Why are there so many angry online FPS players?

I rarely play them much anymore except on weekends every once in a blue moon. Within two nights of four or five hours each night I managed to get over 10 hate mails from gamers that lose their cool and can't stand losing. I also got kicked for beating the host once.

Why are FPS fans disproportionately so hot-headed compared to other online genres? Even compared to online fighters they're consistently over-aggressive.

It isn't an age thing because listening to them on their mics you can clearly tell a lot of them are grown men.

Competitive games always tend to bring out anger in most people, some more than others. Shooters being one of the most popular genres right now, it's simply host to the worst of them. Not much to it, really.

Some of the spite and hate can really make you shake your head and question their grip with reality. I mean I know that no one wants to lose--even I can get a little perturbed now and then, but I'd never write hateful messages or blow my top over a silly game session. It kinda makes me wonder about the mental health of some of these players, and how playing these games might effect them in the future.

Competition induces rage. As for how intensely vulgar and belittling people are online -- that's simply the understanding that people can say whatever they want without getting the shit kicked out of them.

Yeah I know, I'm very familiar with the common analysis and excuses that exist for players like that. I guess I'm just looking for deeper answers as to why some people behave that way. It's not a commonly accepted behavior when they go that far, and the reasons have to go beyond simple competition. I guess what I'm trying to say is I think we might be seeing a new level in anti-social behavior, a culture that might be on the verge of bringing out armies of Adam Lanza type activity.

Law of averages plus immature gamers equals a legion of extremely annoying people playing online games. Screw multiplayer, long live single player.

Well you shouldn't let a few bad apples ruin anything for you like that, because there are good players who are smart and helpful or just commonly decent.

The weirdos out there don't bother me much in the game, but I do tend to worry about individuals with problems like that, and the future of our species.

Honestly, I don't think it's anything that severe. I just think it's a bunch of small human beings who don't know how to properly express themselves and channel it into childish behavior online. I don't think it's anything to worry about, it's just kind of sad and pathetic.

I played WOW for a few years and that's a world where the concentration of annoying people is probably the greatest in the gaming world.

Maybe, but before I started playing online shooters, I never had anyone tell me they were gonna "fork my cakehole" just for beating them fair and square in a competitive game.

I remember the first time I started playing them a few years back, and I killed some guy with a sniper rifle. I didn't think anything of it and kept playing normally. A few minutes later I noticed that same person was hunting me through the rest of the match. I thought something like "wow that's odd, must be some rare scenario where I encountered some rare lunatic" but as I kept playing, I'd have lots of people doing that to me.

Very creepy stuff and it's times like that where I'm glad I'm anonymous. When I got my PS4, Sony asked me if I'd like to connect my Facebook account to my PSN ID and use my real name. In this new world we live in I think that is a very dumb idea and could lead to some dangerous situations.

You'd also never shot a random stranger in a video game... I dunno, I tend to vengefully stalk down players who have been kicking my ass, it's a primal thing, I suppose. I've found the people with the biggest mouths on the internet are the biggest cowards in real life, that's why they have to channel this kind of rage through the safety net of internet anonymity.

I'll say. When I played VF5 online I lost a lot more than I won, but when I was winning, a lot of people would ragequit and some of them would send me obscene messages. And the original Motorstorm had the nastiest community I've ever run across. Every game seemed to have good old boys telling n word jokes. It eventually got better (moderators were appointed) but for a while it was bad. Competitive online gaming is fun, but not because of the in-game chatter :).

I think Jenova Chen is exactly right when he talks about how the way games are structured determines how people treat each other. I've gotten nothing but nice emails from the people I've played through Journey with.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/170547/a_personal_journey_jenova_chens_.php?print=1

But Chen is not content with merely competing. Targeting what he perceives as the biggest problem in games today, Chen has set about reinventing online multiplayer. "We wanted to make an online game [that brought] an emotion that has never been done before in online games. If you look around at online games in the console market, it's pretty obvious that no other games give you this feeling of connection with each other, of understanding.

"The goal was to create a game where people felt they are connected with each other, to show the positive side of humanity in them. A lot of games today have a list of quests, places to go, items to collect and rewards to receive... We just ignore each other. So in order to make players care about each other, we have to remove their power, and remove their tasks."

Journey's multiplayer is as much a step back as it is a leap forward. There's no chat system, no power-ups; you can't even see your companion's user name. Paired off at random, it's up to you and your cohort to decide how to engage with one another.

By eschewing the window dressing normally associated with online multiplayer -- kill cams, leaderboards, customization -- Chen revives the fundamental essence of multiplayer games: collaboration. While Battlefield players are killing their way to the next weapon attachment, the travellers in Journey are gaming in sync; gradually, you fall into a perfect rhythm with your nameless partner, waiting for them to catch up and vice versa.

