It’s Wednesday again and I’m slowly running out of introductory sentences. For a change, I’m not complaining today about terrible game design, questionable sales strategies, or burnt PC accessories.
Instead, I want to vent a little about myself – although I’m sure some will find themselves in the topic. It’s about…
“Randoms”, the plague of the 3rd millennium
One can’t really play with them, but you can’t do without them either. I’m not talking about math teachers or the fixed task assignments within a shared apartment, but about the completely unknown players you are forced to team up with regularly in online games. Or briefly: Randoms.
Most of the time, you hate them – well, hate is a strong word. Let’s say instead that one tends to have a certain antipathy toward unknowns in online games much quicker than one would in comparable situations.
Upside-down world
I’m no better regarding this issue. What particularly bothers me is the fact that in the Internet, all forms of social interaction have been inverted and somehow perverted.
[pullquote]It’s just “Randoms”[/pullquote]In the real world, you try to show yourself from your best side to “new” strangers who are doing the same activity (colleagues, classmates, fellow students, etc.). However, with good friends, you mess around, give your opinion freely, or throw “casual” insults at each other – because friends just know better how to interpret it.
On the internet, this behavior has turned 180°. A match in SMITE isn’t going well? No big deal! It’s just “Randoms”, I don’t need to prove anything to anyone.
The first impression matters – even more so than in reality
I often find it hard to evaluate individual actions as such. Too often, I tend to misuse individual blunders as a stamp for the whole person.
- “What?! The Random Scylla just totally messed up her ultimate? What a noob!”
- “The support didn’t shield the medic, idiot!”
First impressions are something important and at the same time something incredibly unfair.
I catch myself far too often having already made a judgment in my thoughts, even though a match hasn’t even been going on for 30 seconds. Sometimes, you should first take a look at yourself and become aware of what exactly you’re thinking – this applies even to demons.
How do you see it? Have you ever scolded a “Random” and then later realized that you completely overreacted? Or do you avoid games with unknown players from the start?
