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  • heydawg321
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Title Score
Mass Effect 9.0
Resistance: Fall of Man 9.1
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 6.7
Dead or Alive 4 8.7
Project Gotham Racing 3 9.4
Call of Duty 2 9.1
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 10
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! 9.1
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6Dec 07

Cunning game plans or conversation?

Recently I have come to the conclusion that I must be apart of some rare breed of online gamer. Perhaps it's that I spent most of my online multiplayer time playing Starcraft still or maybe that I need something to motivate me. I'm not sure what it is, but if it's the latter, it's definitely not the online community motivating me.

I have always thought that voice chat, especially for shooters, was to co-operate and co-exist as a unit. Come up with a game plan, execute and celebrate. I think that there is a lack of this in todays online games. The most enjoyable online games I have ever played were Starcraft: Brood War and Socom: US Navy Seals. Both of those games had something in common that I don't find anywhere else, discussion about strategy and the game itself. For example, if I play Call of Duty 4 on my Xbox 360 and I join a random ranked room, chances are the ongoing discussion, if there is one, isn't about the game. It's usually just a conversation and generally about something racist and offensive, especially if it's Halo 3. I always seem to be the only one concerned about playing the game and coming up with strategy.

What made Socom and Starcraft so great was that it was all about the game. In both games, joining a clan was the way to go. You would join up, rank up a bit, get to know everyone, than go to a clan war and kick some ass. It was great. Nothing was better than being in a game on Socom when your outnumbered 6:2 and through superior teamwork and knowledge of the map, you pull off a victory, and than next game be congratulated, it's nostalgic just to think about it. Starcraft is a little different, but is relatively the same. You play the game, you win or lose and than you can watch the replay, discuss it with some friends and think about what you should have done and what to do next time. It was great and I feel a little sad typing this because I don't get that atmosphere with newer great games.

Yes, I am a rare breed indeed, a dying breed too I fear. Now I wait patiently for the next Socom, hoping it can emulate it's great predecessors and that I can be satisfied with it's community. In conclusion though, let me make myself clear that conversation is an integral part of online gaming. Without some personal discussions and just regular talking, you usually cannot connect on a level with teammates or clan mates so that it is exciting when you both succeed. However, I used to enjoy when that took a backseat to strategy, nowadays it seems all games are two door cars, and I have a hard time squeezing into the back.
  • Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:00 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 30 Comments

30 Comments

  • ruff_edgz

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 11:24 am PT

    I'm totally with you on that most people don't like to talk about the game at hand to get better or to "strategize" the current game at hand... I find that more people who are friends, in a clan or whatnot will do the strategy more so then those who are playing a random ranked game with random people. For me, I like to win and the more we talk to others about what is happening in the game the better to win. I always talk about ingame stuff unless we are just killing someone badly. Oh well, good observation and I don't think you are a dying bread but more 'special' then anything

  • gforce1071

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 11:41 am PT

    I'm with you on this. Do some people do random chatter because they've played so much that strategy is automatic to them? I've played with some people who hardly have to think about what they're doing and still beat most people they face. I agree though that a more friendly chat environment makes it more pleasant. I've played online Halo at a friend's place and found the chat to be very unpleasant. It's why I haven't bothered to get online service at home.

  • Bozanimal

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 11:56 am PT

    There are more of us out there than you think. If you see my handle in any game, don't be shy.

  • kamicolo

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 12:07 pm PT

    I'm not a big fan of the voicechat on some FPS. You play Halo (any) and what you get is a twelve year old saying racist comments and using such obscene language; it's ridiculous.

  • Sick3r

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 12:23 pm PT

    Socom is all about strategy man. God I love that game. Anyways, I completely agree with you. Planning out the objective is key to sucess in most FPSes and other games too. Some FPSes are just about going out there, and doing your thang.

  • delcidanddarth

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 12:42 pm PT

    Some of the problem may be with the instinctive habit of excluding others. What person wants to discuss a game with others if the first comment is going to be "Go away, noob." In reality, generic social attitudes (and mostly negative ones, at that) are catching up with technology, which is only exaggerated by the inclusion of "guilds" in most online games.

    I think it's not so much you are a dying breed. There are just as many, if not more ppl online nowadays that like to discuss strategies and approach games from an appreciative angle... it's just we're being diluted by masses of jerks.

  • SuperIntendent

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 12:59 pm PT

    Agree... I like to play halo 3 with friends i know online. That way I'm playing with people that want to strategize, adjust to the situation and not be jerks when you we either win or lose. That's what I always liked about voice chat. My personal favorite game to voice chat in any of the Splinter Cell games. Chatting up in that game is essential for good results.