Stick together long enough, and a personal, unspoken bond will form: sitting my character down in the snow, I nipped out to fetch myself a drink, returning a couple of minutes later to find my buddy meditating beside me. Every online gamer has a story like this, but only in Journey does the multiplayer form organically.

"In Journey," explains Chen, "we want to offer the player the choice between individualism and group conformity... We wanted to create an environment where the cooperation is not forced; you're totally fine doing it yourself. If you choose to cooperate, then that is the real essence of connecting two players."

Maturity in FPS games tends to be at an all time low in my honest opinion, I used to play Cod2 back in the day ( greatest fps of all time :D ) -

Never once did anyone rage in my experience and I lived on it, naturally you'd have the odd bell but nowhere near as bad as Cod these days, I think it's age.. Parents ignore the age recommendations ( I don't mind I was playing games too young but I'm awesome ) and some kids just cannot handle losing so they rage, not too mention games involve a lot of frustrating moments now.

Cod2 you occasionally got hit by a random nade but 99% of the time it was skill, now there's ;

- Killstreaks,

- RPGs being ridiculous,

- Cards randomly exploding,

- Poor hit detection,

- Hipfire out performing ADS,

- Akimbo.

Etc, these lead to incredibly frustrating games which are more reliant who uses the most OP bullsh- then what actually involved skill, that's just my two cents though.

//IncisionX

If you had no gamertags, but real names instead, a lot of it would go away.

Enter the Ps4 XD

because most of those who play these type of games(ex COD) are whiny little kids with their balls still on their necks

TBH I hear more "Adult" players raging then kids these day's. Just my experience.

Spoiled generation IMO. No standards, no values and no sportsmanship. Makes for a pathetic gaming community and dumbs down competition.

@ChaosDecides LoL is way worse than WoW.

Yeah. MOBA communities can be really... hostile. Had my share of it, but I didn't mind.

It's not just FPS games or games in general but there's more hostility all around, just look at forums and the such and you'll see it.

The incessant hostility of online shooters is one of the main reasons I gave up on versus multiplayer. From what I hear from people I know though, stuff like LoL and some fighting games is a lot worse. In an environment where there really aren't tangible consequences for acting in such an oppressive manner, people are pretty much going to do so. My experience has been that there are actually decent people out there playing these games, but they are either grouped together or significantly outnumbered by the amount of angry and abusive players.

For me, it's not worth it, so I stick to single player or very rarely, co-op.

Games that have online play in general will always have a bunch of angry people, doesn't matter what the genre is. You will find them in MMO's, FPS's, MOBAS ect ect.

I think the main problems are already mentioned by @IMAHAPYHIPPO, but to offer some alternative perspectives: this behaviour can also be related to the increased value the media assign to personal and instant opinions. Quick and catchy replies are much more valued than long and balanced considerations. In order to be heard, people don't really have to think anymore, they just have to have an opinion. I mean, Twitter is the pinnacle of this development. In short, there might be a tendency to immediately and inconsiderately express opinions and emotions.

Also, because every single individual can find his/her opinion or behaviour supported on the internet, there will always be justification for what he/she does and says, resulting in a growing confidence and a tendency to disregard other perspectives (because ideas are already being supported and looking at it from different sides is very tiring and time consuming). If someone else is doing/saying it, why can't I?

An attitude of moral indifference seems to have developed on the internet. Rage is inevitable, it will not go away, so you have to simply deal with it. The ideal of freedom of speech and opinion has come to include insult and hate. Aside from the lack of immediate and 'physical' consequences, there are also no moral and social consequences. Rage and insult aren't being condemned, they're being tolerated. It's wrong, but well, there's nothing you can do about it, so it's best to just ignore it. And if you can't deal with, then it's your problem.

Just a few of the many ways to look at it. I'm not bitter, though. ;-) The angry side is just very vocal and direct. Maybe the indifferent or considerate side should say 'good shoot', 'well played' or 'good game' a little bit more often.

People remember the angry players one more.

