The video game was created four centuries ago as an alternative to all that toiling and torture early American settlers had to endure. They were made to be fun and exciting and provide a little escape from the real world for awhile. Pure entertainment that wasn't just watching TV or a movie. Something interactive. Something you had control over. And that was a fantastic idea.
For a long time, video games enjoyed a run of fun. Sure, some games sucked. Just like some movies or TV shows suck. However, the overall idea was that they were played for fun. In the last few years, this has changed for some people, and I'm not exactly sure why.
Prime example would (of course) have to be World of Warcraft. This isn't going to be a WoW hating article you see every ten seconds on the internet. But this is easily the best example. WoW is the biggest online video game ever with currently around 11 million active subscriptions. And as popular as it has become, the game has become much more business than entertainment.
You'll walk into a 25 person raid. A raid that will usually take about two hours to finally bring together because people don't seem to be able to understand to go from where you are to another place. Once you get going, you fight (eventually) and kill everything in your path. Then rage happens. Loot comes up that you need. Someone else gets it. Then someone freaks out and starts calling you horrible names that I won't put in here. Screaming and yelling and fighting are all things very common in WoW. You fight and fight for two to three hours in a dungeon and almost everyone leaves basically empty handed. People get pissed off and rage-quit the game. Just shut it off and start cussing everyone out.
For so many people, the game isn't fun for them. I don't see tons of people having a laugh or a good time. I see instance or raid groups getting together and one person making a small mistake and getting screamed and cussed at and then kicked out of the group. Sure, I understand wanting to succeed, but losing your temper over a video game is fucking insane.
Next and last example. Modern Warfare 2. This game got tons of hype and is played by millions of people online. Since it's been out a long while now, regular players are raging constantly that the multiplayer is broken. Bitching about the spawning system sucking. Spawn traps and noob tubes. People getting so frustrated and pissed off, they feel the need to cuss out everyone on the voice chat.
I live by the code that games are meant to be fun. I play games all the time. And a lot of them I don't finish. Not because the game isn't good most times. It's just that I happen to not like the game. So, I'll stop playing it, delete it and move on to another and see if I like that.
The moral of the story is this. Games are meant to be fun. If whatever game you are playing gets to a point where you are not having fun, you need to put down the controller or shut off the computer. Stop playing it. Don't get pissed that something is broken. Don't get pissed because the other people are idiots. Don't get pissed off that the other people are assholes. Go. Just go. There are hundreds of thousands of video games to choose from out there. You can find something that you will enjoy if you try. Don't put undue stress on yourself, playing a game that is making you miserable.
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