Post: Swearing In Gaming: Competitive Attitude or Blurred Reality?
12-18-2010, 11:19 AM #1
billionk
Who’s Jim Erased?
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); I've encountered, as a result of playing Call Of Duty, language not experienced since my last visit to a Guns N Roses concert (up yours Axl). And I've wondered to myself: where is this all coming from?

Two theories have I formed.

1. The spirit of competition. Most of us hate to lose; it frustrates us to no end. And rightfully so. The focus we feel while we're on a roll, the satisfaction of racking up multiple kills, only to have it ripped away from us by, say......a well placed claymore. Do we blame ourselves?? No! We blame the claymore....curse that bloody explosive device for being in our way and doing its job. All of that hard work, the grinding, the rounding corners with tactical precision, the SWAT like act of taking cover while reloading a nearly spent magazine. Gone.

We then feel that heat well up from the core of our being. The tiny ball of angry that is only made stronger by the Kill Cam....forcing us to relive that horrific moment of utter defeat. What follows the now boiling anger embarrass even the grizzliest of lumberjacks. And a lot of it comes from individuals who are of an age where they really shouldn't know such language. It stands to reason that our unquenchable desire to win is the catalyst for the fury of profanities we experience on a second to second basis in this game.

Or is it?

2. Losing ones sense of reality. My "clan" tag, is 5-0. I'm not sure how many would catch onto this, but its a code for police (my father was one for many years). I recently had the (dis)pleasure of stacking up against another "clan" (whose tag I will respectfully omit) who thought I was indicating my score. What followed was a barrage of insults and cat calls that I, to this day, can only attribute to a lack of physical human contact. If these upstanding citizens had more face time with real people, would they feel so inclined to unload the worst parts of their personality onto unsuspecting victims? Did I deserve such treatment? Maybe. But even though my lack of ability versus these individuals was apparent in the two games they allowed me to compete in against them, I didn't think it warranted such a response. I wonder...do these men, nay, boys have so much pent up testosterone from not getting out and playing sports, or socializing, or fornicating with women that it all becomes a torrential release of absolute hatred towards someone they haven't even met? I paid the same $60 bucks they did, yet, I'm less of a human being and only worthy of their filthiest of language...because I can't score 25-6 consistently. I'll admit...it kind of hurt. I'm just in it to have a good time. But some people, those select few....lord their God given talent to hit R1 just a little bit faster than the other guy over anyone they digitally dominate...and boy will they let you know it too. These poor misguided souls however, become so immersed, so lost in the fantasy world displayed on the screen in front of them, that they lose all sense of civility. The moral compass they may have had, can no longer tell north from south. Why? Because despite their constant complaints about "poor connectivity", "overpowered RCXD's" and "cheap AK 47u"'s, Treyarch has sold us a very safe environment where those who normally lack the testicular fortitude, can finally say and do the things they lacked the guts to say and do when someone is at arms length and prepared to physically strike them.

So, what do you think? Is poor language caused by the spirit of competition, or the lost sense of reality due to the immersive nature of the game.

It's been posted it on CoD BO Forum too.
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The following 2 users say thank you to billionk for this useful post:

NeedaLifeSoon, Omfg Jon
12-23-2010, 04:09 PM #20
billionk
Who’s Jim Erased?
Originally posted by Omfg
I only curse when things happen as described in the first part. Stupid claymores. The second part upsets me when just because someone thinks my name is stupid they start cursing me out over their headset. What did I do? :'(


I have to admit, claymores are annoying but now I use hacker, it is abit of a pain hearing my own footsteps but it's worth it when you hack the guys claymore, he runs over to it and BOOM, what goes around comes around Happy.

The following user thanked billionk for this useful post:

Omfg Jon

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