@Bigboi500: As an online FPS player i can tell you that the only game that makes me want to rip my eyes out is any CoD game. Though i haven't played for 3 months now, i was just tired of being angry all the time. Most of my rage comes from unfair deaths, or just thinking they're unfair. But i get angry a lot in single player games too, when i get stuck in a level i panic and think i will never finish it and start getting frustrated, that's just how i've always been with everything. :/

@Bigboi500 If you are being kicked in your own hosted game then it sounds like the players you are going up against are just upset that they don't have your skills? I don't know? There could be many different reasons to why people do what they do, but unfortunately we all here do not possess a PHD in psychology so its difficult to understand why. In my opinion, its how the person was raised. Many parents sheltered their children into believing that nothing bad will happen in this world and these people (who are now adults) don't understand that what they say or do has real-world consequences. When it comes to competitive gaming on the other hand... it all stems back to video gaming is one of the easiest used outlets for someone to control almost everything. If they can't control the outcome, they become easily frustrated and take their aggression out on the first person who "defies" them. I received my fair share of bashing from players who didn't know what they were doing or immediately accused me of cheating. Take it as it is. You know you are a skilled player...play!

I like Halo an awful lot. I don't always enjoy the vitriol that comes with playing Halo online though.

I was a young man once though. I get it. The immediate satisfaction that comes from calling someone a jerk even though they beat you fair and square. We grow out of that behavior as we get older and become more sophisticated. But if online gaming had been a thing when I was a teenager, I shudder to think of the kinds of awful things I might have said if given the anonymity that young people today are afforded. I'm a bit of a smart ass anyway, even in person. I can only imagine how it would have been if the fear of a well deserved ass whoopin' weren't involved.

But there is a reason we call this behavior "adolescent". Because it's part of growing up. If the me of today met the me at age 18, I'd probably hate that guy. The online world just allows "that guy" a place to be heard, for good or ill.

When I do get the urge to play online shooters, I don't bother to use the headset anymore. I also don't play team games anymore. I'm there for my own amusement, so I play the Lone Wolves playlists and stick to playing alone unless people I know are also playing. That's the only way I'll team up. :)

Because the skill cap of shooters has decreased to the point of everybody being able to develop a sense of entitlement as opposed to spending the first year getting their ass kicked.

Got some more hate mail last night, again just for trying to have fun and being better than them. I've had enough of these people, and I'm tired of just putting them on the block list. I don't mind light-hearted taunting or bravado, but the insults and cursing are just too much so I've started filing grief reports on these people. I hate doing it, but maybe losing their PSN accounts will be best for everybody.

People that take competitive gaming too seriously usually abuse others and think themselves king in the gaming universe and above others, unlike reality where they run and hid in little corners like the little bitches they are.

Exactly why I don't play online very often...

They feed their ego everytime they get a kill so of course when you pawned them, they get angry at you.

Why are there so many sensitive online players? If anything it's essential to the health of a human-being, being able to overcome negativity. It's always going to be there anywhere you go.

I'd say the exact opposite when it comes to people who introvert themselves so much they aren't able to overcome differences and don't try to get along with one another (at least the person is acknowledging you). Talk to these individuals, find out why they are mad and don't provoke them. We're not all horrible people, ya know? Shit-talk is a part of the culture. You'll find it in nearly ALL facets of a competitive community whether it's in-game or real life.

Also, brag more would ya? People at the top get a lot of hate and in most cases those at the top will talk a lot of game as well. You are pretending you don't fit that profile yet are doing the same thing right now. Talking shit about them because you happen to be soooo good.

I'll break it down for you though if you want. It has to do with demographic, location and how they were raised and who they are friends with. We are all different. Perhaps having the luxury of screaming **** a million times with no repercussion could benefit you. It's not all bad, people who are mad are at least expressing emotion. You need to seriously get over yourself, the world isn't out to get you, dude. We need to quit ruining everyone's fun. Part of this is meeting some where in the middle. Stalking harassment is bad. Being over-offended is also bad.

I've said the absolute worst as well as the best when it comes to gamers online or people in real life. You grow from it, it's not something that can be prevented because it's all a part of figuring life out. My suggestion? Speak with them directly and manage your problems. DO NOT spread total bias garbage online so everyone has to pretend like it's a number one threat. I'm going to assume the post was genuine though and that you didn't know any of the things I'm talking about previously. You aren't dumb but I'm not either.

@MattPeters: Whether you're talking about society or gaming, or anything for that matter, rules are put in place for a reason. No one is entitled to act aggressively towards others without accepting the penalties. Sony has a code of conduct policy, and when you curse at, threaten or attack other users you're in clear breech of that policy and accepted conduct.

As I said I'm all for taunting and competition, but there's no place anywhere for personal abuse.

Taking up for immature and psychotic users is flawed logic. People that can't behave civilly towards others always end up being taken away from the community.

Having a nice amount of tolerance is needed on the net, but you can only have so much. Pretty sure you've seen yourself how obnoxious some players can be. If you walk in a hostile environment for the first time, do you sprinkle love and candy all around the place to befriend anyone? Chances are, you wouldn't. You just don't come back. On rare instances, you'll try and point it out to them, but they always regard it as an attack of sorts. They won't let you win. And they'll go with an absurd amount of effort to prove that you're wrong.

