Editor’s Note: The following is a community post by PSLS reader K. W. Walther, who talks about the increasing hostility of the modern-day gamer.
We the Gamers are living in a great time right now, where technology is growing in today’s society at a phenomenal rate. A lot of us remember a day when gaming was only in the arcades and home consoles were something we dreamt about. Then, a boom in the techno world happened, where hardware became a second thought to software. These pioneers started to explore their creative minds and think outside of the box.
Through the years, we have seen great advancements from the Home console evolution and the games that have come with each generation. And now, with Online, Social and mobile gaming becoming great avenues to quench our thirst for gaming, I find myself wondering whether we are costing our own integrity in the process of dissocializing ourselves from common morals.
In today’s society, we are rushing games to make the bottom line look better and to answer the fans, but yet we are having patch after patch to fix the problems. We (The Gamers) are starting to try force changes on the hard work of so many passionate workers on a game or project to fit our needs, instead of letting their artistic abilities shine. With every year, we seem to be becoming more hostile and/or aggressive to other gamers.
We have the ability to play with other gamers that share the same enthusiasm for a game that we are into at that moment from anywhere in the world. There should be NO bias when we play, yet there is. There are gamers that treat Online gaming as if it was a meat market or as if they were at a downtown strip club.
Maybe we should think about that the next time we play our next game? Whose mom, dad, sister, brother, son or daughter are you going to degrade next, because it could be one of your own. How would one of us like it? If we created something that we thought was great and believed in, while costing us time anyway from family and friends, just to see people tear it down after they saw it. Now, granted I don’t think seeing us sitting around a campfire and singing kumbaya is the ideal thought either. But seeing gamers respect other gamers enough that they can enjoy the game, should be something that we all should be striving for.
So the next time you plug into your game and play with other gamers, whether the game being a RPG, FPS, Sports, Action, etc… How much of your integrity are you willing to lose?
If you enjoyed K. W. Walther’s post, be sure to vote for it to win the community writer award once all the entrants are published.
