The 10 Golden Rules of Online Gaming

[Rem]

So, you finally got your game hooked up and are ready to play. Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that online gaming is about having fun. You are very wrong and you will learn this in due time. Because we gamers are too physically weak to pick random fights in bars, we must assert our alpha male dominance another way -- by twiddling our fingers around on buttons until virtual representations of people we don't know simulate death.

This shit is the reason I don't even plug the microphone in anymore. I honestly don't even know where it is anymore.

[YellerDog]

This doesn't make much sense to me.

I mean, it's one thing to say that there are people who don't improve regardless of time spent playing (which I obviously agree with), but it's pretty freaking weird if you're saying that it's rare for people to get better with more time spent playing.

Talent > Skill setups usually work like that.

I can pretty safely say I will never get better at the piano.

[Grave]

Rem, the thing to do with that microphone is to turn off voice chat in the game you're playing, then go on a Ventrilo server where people you like are, even if they're playing different games! Canceling my WoW account was easy when I realized that talking to old friends on Vent was the most fun the game had to offer.

I can pretty safely say I will never get better at the piano.

YOU'RE A QUITTER.

[mannerbot]

I don't agree with what you guys are saying about being good at games at all. I mean for me I was instantly good at shooters I guess (my first being Gears since I used to get motion sickness from FPS), but hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, and reflexes aren't the only qualities that make up a good player. At low levels it does, but once you face decent competition it's all about teamwork, strategy, and experience. I would say that this is especially true in a game like CoD4 where it's just really easy to aim.

[mannerbot]

Believe this man.

I could get back on Halo and wipe the floor with the kids who have been playing these last few months I haven't. It has nothing to do with hours played.

Not true. You can wipe the floor with those kids because of the 600 hours of Halo that you've already played. So it's like riding a bike, in your case, rather than just natural talent.

[Rem]

Rem, the thing to do with that microphone is to turn off voice chat in the game you're playing, then go on a Ventrilo server where people you like are, even if they're playing different games! Canceling my WoW account was easy when I realized that talking to old friends on Vent was the most fun the game had to offer.

I'm sure it is, but I would rather just listen to music while I played.

Also as far as natural skill Vs. talent goes, you guys must be talking about only video games. Because most things require a lot of practice to be good, It's rare for anyone to be great off the bat.

[Grave]

That too!

Anyway, common sense would dictate that if you spend a couple hundred hours making the same stupid mistakes and refusing to learn from 1) yourself 2) everyone else you're playing with, no, you're not going to get better. However, if you're willing to think and change your strategies accordingly, the amount of time played will lead to you becoming a better player! At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

[Rem]

I can pretty safely say I will never get better at the piano

That depends, have you practiced for years and have hit an emotional and physical wall. Or have you never touched they keys in your life, if It's the latter you really have no idea.

[mannerbot]

Unless you have recently lost fingers or suffered brain trauma, I think it's safe to say that you can get better at the piano as long as you have the desire to improve.

[Brand X]

At low levels it does, but once you face decent competition it's all about teamwork, strategy, and experience. I would say that this is especially true in a game like CoD4 where it's just really easy to aim.

Which is why I said a good portion of people, and not all people. You know as well as I do, the vast majority of people who play games online just aren't that good. A good portion of the people who play online also do not play at higher levels, which tends to negate the teamwork, strategy, and experience portions of what makes a good player.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that people won't improve at a game if they spend 15 hours a day, because they will. It's that it takes a certain type of person and a certain inherent skill at a type of game to be able to play at higher levels, regardless of the amount of time invested. Which like I stated before, a good portion of the people who play online aren't those people.

*a "good portion" is a rough estimation created by me, and based off of nothing but my personal experience