So I've been getting back into Halo 3 recently. what's the deal with Halo 3? /Seinfeld impression 
 
It's actually not the game which forced these thoughts into my head, but rather the players I've been playing with. I know that the internet has been the go-to destination for as long as I can remember for people to show up and complain about other players online, for that reason I usually don't like to write something about a bad experience I've had online. Nobody cares; everyone has bad experiences. I had an experience today though that was just bizarre. So here's what happened: 
 
I jumped into a ranked team slayer match, nothin' special. So I got grouped up with three fellow Covenant killers. We proceeded to play out the match as usual. I think I finished with like a +8 KD ratio, which is fairly good I guess. So this guy invites me to team up next match. I don't often jump in and play with random players, but I was like OK whatever. I joined his game, we talked some, whatevs. He seemed like an alright dude. He even sends me a friend request (presumably so we could play again later). There was an issue though with the friend system I guess; must have been a strict NAT on his end. So anyways as the friend system struggles to figure its self out, I'm stuck in the guide menu as the match starts. Right off the bat the guy starts flipping out on me. Somewhat understandable I suppose since I was just standing there for about 10 seconds. Once I finally get out of the menus and into the game, I quickly realize that I aint goin' +8 this time. I wasn't racking up as many kills as this new "friend" would like, and he starts saying things like, "Are you TRYING to lose? Why don't you have any kills?". I just kept telling him things like, "Sorry man, I'm trying. I'm havin' a bad game." Long story short, I finished the game with very few kills (like 5 maybe), but my KD ratio was still somewhat respectable as I at least kept myself from dying non-stop. All-in-all a very stressful match. After we were sent back to the lobby, I said something like, "That didn't go very well". This guy says nothing and leaves the game. Two seconds later he boots me out of the party. I just sat there thinking "What the hell...". I have no doubt that if the friend system hadn't crapped up and I had added him earlier, he would have deleted me from his friends list too. 
 
OK. Now's the time that I refer you, dear reader, back to the title of this blog. Go on, scroll up; I'll wait. Scroll back down yet? Good. I mean come on man! One match and you bail? That was super lame. Uggh, people these days. Amirite? What happened to getting together with a bunch of bros. (even random bros.) online and having fun? It just seemed really shitty and I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was an inch away from taking this whole situation personally until I realized I shouldn't even worry about it. I don't want to play a game with someone that's that competitive anyways. That's why it just seems like a bizarre situation. 
 
We need to rally together and bring the fun back to video games! Guys I can't do this without your help. That's why I've started this online petition... 
 
lol, jk. There is a way you can help though: Play video games and have fun doing so. Don't hate on people just because they don't shoot down a UAV in BC2. Don't flame someone for failing to get a kill. Don't send nasty messages telling others how horrible their SSFIV execution is after a match. Together, we can change the world. At least the world of online gaming.
 
¡Viva La Revolución!

So I've been getting back into Halo 3 recently. what's the deal with Halo 3? /Seinfeld impression 
 
It's actually not the game which forced these thoughts into my head, but rather the players I've been playing with. I know that the internet has been the go-to destination for as long as I can remember for people to show up and complain about other players online, for that reason I usually don't like to write something about a bad experience I've had online. Nobody cares; everyone has bad experiences. I had an experience today though that was just bizarre. So here's what happened: 
 
I jumped into a ranked team slayer match, nothin' special. So I got grouped up with three fellow Covenant killers. We proceeded to play out the match as usual. I think I finished with like a +8 KD ratio, which is fairly good I guess. So this guy invites me to team up next match. I don't often jump in and play with random players, but I was like OK whatever. I joined his game, we talked some, whatevs. He seemed like an alright dude. He even sends me a friend request (presumably so we could play again later). There was an issue though with the friend system I guess; must have been a strict NAT on his end. So anyways as the friend system struggles to figure its self out, I'm stuck in the guide menu as the match starts. Right off the bat the guy starts flipping out on me. Somewhat understandable I suppose since I was just standing there for about 10 seconds. Once I finally get out of the menus and into the game, I quickly realize that I aint goin' +8 this time. I wasn't racking up as many kills as this new "friend" would like, and he starts saying things like, "Are you TRYING to lose? Why don't you have any kills?". I just kept telling him things like, "Sorry man, I'm trying. I'm havin' a bad game." Long story short, I finished the game with very few kills (like 5 maybe), but my KD ratio was still somewhat respectable as I at least kept myself from dying non-stop. All-in-all a very stressful match. After we were sent back to the lobby, I said something like, "That didn't go very well". This guy says nothing and leaves the game. Two seconds later he boots me out of the party. I just sat there thinking "What the hell...". I have no doubt that if the friend system hadn't crapped up and I had added him earlier, he would have deleted me from his friends list too. 
 
