Not to a deluxe apartment in the sky, but a new web hosting service. My friend Forrest got me a sweet coupon for a good deal, so I'm finally hosting the domain I registered forever ago, www.matchgrip.com
I'm in the process of moving this Blogger blog to a WordPress blog on Matchgrip. You can see all the content from this blog (excluding this post) here.
So I noticed a few years back when I was playing World of Warcraft PVP the whole Internet Gaming Testosterone issue. Basically it works like this
You're on a team with someone (most like they are between 16-25 years old ... male). Something happens where you haven't performed at an amazing level (keep in mind, it's a video game... even if the game gets corrupted and they never play again they can still work, provide for their families, go to school, etc. It has NO bearing on any measurable result in one's life). Normally it would be something like you didn't cast a heal on them, or you hit a guy they were charming, etc. Keep in mind it all happens VERY fast and it can be quite confusing.
After this happens you get UNLOADED on by this same person. I'm talking language combinations I've never heard before, insults, racial slurs (even if it doesn't apply), gender slurs (again, doesn't apply).. you name it you're going to hear it. All the while all the other teammates are hearing you getting verbally insulted.
So I've recently started playing Gears of War online... and you know what, it's worse. Here's how it went down tonight... (and keep in mind I pretty much suck at Gears of War... I don't mind being called a noob or ignored... I understand, I'm not some elite player that rules the leader boards)...
A teammate of mine was shot in combat... I pressed X to revive him but apparently I wasn't close enough. He died and then I was killed immediately after... then this guy proceeded to unload on me for probably 2 minutes. On and on and on and on... at first I just listened... then it got so ridiculous I told him it was probably a bit past his bedtime and he might just be sleepy. Then I got to hear it for another 5 minutes.
My point to this long ramble is these people are ruining the gaming experience for other people that don't feel the need to hide behind their xbox controllers and act like a boxer or Navy seal. These guys are most likely complete punk kids and this is where they get a chance to be a badass. I play with friends sometimes... we rib each other, but it's never about humiliating someone that's not a great player or someone makes a mistake. I don't think of myself as an overly sensitive person, but man this stuff is just crazy. It's just constant humiliating other players... I was on a team with another guy that was about like me, not so great. So in between matches where everyone can talk the other team is giving the "good player" on our team a hard time and without even thinking his response was "well yeah, these other a**holes on my team totally f**King SUCK". I mean come on, that's just nonsense.
I've really been looking forward to playing Halo 3 when it comes out... and I'll still get it, but I'm sure it's going to be more of these types of morons that make me want to get out my baseball game and work on my season.
