It's hard "competing friendly" because the other guy is your enemy. Team strat subverts that when you have guys on your team, but 90% of that is fair weather, and when that team starts to lose then the insults fly. I've fallen victim to that myself I'm no saint. In another game where I'm part of a clan (we're tight) I can still get rage toward them when they are on other team. It's just inborn- they are shooting at me and are the enemy. Make them suffer!

[Ded10c]

I think you might be right, Rubicon. QuakeWorld's community has a heavier weighting on good players, but they are mostly exceptionally friendly. More modern games seem to have less friendly gamers who only care about TheWin.

[TwinShadow]

Games of old times, such as your classic Doom or Quake series tend to have the better communities because they have people who've played them for years on end. Today's gamer is a 9 year old with their parents card buying whatever they want without a care in the world. (Its not always true, but it might as well be)

You'll never have a perfect community. Every single one will have their own trolls and BZ2 is no exception.

The test seems well and all, but I don't think it'd do much good now-a-days, as it was said before, it can be faked way too easily. Especially with the 'not-so-honest' crowd of today, so there'd be no point wasting time trying to evaluate something.

[Zero Angel]

I think 'jerks' are more prone to favor competitive games (as opposed to cooperative ones) since winning tends to give one a little 'ego boost' as does exercising any type of domination over your opponent. The MPI community has its fair share of jerks too. You see this everywhere in online communities. The communities attract people of all sorts, including people who cooperate to get things done (indirect self interest) or compete to further their own position (direct self interest).

In regards to actually being in a game, it's easy to think of your opponent as faceless or being unable to actually retaliate against you so that's why there is a greater sense of cooperation when players get to know each other a little more (ie: the 'vets' who grief MPI games (or maybe that behavior has stopped) actually get along decently with the more laid-back vets). People who have a competitive nature or an external locus of control will be more prone to insulting or otherwise harming people who they see as adversarial to whatever they are trying to accomplish.

A lot of long standing communities have good enough self control that trolls are discouraged from joining them because their attempts to get into a conflict based game usually does not have as much of an impact as they hope it would.

Also some gaming communities are totally **** towards newbies, its only when you get better do people start to recognize you more and appreciate you. And even then, theres always some guys at the top who will use the most underhanded, cheesy tactics to get TheWin and grief you no matter what you do. It's impossible to avoid this, you just have to try not to take it personally.

[Zax]

Then you have games like tribes [/plug] which if you do not quickly learn how to be part of a functioning team, you can not be part of the community. This actually applies to bz2 strats as well when I think about it, since if even one player in a strat goes off on their own thing, that can ruin the game for that team.