OK. Now's the time that I refer you, dear reader, back to the title of this blog. Go on, scroll up; I'll wait. Scroll back down yet? Good. I mean come on man! One match and you bail? That was super lame. Uggh, people these days. Amirite? What happened to getting together with a bunch of bros. (even random bros.) online and having fun? It just seemed really shitty and I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was an inch away from taking this whole situation personally until I realized I shouldn't even worry about it. I don't want to play a game with someone that's that competitive anyways. That's why it just seems like a bizarre situation. 
 
We need to rally together and bring the fun back to video games! Guys I can't do this without your help. That's why I've started this online petition... 
 
lol, jk. There is a way you can help though: Play video games and have fun doing so. Don't hate on people just because they don't shoot down a UAV in BC2. Don't flame someone for failing to get a kill. Don't send nasty messages telling others how horrible their SSFIV execution is after a match. Together, we can change the world. At least the world of online gaming.
 
¡Viva La Revolución!

Wow, what a dick. I agree that so many people get way too mad about teammates. When I play BC2, it's either me and a cool squad who all resupply/heal each other or me and some dudes who run around willy-nilly and yell at me when I don't get in their helicopter they'll usually crash into a wall. Obviously, the former is way more fun and satisfying. But yeah, just being friends with you because you're good at Halo is kind of messed up.

They are fun for everyone, some people just like to win. 

Yep I agree, gotta have fun!
I don't talk too much with random strangers on Live but when I do I try to keep a good group together, it makes for great games and doesn't limit itself to Halo.
That guy was a typical asshat tho, had the same with some american kid (he was a bit too proud to keep telling me he's american) which practically started screaming when I got sniped twice from my spawn position.
 
Fun stuff.

" They are fun for everyone, some people just like to win.  "

" Yep I agree, gotta have fun! I don't talk too much with random strangers on Live but when I do I try to keep a good group together, it makes for great games and doesn't limit itself to Halo. That guy was a typical asshat tho, had the same with some american kid (he was a bit too proud to keep telling me he's american) which practically started screaming when I got sniped twice from my spawn position.  Fun stuff. "

Yeah I think getting a cool Halo posse together would be the best way to play. I could even start a clan and name it the the "American Halo 3 team of Americanized Americans!". Catchy. "

Ah don't worry about it. I've encountered a few guys like him before but most of the time we just ignore him. Or do what I do. Deliberately play bad and fucking shove it in his FACE!

" @JJWeatherman said:

Yeah I think getting a cool Halo posse together would be the best way to play. I could even start a clan and name it the the "American Halo 3 team of Americanized Americans!". Catchy. "

AHAA!  Is this our chance? "

" @JJWeatherman: Halo 3 is 3 years old now, so anyone who's still playing that game regularly is gonna be really into it. Not to mention Halo isn't COD, if you lose in Halo you rank down. It's just a more competitive game than any other console game, so it attracts that kind of player. "

" Ah don't worry about it. I've encountered a few guys like him before but most of the time we just ignore him. Or do what I do. Deliberately play bad and fucking shove it in his FACE! "

" @eroticfishcake said:

" Ah don't worry about it. I've encountered a few guys like him before but most of the time we just ignore him. Or do what I do. Deliberately play bad and fucking shove it in his FACE! "

I do that, and put my headset mic next to some speakers playing crappy 80s songs. "

YES, I've played some League Of Legends lately, and man..... There some whiny dudes out there. We once started the match saying "GL HF" and a guy on the opposite team replied "HAHA N00bs".

