Reign of Gaming

So my associate Sky here gave a good rant about it and we had discussed this prior to the video and the article so you can simply watch his video and get a gist of what this article is going to be about. We watched another youtuber's video (can't use his video without permission) that went on a talk about how we should be "nice" to other players or at least not jerks because we don't know if they're having a bad day for some reason or another. That is fine and dandy but he mentioned it was in a ranked game as in a person is playing poorly in a ranked game because they've been having a bad day. This immediately set off angry alarms within me and Sky. I don't need to explain the absurdity of that. I can very well be upset with someone who is half-assing the game.

We can all agree that Ranked is meant to have this serious mindset of wanting to win. You go to ranked if you want to tryhard, face strong opponents (hopefully), get up in the ladders and generally have guaranteed good games. That's what is intended and that's what we like to believe even if it isn't always the case. With that said - who the fuck thinks it's okay to go play a ranked game when they can't give their 100% effort or are having a bad day and you end up taking it out on your teammates? The video goes on to say that these people may be having bad days and that's why they're performing poorly. Well my response to that is "too fucking bad" this is ranked. In ranked you play to win. You leave that shit outside.

They can claim it helps them "relax" or "feel better" or whatever. That's good and all but again this is ranked. You play ranked to win. If you can't play at 100% or not be a detriment to your team while you're getting your therapy then go fuck yourself. Why am I so adamant about this? Some people say we should respect others "fun" or how they may be feeling when playing ranked. Yeah you can say that shit but you forget that there are 4 other people in that game. They may be wanting to win. I personally would feel insulted by this. Are people forgetting that just because we aren't vocal about it or because I don't express the sand in my ass that I don't have issues with that game? The person being detrimental because their pet spider died doesn't want to be insulted or put down yet they are insulting the other players in the game by not living to at least the necessary standards of ranked (according to elo).

You'd think that a person with these issues would have better things to deal with first. If this is your idea of coping then that's okay but not in an environment that pushes for serious mindsets and behavior. It's your own fault when people get pissed at you. I'm not saying it can't be excessive (other players berating) but when you disrespect the other players by half-assing the game because you stepped on a lego or some drama you need to understand they have a right to be upset. I am not saying that players have the right to badger someone to death. I do not condone actions like that. I mean if you give someone the lame excuse of "I'm having a bad day you can't expect me to play well" then you're inviting the wrath of all the other players. Giving your 100% doesn't mean you are being a god - it means you are at least trying. If you're trying your best, even if you lose, then you are respecting your teammates. Telling your teammates you are half-assing it is disrespectful and selfish.

I would have written about something else but honestly the video set me off. In person I am seen, whether you choose to believe it or not, as a nice guy always being the one who helps others when asked. However I also have a tendency to get very verbal when a person complains about something they had full control over or something that is completely unreasonable. The other day someone just started playing a new game. It was a top down shooter and the enemy lobs down grenades at him and he dies. This happened only 10 minutes into the game and the guy says "man grenades are bullshit...this game is bad" and that was his first death in the game. He stopped playing after that too. I was puzzled about that. You're playing a new game, you died to a grenade - a commonly used weapon - only once and now the game is terrible somehow? My brother did this all the time too. He was an achievement whore so he'd play a game he's never played on the highest difficulty by default if the game had an achievement for that. Sometimes he'd complain "man this game is stupid it's too fucking hard!" Well no shit you have it set on the highest difficulty what the hell did you expect? This always happened.

Why was that relevant? I brought it up because some people are just so fucking lopsided in trying to warp their expectations onto something that already has a demanded mindset. Ranked is intended to be serious, to be demanding and a place where people tryhard. That is the intended mindset yet some players think they have a right to warp it into some perverse crap.

I believe some idiots will say "well games are meant to play played for fun" and you'd be right and then very wrong. You'd be right in the neutral sense of that phrase "played for fun" but likely wrong because how you intended its meaning. Most players who say that hold it as not taking it seriously, relaxing or some hippie crap. Those players would be forgetting a very important thing. Fun is subjective. Fun is completely subjective. Fun differs between people. I've written about this countless times so it's pointless to delve deeply into it.

Basically put you are automatically being unreasonable when you try to tell someone else that they aren't meant to play a game a certain way. If they have the capability to play a certain way then they're free to do so. However keep in mind that a person's capability to do so can be taken from them easily depending on the environment. Ranked calls for seriousness so that already denies some people their version of ultimate fun and so do their teammates. A person's teammates are the biggest determinants of fun. If the team allows it then a player can do what they please. However if the team would rather much prefer themselves to have fun a certain then it is better to comply or else you'd be a dick. What I mean by that is - if you want to do something trollish and your team allows you then more power to you but if they say no then you're going to likely be shitting on their experience if you go ahead anyways.

For me I don't assume I know what everyone's opinions about fun are. I do assume that people like to win. I believe people like winning and will derive some form of fun from that so I seek to win in order to guarantee everyone at least has a modicum of fun.

I like to play seriously. I like to tryhard and always give 100%. However I sometimes play with people who are light hearted and like to play without having heart attacks. When I play with them I understand that I am entering an environment that calls for a relaxed mindset therefore I adopt that mindset. Doing otherwise would brand me as a dick and rightfully so.

In short what you can take from this is that you should adopt a mindset according to the environment you're entering and form your expectations according to it as well. Do not act as though people have to take your half ass emo playing in a serious "we must win" environment and don't get pissed off either at people being soft and carefree in an environment they chose to set as such.

Frankly put one of the saddest things about this game is that there are individuals that get upset that they have to conform to the expectations of others while they themselves are demanding that others conform to their whims.

**Thanks to Lily and Sky for use of their videos**

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