The value of co-op/competitive gaming isn't something that I thought I could be a part of until I got involved with Halo LAN parties in college. The joy and sensations I got from those long nights (usually once a week; most of these guys were law students) would be something I would pursue in the future. These days, I game alone and rely on a decent internet connection and like-minded randoms to fill that void. It can go wrong and ugly from time to time.
During one night of the Halo LAN parties, one of my teammates got so flustered over our teams poor performance in a 4v4 team deathmatch in Blood Gultch that he declared us "fucking morons". Without even thinking it through, I unleashed a tirade of f-bombs and variations of "are you kidding me?". Going on the defensive, sure, but losing your shit on something we're all meant to enjoy regardless of the outcome of a match was so dick-headed. Looking back, I put myself in a position where this guy (who owned the house where these parties were conducted) could've banned me from these events (and would've been in the right, arguably). Our friendship could've ended right there, too. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, we both apologized, the parties continued as long as they could and we're still friends to this day. We don't play much these days but that's his fault for getting an Xbox One (I still don't have one, boo-hoo).
A similar even occurred about 2 weeks ago: a couple of friends and I were playing some 3v3 matches in Rocket League. Our collective progress with the game varies; I haven't played for a week previous to this so I was a little rusty, the other two were reasonably good. No one was showing off or feeling they had anything to prove. Just having fun. Then another one of my friends logged on and gradually things went to shit.
I call him "C". Since we had a party of 4, we started out on a game of 2v2. I'm not good at 2v2 but C is. My team managed to score 2 points, the other 7. C's enthusiasm got the best of him and he was piling on his enjoyment to the extent that one of my friends (my teammate, in fact) became annoyed and quit. Before he left, he tried to be as cordial as he could, stating that he wasn't having any fun and needed to log off before his mood got out of hand. The rest of us understood and bid him farewell.
We still wanted to play around and we swtiched to 3v3 online and eventually came across a group that were talking shit in the dialogue feed. Also, they were pretty good at the game."C" wanted to win the game, put the game right back into their face and he wanted it more than anything. It's too bad neither of his teammates wanted that. He didn't say "my teammates are fucking morons" but he found more polite variations of it ("I can't beat them on my own" or some shit like that) and the opponent trash-talking kept piling up. Myself and the other guy kept trying to talk C down, that you shouldn't feed the troll, that you don't need to teach him a lesson.
2 1/2 years of Halo 3 MP taught me that trolls, regardless of their gaming ability, will change only on their own accord. It's just some bullshit they need to grow out of. C wouldn't see it that way and he left the group after 3-4 matches. No one was having fun. C wanted to play for the sake of petty vengeance; we didn't. No one was having fun. I haven't talked to him since. Shame. I hope that changes.
I turned on my 360 and played, of all things, the Tomb Raider reboot. It was part of a previous Games With Gold selection and I suppose the new Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer sparked the idea to revisit it. I didn't get al of the achievements (I don't usually play for those) and got 97% completion when it was over. I still enjoy the game but I don't think I need to play it again. I look forward to playing ROTR on the 360 this fall and on the PS4 next year.
Last Friday, I was invited to guest star on the Entertainment Landfill podcast. I had to find a stopping place at work and race home to get on Skype. I had connection problems, had to update Skype but eventually joined the conversation, which involved the Fantastic Four movies, the Mission:Impossible films, Alien 3, documentaries on failed film projects, our love of the tv show Chuck and more. It probably won't get posted until Monday or Tuesday but I'm looking forward to it, especially the first hour that I was late for.
I spent most of this weekend deep cleaning my school's two gyms in prep for the first day of the fall semester. They were in bad shape but after I was done, they looked good enough to surprise me. Now all I have to do is maintain that level of cleanliness throughout the school year and everyone will be happy. After shepherding teens to get all of the floorwork done all summer, it's back to nights, to solitude, to my ipod full of podcasts to get me through the night. Bring it on.
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