I know what you mean. I was trying to play some Uno this weekend, and now I'm pretty sure that the internet is made up of complete assholes. Excluding present company of corse. And this was just from Uno. UNO! What is the world coming to when you can just have a fun game of Uno with so complete strangers? 
 
EDIT: Also a lot of people are crazy serious about ranked matches in Halo 3. 

We've all had our share of bad matches, I don't understand why that fucktard got all butt hurt about one loss.

Well written. I rarely play games alone with random people on Xbox live anymore, I just stick with friends and generally have a much better time. If somebody starts raging over such a tiny thing like that the best thing to do is either to mute them and carry on or to laugh in their face.

" Well written. I rarely play games alone with random people on Xbox live anymore, I just stick with friends and generally have a much better time. If somebody starts raging over such a tiny thing like that the best thing to do is either to mute them and carry on or to laugh in their face. "

" YES, I've played some League Of Legends lately, and man..... There some whiny dudes out there. We once started the match saying "GL HF" and a guy on the opposite team replied "HAHA N00bs". "

" I know what you mean. I was trying to play some Uno this weekend, and now I'm pretty sure that the internet is made up of complete assholes. Excluding present company of corse. And this was just from Uno. UNO! What is the world coming to when you can just have a fun game of Uno with so complete strangers?  EDIT: Also a lot of people are crazy serious about ranked matches in Halo 3.  "

The first time I ever played Left 4 Dead, I played like anyone would: I stayed with the group and shot fucking zombies. It was my first time playing and I was the first to die. Whatever.
 
Anyway, when the next round started, one of the guys I was playing with shot me a few times in the head and killed me. He then said, "I want you to lay there and think about what you did." Then he ran off to, presumably, take on the whole mission with three people? I don't know. Anyway, I told him that he was an idiot and left the game. Maybe I did something wrong, I will never know. That guy was still an idiot though. Also, it's the internet. You can't be upset when people are idiots. 99% of the people out there are idiots. I prefer single-player games where you don't have to deal with that.

I recently had a similar experience in StarCraft 2. I started a 2 vs 2, and I was matched with another Protoss player. We decided to do a Zealot rush. I did my best, but they built a pretty sizable defense before we could get there. Our forces got wiped out, and then my teammate just snapped. Blaming me for the "tragic loss", he exploded in a fury of personal insults and profanity, and then started attacking my Nexus with every unit he had. Obviously he was some kind of sociopathic maniac, so of course I didn't take it personally.

" @JJWeatherman:   I rather see a "Happy happy fun fun gamer fun game fun club fun....fun" :P "

Well, playing with friends is probably the best way to avoid stuff like this. Going in alone in H3 is never a great experience, especially in the ranked lists. I would recommend playing with no headset or muting verbally abusive players.  
Or you could always stick to the "fun" playlists, like Grab Bag or Action Sack.

" Well, playing with friends is probably the best way to avoid stuff like this. Going in alone in H3 is never a great experience, especially in the ranked lists. I would recommend playing with no headset or muting verbally abusive players.  Or you could always stick to the "fun" playlists, like Grab Bag or Action Sack. "

Yeah, usually everyone is a dick in ranked matches. You should try playing in higher ranked matches in the MLG playlists... it's downright awful.

 @JJWeatherman:  if you don't have any maps, it might be worth considering getting a copy of ODST. The campaign is quite short, not worth full retail, but getting all the Halo 3 maps with it is nice.

I met a group of really decent guys from all over the world and we used to play Gears Of War together every night for 3 or 4 hours. None of us were fantastic but it was a great atmosphere and everyone was pretty forgiving - so long as you didn't dick around - and we actually ended up winning most matches just because we were helping each other out and communicating properly. We then moved on to Modern Warfare, then Gears Of War 2, now Modern Warfare 2. I have known these 5 or 6 guys for almost 4 years, we are on first name terms (real first names -____- ) and we still talk on facebook or msn frequently even if we aren't playing as a group. 
  
I have always said of xbox live - sometimes you have to mine through a mountain of shit to find one nugget of gold. 
 