    The worse is when some people drop the N word out like they're badasses. In reality they would never say it a random black person's face. I never understood being such a jerk online. It's just a game.

  • HumanTorch101

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 1:38 pm PT

    I will be the first one to welcome you to the next generation of online gaming. I don't like all the stuff that goes on but I rarely play online since I have so many good single player games to get through.

  • mldlds

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 1:59 pm PT

    I KNOW! The lack of teamwork is completely amazing. I have seen pee wee softball teams with more organization.

    Being online gives people a sense of security and isolation, so they are okay with being total tools. If they were talking to the same people face to face, it would be very different. This isnt always true, but in any case if people used respect and actually cooperated, it would make playing online more rewarding by 3 fold.

  • Dasilva90

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 3:06 pm PT

    Dont worry. StarCraft II will cure your problem.

  • VenDaler

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 3:11 pm PT

    Looks like I'm not the only one with some great memories of socom. Great topic to write about.

  • drim_vells

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 3:17 pm PT

    You're not the only one who feels this way. I will rarely put on my headset if I play a game online. It's pointless to hear the game ruined by such immaturity. That's why I stick with clans. At least you know everyone there.

  • Vegito992

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 4:47 pm PT

    I agree with you on this. As well as the lack of communication in games if one person takes, say a sniper, and the second guy wanted it, the second guy might shoot the first guy just to tell him that he wants the sniper. That's really messed up IMO, especially when the person has means of communicating to the team mate. For example in Halo 3 when I played on Live I would communicate with my cousins because they were right beside me and we didn't want to use the mic just cuz. Thinking up strategies is actually pretty fun, instead of just trying to kill everyone you see, it feels like there's more skill than just aim and shoot and occasionally jump to avoid as many bullets possible. Using your brain with teamwork can work better than just those skills.

  • aj99987

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 7:11 pm PT

    Right with ya there. All the smack talk and other crap just seems to be a growing thing. But, playing Team Fortress 2 brings back the good old days, if only a little bit, because you have to use teamwork in that game, or you'll just lose. Games that reward the player more for their entire team winning than just one person getting the most kills seems to bring out more teamwork and communication.

  • Anonymoe

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 8:08 pm PT

    I agree on the lack of teamwork.

    There's probably a reason why those two games have more cooperative people. They're less popular, so most of the people left over are the ones dedicated to the games.

    Both Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 are really popular so you get the people who don't care about tactics mixed in.

    I more or less gave up trying to get people to cooperate.

    Instead, I tend to try and focus on psychology. Ignore the conversations (which I agree tend to be racist or homophobic a lot), and think of where that person will go. Warp your strategy to fit the people you play with.

    Basically if you can't get them to cooperate, try figuring out what role in your plan they would play, and perform the other role...

    Shame though, people just don't cooperate too much....They just get out there and shoot. That's fine on team deathmatch games (I contribute there), but on other modes it's shameful with the lack of communication

  • Demokk

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 8:33 pm PT

    I agree 100%. It makes the game not only more fun and enjoyable, but also every match an unique experience. My only problem is that I'm a bit shier than I think I should be.

  • Dirk13

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 8:35 pm PT

    Everyone thinks they are part of some rare breed, something special, but they arent.

    The fact is though that if you're going on Xbox live, you're going to find some of the trashiestl ow rent use of a microphone ever. It wasn't that much better before, but now any shmohawk with a console and has a voice, and as a liberating as that sounds, it's what it was always destined to be, a juvenile message board on a steroids.

    You want a special breed of behavior??? I'll let you in on what I do. I wear the headset when I can tolerate it....but I don't plug it in. I then preceed to yell whatever I want at the screen, just like we have always done, even before our consoles hooked up to the internet......

  • wh1te_m4trix

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 9:09 pm PT

    I second your opinion man...I too used to play socom, great teamwork, yet to this day I still think it had the best online community of any game so far, Socom 2 followed its success with teamwork and strategy planning, specially on clan wars, then came Socom 3 and everything deteriorated, I also feel nostalgic typing all this , I bought Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the xbox 360 thinking it was gonna have such a successful teamwork tecnique as Socom...I was very wrong x.x The game that I could say stands next to Socom would be Rainbow Six: Vegas, because still I find some games where its all strategy and planning talk. Anyways, I congratulate you on such a great blog...I support you %100 on your opinion.

