Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Update: On-Line Gaming

A few months back I wrote a little bit about my commitment to start participating in more online gaming events, thereby expanding my horizons as not only a gamer but as a human being. 3 months later I think it's safe to say I'm happy with the size of human being I am.

First of, lets talk about Warcraft. I had planned to level a priest doing nothing but PvP, however, I neglected to notice how boring most PvP is and how much it takes to get XP in it, and that doesn't even take into consideration the the other players on your team. Seriously, they'll sell a keyboard and mouse to any idiot who can ask for one won't they? The final straw was the Warsong Gulch where a Night Elf Druid actually stopped and asked "How do I shapeshift?" in the middle of a battle.

I have had some success using the dungeon finder in Warcraft, but it's quite often too much to deal with on it's own as well. A run through Mauradon comes to mind; after spending 10 minutes waiting for a Tank to enter the group we finally get one who proceeds to agro no less than 15 elites and wipe the group in under 25 seconds. He then proceeded to announce that he had "played to much Warcraft for one night" so he was going to bed. The sheer douchebaggery of the whole thing left me more than a little speechless, seriously, this is someones idea of a good time? This was the capper on the infantile bickering, sheer class incompetence, and just plain rudeness I've come to expect from the dungeon finder.

Let's talk other games shall we? Well, to be fair the only other games I've played on line are Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 (I have yet to bring myself to go online with Borderlands), but i have to say, what problem do people playing Left 4 Dead have with microphones? I've gotten more shit from having a mike turned on (accidentally I might add) in that game than doing anything else in any other game ever. And do you think it would kill them to identify the person who they are complaining about their mike being on? Maybe, just maybe, that player didn't know it was turned on.

Left 4 Dead 2? Let me tell you the story about the dude who decided it would be fun to shoot me until my character died, steal my healthkit and run. The only thing I can figure is he wanted my character (Nick) and decided to make me rage quite; I don't rage quit, so he ended up quitting at the end of the level. Asshole (I said I don't rage quit, I never said I don't rage)!

Now true, these are the bad moments, but I only briefly touched on the not so bad moments that make up the majority of the rest of my game time. I don't need that crap, I can cause enough heartache and hassle in real life for myself without asking for it from digital jerkasses.

I'll continue playing online somewhat, you need a change from time to time, and it's impossible to solo WoW instances at the right level, but it's not going to be a defining influence on me anymore. Even PvP in WoW is going to take a major backseat, it doesn't really further me in the game and I just end up dealing with people anyway.

Seriously, I game to get away from people, not be forced to deal with them. What the hell is the big deal with on-line gaming anyway?

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