Sound in gaming is a great thing. The music, the sound effects, the voice-work, everything comes together to make a great gaming experience. However, not all games enjoy sound success. Most sound problems come from a bad score, or sound effects that don’t make sense, or cliche voice scripts, etc. However, there is one problem with sound in gaming that even highly successful games like Halo and Gears of War suffer from.
That, my friends, is other gamers.
You know what I’m talking about. Other people on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network who decide that over the headset is the best place to stream obscenity after obscenity, or racist joke after racist joke, or whatever else. These people just talk and talk, mostly just to piss us off and to tell us how often our mothers get around town. PC gamers have been dealing with this for much longer than the console generation, but that doesn’t make these morons any less annoying.
I have a few examples that stick out in my head. See if you think of anything that might resemble these gems in your playing experiences…
WARNING: The following, considering the source material, contains some very explicit language. Please be advised that if your little sister or brother is around, and you play this, your mother or father will yell at you. Or, if you are the younger brother or sister, get outta here, this isn’t for you yet!
The Onyxia Wipe
I am not a World of Warcraft player, so things like "DKP" and "DTS" make no sense to me. However, anyone can see that this is a meltdown for the ages. This guy goes completely ape because the people he’s "leading" aren’t doing "what they’re supposed to do." However, if you watch it a couple of times, you’ll see that his directions aren’t really that clear. Maybe this is WOW-ignorance, but telling five guys to run to the center, then telling them not to stand next to each other makes no god-damn sense at all. At any rate, I can’t help but laugh every time I hear this.
Xbox Live Chocolate Milk Kid
This kid is a riot. He has an entire argument with his mother over the headset, screams and curses at her, then askes for a drink, and screams at her when she won’t. WHAT?! If this was my kid, not only would I have turned it off for him, I would have taken it, locked it in a safe, and instituted some "capital punishment" for a solid hour. "I want some MF’in chocolate milk?" I don’t think so. That boy would be scrubbing the bathroom floor with his toothbrush, then using it to brush his teeth.
(Not really, I don’t usually condone hitting a child at all, but you have to admit, the kid needs a beatdown, old-fashioned style.)
A Typical Xbox Live Conversation
This is a perfect example of why I’ve pretty much stopped playing games like Halo and Gears online. Stupid stuff like this, where one kid whines the entire time about getting killed and this and that. I don’t know about the rest of you, but people acting like this over the headset ruins the experience for me. I didn’t turn on my system and start playing to be screamed at by some dope across the country. Thankfully, we can mute these idiots.
As cool as playing online is, it would be a whole lot better without dopes like these. Of course, they can be muted, but it doesn’t change the fact that they can ruin the experience for someone. Remember the whole "no voice communication in Brawl" discussion? These are prime examples as to why I was okay with no voices.
Until next time,
Keep listening. You’ll never know what you’re missing if you don’t.
(Of course, in this case, maybe you don’t want to hear it.)