  • Cwagmire21

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 10:21 pm PT

    Very true, very true. Strategy convo in games is almost non existent. The true tactical shooter is almost gone too. 2 great elements of games are on the decline. Unless I have a IRL friend playing online with me - I don't even plug in my mic. I'd rather not hear all the racist comments, or people singing horribly.

  • goallie

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 10:49 pm PT

    Honestly, I don't overly enjoy strategic conversations in a game, sure it's cool sometimes, but for the most part when I play online it is just to have a good casual time discussing whatever with my teammates.

  • herziel

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 4:24 am PT

    I have 200 hours of Battlefield 2 and 400h of Battlefield 2142 and maybe I've been lucky but people there talk about the game. Sometimes it's not anything really useful, just a complaint about some situation or a question on how to use this or that gear or gun but in any case, it's about the game. Maybe it's because the games are ranked and if you are there you probably trying to advance your character? For the record I'm usually playing South & North American servers and some European ones.

  • Mad_Professor_X

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 6:11 am PT

    totally agree with you . specially on that starcraft part . i play sc on a almost daily basis since 9 years . strategy and friendly chat is really one of the main assets that made sc and still makes it feel great when playing .

    now lets hope nintendo hears this conversation

  • Lostboy1224

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 10:07 am PT

    Strategy wins games, but if your not a noob to the game then most of the time you already know where to go and what to do. Some times games get a little boring when you take your assigned position and just sit there and shoot who ever comes your way. I prefer the lone wolf / team player approach. That way when things aren't going right you can make a surprise attack from out of now where and get your team back on the winning track. Nothing like being the Silent Assassin, and I love the mute button on the 360 cause these little kids are pretty annoying. Good topic though...

  • SopranosFan

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 10:12 am PT

    There are dozens of problems online. First is all of the jerks I have been playing games since the original Mario Bros and before. And have beaten every good game that I set out to beat that was worth playing but I haven't done much online team games because of the constant stupid chat, so I am not very good at team based fighting. Usually when I am online I don't talk and I often don't even listen. I just wish that as someone else stated about not talking that way if they were face to face. I wish they act like they were sitting beside the person.

  • BoogieManZero

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 11:16 am PT

    I agree with you but I've noticed that Team Fortress 2 has a lot more game focused chatter than the rest. I'm not sure why, but it is probably because you are forced to cooperate or fail.

  • devfiz

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 11:28 am PT

    I agree totally, except SOCOM 2 is full of cheaters. People that take 4 headshots, or double jump, corner jump, or any other magic jump. The best voice chat game I ever played was Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal.

  • onimushu

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 12:55 pm PT

    Well in the mean time, I would suggest picking up either Battlefield 2 or 2142. Perhaps the latter is better since it has more balanced gameplay, but regardless, if you find a good server, there are plenty of people who want to use VOIP/teamspeak/xfire/ventrilo to cooperate. Try tacticalgamer (TG) servers on 2142, they're all about teamwork; in fact, if you don't join a squad within 90 seconds, the server auto-kicks you. Now how's that for forced teamwork?! And 70%, ALL of your teamates have mics. I'm personally waiting for Frontlines: Fuel of War because it looks like the next step in the massive online-FPS genre. If you want to play sometime, my xfire is OXY4BF. See ya on the battlefield, soldier!

  • kutty12000

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    Recently I've had some success with strategizing in World in Conflict. Once my entire team had mics and our co-ordination was absolutely brilliant. I too wish more games emphasized on voice chat, although I feel it's only necessary for team games. What's the point of it in a DM? Keep your smack talk to yourself, kthxbai.

  • daveyf03

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 3:51 pm PT

    About 75% of the time in games with microphone support I have absolutely no interest in what anyone has to say. There are also times when some one tries to discuss strategy only they are an absolute tool and wrong, and can't be convinced otherwise.

  • toy_soldier_13

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 9:34 pm PT

    Yeah, I hear the N word on CoD4 way too much. So many rednecks play that game it's almost ridiculous. Anyway, I'd like to say that the only way I find I can strategize these days is when I'm playing with friends and/or playing World of Warcraft. I'm pretty much with you on this one, although I think that voice chat is entertaining sometimes, albeit very distracting.

My Recent Ratings

Title Score
Mass Effect 9.0
Resistance: Fall of Man 9.1
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 6.7
Dead or Alive 4 8.7
Project Gotham Racing 3 9.4
Call of Duty 2 9.1
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 10
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! 9.1
Battlefield 2 8.1
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs 6.3
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