I'm British by birth, and I must admit that screaming obscenities into a headset while trying to play videogames doesn't appeal to me. Apparently this is something not exclusive to your humble writer, with Valve recently concluding that Brits are too quiet.
"One thing I wanted to add before I go for you Brits: communicate. Don't be scared of a microphone," urges Left 4 Dead 2 writer Chet Faliszek. "You guys are notorious non-talkers on both 360 and PC. Americans are just chattering away, working together as a team. If you want to work together as a team you've got to talk!
"You can go into a random 360 game on US servers and it's crazy talk. It's fun. I think a lot of people knock that community but again and again I'm surprised by how fun that is. I've played expert campaigns where by the end of it we're best buddies. Realism mode will prod you -- you have to talk. If you don't talk you're not going to make it. Instead of being harder, Realism's actually more challenging as a team because you have to communicate. When a Smoker pulls you off somewhere you've got to yell because nobody can see where you are.
"The first time you see people play somebody will go in a house to get some stuff, turn around a be like 'sh*t, I can't see anybody'. It's a scary feeling. We'll see if that maybe stimulate the British sternness."
I don't think being "stern" is the problem. Ever since moving to America, I have learned that the natives of this fine land are yet to learn the gift of shame, and I believe this is what allows Americans to chatter inane crap all the time when I'm trying to play some videogames. Give it another five-hundred years, and I believe Americans will have achieved the ability to self-reflect. Then I don't think they'll be talking as much anymore.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
8:40 AM on 11.05.2009
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Buuuut I guess that's only the case on Xbox Live, huh?
Granted I don't own a console and play my games on a PC so I don't have a huge range of voice chat experience over different medium. But I, like most other people I know, have always been on the assumption that most the people that use voice chat in random games with strangers were babbling idiots.
Totally agree! The amount of times simply speaking has caused me to receive a huge amount of random insults for no friggin' reason is enough to keep us quiet. It's for this very reason that I only ever play with actual friends online - been this way for about four years now. Thankfully I have a solid group of people, both British and American, that I play Left 4 Dead with, so we'll be all over Left 4 Dead 2 and not run into these issues.
Your average American LIVE user aren't exactly the most welcoming of players. The bastards.
LIVE sounds like it's like youtube... if everyone was speaking with mics instead of typing. FUCK that. One would think PC gaming would be the same, but it's just not so in my experience. At least not with TF2.
I've been playing at a fairly large CS community for years and we've got a few British members. Our community is completely based on talking shit to each other while playing games and a lot of Brits have come and gone but a handful have stuck around. The ones that leave generally do so with fuss because they can't handle it. The ones that stay sling just as much shit back if not more. The same things happens with Americans, Mexicans, Canads, French Canads, Germans, the filthy Dutch, Danes, and various Scandinavians.
I find it wholly unfair to both of our nationalities to just label his as an Americans VS. Brits sort of deal. While I won't deny that being British has an innate higher chance to proc being a wuss, but people from all over the world have their own tastes and to be honest there's nothing wrong with any preference of play style (except being British).
Americans are the worse ever.
Journalism.
"Give it another five-hundred years, and I believe Americans will have achieved the ability to self-reflect." I see from this statement that you are an optimist...
And they don't even talk.
And thats what the anonymous masses are drawn to. Someone sounds different. ABUSE HIM!
Fact o' life.
They DO talk... but you're right that they don't tend to trash talk or scream obscenities. Many seem to like to "chat" - the usual "where are you from" type stuff... and they also talk game strategy. They're a ton of fun to play online with!
(oh, and this is PS3)
They were not quiet. They were MAJOR lolz, but they weren't trying to be funny.
"SHOOT THROUGH THE DERRRRR" <-(door) In a high pitch, squeal like voice, over and over. It had me and my friend laughing so hard we could barely play.
Maybe it's only older Brits, but even so I've had lolz conversations with some.
USA USA USA
I've often felt ashamed to tell anyone I game, because I don't want to be seen as one of the many, many, many idiots who swear away worse than a Tourettes sufferer and constantly spit out the worst racist and homophobic sayings around.
Valve thinks we play together more as a team? Sure, if we get a game together with people we know. But a room of strangers...my experience has been one in maybe every five hundred gamers I come across ever played as a team and/or had a friendly demeanor.
These days I don't wear a mic. I still do my best to back people up or revive and I actually do try to work together instead of being concerned with my kills at the end of a round. But my days of communicated through actual talk...good people were SO rare and the negativity so great, I'm staying muted.
Maybe I just need British people on my friend's list, lag be damned. I think Jim hits an accurate point, those bad behaving gamers do have an incredibly large lack of shame, humility or respect.
So the mic stays in the drawer with random match ups.
Also, can we get a confirmation for that Add to Friends link? I just added someone because I'm retarded and click randomly while moving the mouse.
Having said that I still don't spend much time talking about my feelings and favourite colours with that weird guy in the lobby who wants to chat about how much he likes cats.
I never knew about the "realism" mode...must be because I'm so pissed at PayPal at the moment, but still, sounds fun. Too bad they don't have vocal chat cut out randomly when being choked by a smoker or something.
I hate talking online
Unless with friends