No idea why they're doing those things. Maybe to satisfy their humor and/or ego? We could only assume.

These people have to know what they're doing. And I do agree that understanding is a two-way path, but it's hard to do that when these people aren't willing to sit down, listen, and actually talk about it in the first place. Unfortunately, this rarely works on the net.

@tempura13: Let people express their feelings then call them out on it. Censorship never works because the silenced aren't allowed to hear their point of view. I don't want anyone to feeling bad but they need to know that everyone you meet is a potential friend or else what's the point. I like to surround myself around those who are smarter than me despite how stupid I may sound at times. I think part of the solution is being personal with people instead of ignoring them. Some people play violent games and are exercising a fantasy instead of causing actual physical harm. It's not that they would but playing any video game comes with a bit of roleplaying. Nobody want's to hurt anyone in a physical stance, it's just words.

I can agree to that.

I guess how you express yourself is a big factor, and first impressions may make or break it.

Another weekend of playing online, more unsolicited mail. At least this time it was just clean taunting so no probs there.

I decided to join a clan that a friend invited me to, but after a few days of playing with them, I found out their leader is a total douche racist so I resigned. Finding good players online to play with isn't so easy.

I have never really experienced this so... *shrugs*

The folks that did a lot of heavy Online MP Shooting as ice breaker for college dorms and commuting classmates usually stuck to LANs. (And this is part of reason why.)

I' know a friend who can't stop getting harassed and threatened for winning in Streetfighter 3rd Strike. Because he often wins as 'Sean' and not someone obvious like 'Akuma'. I guess one can only tell those haters to 're-evaluate their lives' so much before it goes nuclear.

@Bigboi500: You're not the only one, man. My little brother get hate mails while playing online fighting games to the point of beyond ridiculousness. As for online FPS games, I'm really lucky I haven't received any of the hate mails. Plus, I barely play online FPS games these days for the reasons some users here at Gamespot had stated. Online FPS Gamers detest losing with a passion. But sending other players hate mails creates more problems.

No offense dude, but you clearly don't understand the definition of "competition". It means "trying to win, trying to be the best". Nobody likes to lose.

If there is something that pisses me off from most online games (FPS), is people like you (no offense). Seriously, if not arrogant like "I'm the best of you, just because I kill you", is the people who simply don't take the game seriously and it's like "yeah, let's grab some fun" and then when they receive a message, they run away instead of facing them.

Do you know the best FPS online multiplayer system ever? It's called Halo 3. And it is because it had two different lists: Social (for people who want to "have some fun") and Ranked (for people like me who takes the game too seriously). Everybody had their time with these two lists, because they were playing what they wanted, and eventually Halo 3 was the best multiplayer game ever created.

Unfortunately, most modern FPS are social craps, the competitive is no longer, so why are you surprised of receiving those "insults"? Also, if you are receiving them is because you are doing something that pisses somebody off (and you won't deny it), like killing him many times, stalking him, camping whatever. The lack of ranked matches make the people who want to be serious about the game, enrage. And how not if you have a bunch of rookies playing on your side who only kill 1 and die 27 times, and the other team is an entire clan? How not, if 99% of these games are social craps?

I seriously got the hell out of multiplayer after Killzone 3. Tried KZ Shadow Fall and is a social garbage. Not to mention the COD craps, or Halo 4 which is worse than all of them. Battlefield 4 could be the "best" nowadays, but it sucks too. So, seriously dude, and don't take this as an offense, but learn the meaning of "competitive" first.

Because competitive FPS games, especially CoD are designed to cater to people who just want to hop into a game and kill stuff & release a lot of their anger by doing so. If they can't kill stuff and keep getting killed, their anger will be directed elsewhere, this is not a justified reason but just my theory. But this isn't only common in competitive FPS it's found in a lot of other competitive games.

I have noticed something important, I think. I used to play COD4 in 2008 and kept playing it for a long time, and it didn't have any reporting system, so basically getting a hate massage wouldn't affect the sender, but I rarely got any massage, and I kept playing COD4 for about 3 years. But when the time went on and COD started to become so popular, the issue of hate massages started to appear, I noticed it when I went back to play a game in MW2 (I didn't play it for long because I didn't like it so much) and a guy sent me a hate massage because I killed him many times. So yeah, I think the main issue is that some people get so invested in the game that it affects their ego when they lose, especially after the move toward making games an esport to make the games more popular so that companies would make more money out of them, and I think that impacts the fun factor of the games so much.

they just hate the fact that a guy who plays only on weekends is beating the guy who plays whole week.. :P