In my first few hours of the BFBC2 beta... I was told to "shut up" when I asked if the mics were working. I was then yelled at by one of the people in my 4 person squad because I spawned on his position and apparently "gave his position away" (why was he even in a squad???). Needless to say, my initial impressions of the game are not positive (regardless of the gameplay). I had a similar reaction when I first played COD4 online and had two guys carry on a conversation about how n00b females shouldn't be allowed to play COD and that a test should be done to ensure all players had balls.

In short, I can totally understand why some people's impression of online gaming in the shooter genre is a negative one and I can also understand the reticence of joining in when you aren't an experienced player or when you've purchased the game several weeks or months after release and most everyone is at a higher rank. There's a natural fear or discomfort of spending n00b time with a black and white respawn screen being yelled at and mocked by veterans (who apparently bought the game on launch and played 24/7 so they were never n00bs!).

The biggest factor for myself when online gaming is "community". Some games seem to attract the "I is HARDCORE! One shot should kill you, we want vote to kick to get rid of n00bs" type players... while other games actually seem to attract a more relaxed, friendly crowd that helps out the newer players. My question is WHY?

Why are PS3 UT3 players friendly and fun? Why are most of the gamers that stuck with the MAG beta willing to help each other out, share knowlege and work as a team? Why do Warhawk gamers naturally seem to talk game instead of trash talk? Why does nobody talk much at all in Battlefield games... and why are COD gamers apparently filled with testosterone induced rage?

To some degree, game design might provide part of the answer. Many games nowadays reward the longer term players with perks, better armour, more health, more options... which in itself is intimidating to newer players starting with the generally crappy base loadouts, and additionally most games have only a very negligible nod towards teamwork. Killzone 2 "should" have been a very team based game and they got most everything right about the game... except they award points for kills and not enough points to make the objectives worthwhile. In short, it's better to simply sit and camp the objectives than it is to try and achieve the objectives. In fact in most of the current FPS games, getting personal kills IS the game - even at the cost of teamkilling or your team losing.



I think that Warhawk was one of the few shooter games to break with this tradition. While getting kills is important, someone can actually play the game and come in first on their team without getting any kills at all (particularly in Zones games). Warhawk also thought out dependencies... you really do need the rest of the team coordinating in order to win or even achieve personal points. There was teamwide voice chat which encouraged this strategizing, calling out of enemy positions and a general teamwork atmosphere. Having been in the MAG beta for quite some time, I can see that this too will be a game where a solo player sitting camping for kills will very rarely do as well as people that work as a group to achieve objectives. TF2 is yet another game that relies on teamwork.

Devs need to seriously consider the types of gamers they want to attract.. not just with game design, but also with advertising, graphics, community features and trophies/ingame awards. In the interim, the rest of us will just have to seek out communities that play games the way we want to play them. For people who haven't tried online gaming or want a "fun" online game to play that they don't need to devote their life to... here are a few tips:

1. Play with friends. If you don't have friends, find a fun online gaming group. Guess what... we have one right here on Destructoid! Check out the Friday Night Fights... from my experience Dtoid'ers are always open to welcoming someone new to the game or genre and will be helpful in giving pointers and just making it a fun experience. If you want to learn to play a specific game, ask in the forums, or start a casual game night for the game.

2. Check out the game's forums (specific to your console). This will often give you some indicator as to the type of people that play the game. The Playstation Warhawk forums are filled with threads such as "can someone mentor me", "Congratz to...", "Any suggestions on how not to die?". This is a community of people willing to help each other and support each other. A quick look at the COD playstation forum shows threads such as arguments over camping, theads such as "sickest kill", "your highest killstreak" and general whining, complaining, bragging and detailed arguments over the best gun.

3. You get what you give.
It sounds simple and it is. In general if you're an abusive asshole on the mic, you'll attract other abusive assholes. If you are friendly, fun and a team player... you'll tend to find similar people. Don't be afraid to speak up on the mic. In general, most games do tend to have more of those "nicer" players than they do assholes. Speaking up encourages others to turn on their mics and also speak up. It works for MAG! I've met some of the nicest people in the MAG beta and hope that this community personality persists through the actual game release.

4. Consider trying online co-op games initially. Games like Resistance 2, Left 4 Dead, Uncharted 2 and others offer co-op play where people work together against the A.I. These games just seem to attract a more laid back crowd.

5. Beta test! If you get the chance to participate in a game beta, don't be afraid to speak your mind. Often the vocal minority of avid, more hardcore gamers are the ones that monopolize the beta boards in calling for competitive clan features, functions like "vote to kick" which can kick low ranking players off the squad, and more competitive game functions like fewer shots to kill, or more perks for longer term players. People that want to say "keep the game friendly for more casual gamers that actually have a life and a job" or "don't let competitive clans dominate" are often afraid to speak up for fear of being mocked. The devs sometimes end up listening to the vocal minority and these are the people that end up populating the game. Be honest in your feedback. If you are new to FPS or online games, let the devs know what you like/dislike and if you find anything confusing. If you find that clans make the game more difficult to play, let this be known so that devs can either create features that keep clan players separate from weekend warriors, or so that they can either mitigate the impact of clans or cater to this audience. There's not much worse than jumping into a casual game only to find out that the entire opposing team is one clan! This will ensure that at least somebody is speaking for those many people that just want to jump into a game on the weekend and play.

I was lucky. My first online gaming experiences (aside from the 56K dial up wonder that was Phantasy Star online for the Dreamcast) was Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror on the PSP - with voice chat and friends. I was part of a gaming site and was encouraged to try online gaming and my first experience was with some very patient people who helped me out, showed me how to do things, laughed at my mistakes with me, and just having fun. From there I joined in on their weekly online gaming sessions with various PS3 games. It wasn't until the past year or so that I ventured out on my own and started just jumping into random games. I've always used a headset and can't even imagine gaming without one. In general, I rarely encounter problems... but every game is different in terms of the people that play, so don't give up on online gaming if you happen to try a game like COD first - not all gamers are like this. I'm sure that there are even some very nice people that play the game... it's just that the asshole % is very high.

If you haven't tried online gaming (or had a bad initial experience)... do give it a try, but do note that each game tends to have it's own community - not all online gaming experiences are alike! It really can be a wonderful experience where you can meet some fantastic people and have a lot of fun... a shared fun that is just not really possible when playing a game by yourself (unless you're schizophrenic I guess).

So give online gaming a try... make friends, kill people! :)