More recently though I have only really been playing with people I know from giantbomb or the IRC. Skill level stopped mattering to me a long time ago, and so long as you are having fun I don't really care what the outcome of the match is. 

Man i hate when i get those messages in ssf4 when i lose. I KNOW I SUCK DONT RUB IT IN.

"  @JJWeatherman:  if you don't have any maps, it might be worth considering getting a copy of ODST. The campaign is quite short, not worth full retail, but getting all the Halo 3 maps with it is nice. "

That always happens people party up with you then quit if you lose a match, they could at least play a few games to see what the win/lose would be. I stopped playing ranked Halo 3 games a good while ago but even in the social playlists there is still dicks.

they are fun broski

My dimestore non-professional analysis of why this kind of thing happens is this (and it's not "people are asses").

• Road rage.  This happens when people equate their personal worth with their driving success, which is something they often have no control over.  So anything that hampers their driving is now a personal attack on them.  In his eyes, you were hurting his ranking which is essentially him.  Plus the usual time wasting.
• You are replaceable.  From an economic standpoint, internet people are free to acquire.  It's like pirating games.  If you pay $50 for a title, you are likely to give it more than 10 minutes before you move on.  But if you paid nothing, you have no incentive to keep with it to justify your purchase.  When you blacklist an internet person there is an essentially bottomless pool of replacements.  It isn't like you are kicking out a friend you sat next to for a year in school and created a real bond with.
  

Video games are supposed to be fun, that's why I generally play single player stuff and stay away from the online. Not that that is bad. Its just not really my bag and bullshit like that only helps but keep me away.

Once i was playing Bad Company 2 and we were attackers. We filled the blackhawk up and started to go.  Then all of a sudden the pilot jumps out of the chopper in order to land on a camping spot. The pilotless chopper crashes into the forest and kills 4 teammates.  This pissed us off so much when the blackhawk spawned again i got in and as i sorta rammed into him and killed him.  We left the server having got our revenge. So we joined another game and started playing normally. Then all of a sudden the asshole from the last server joined our game and started teamkilling us. He actually joined us from recent players list just to teamkill us and grief us.  Everytime we quit a game and went to a new one he would join and keep killing us.  This was outright abuse we couldnt enjoy the game because of a single asshole who couldnt stand losing his camping place that he killed a good portion of his team to get team to get to. He sent me about 6 hateful message and kept joining our games for 2 hours and teamkilled us.  Hardcore mode does open up teamkilling but i would never play Bad Company any other way.

This is one side of the Halo community that people don't often see but if you get onto the Bungie forums I assure you, you will discover that the elitists are out there. Don't get me wrong, the Halo community isn't all 12 year olds and uptight level 50s, there are some good people out there but the kind of player you've talked about often makes me want to tear my hair out.

Really lame of him to do that. I haven't played with random people in so long because of stuff like that.
 
I've been wanting to possibly back into H3, but pretty much everyone I've ever played with is into other games at the moment waiting for Reach.

Yesterday me and my buddy off our steam community felt like playing some TF2 before sleeping. I get dominated, once.. as a sniper, by a demoman. Dude says "[WAR] is low clan". I'm like we're not a clan, just a friendly gaming community, and he goes on "[WAR] is low community"  

What does that even mean?? 
 
sigh

I'm happy even if I lose, as long as it was a fairly even game (even number of players on each team, no glitches etc). Also everyone sometimes will end up with a bad game, that guy is clearly too invested in the game.

"YES, I've played some League Of Legends lately, and man..... There some whiny dudes out there. We once started the match saying "GL HF" and a guy on the opposite team replied "HAHA N00bs". "

This is precisely the reason that i don't use a mic on live - for every genuinely nice, friendly person, there's an angry, rage quitting idiot.

" Well, playing with friends is probably the best way to avoid stuff like this. Going in alone in H3 is never a great experience, especially in the ranked lists. I would recommend playing with no headset or muting verbally abusive players.  Or you could always stick to the "fun" playlists, like Grab Bag or Action Sack. "

" @Darksaw said:

"  @JJWeatherman:  if you don't have any maps, it might be worth considering getting a copy of ODST. The campaign is quite short, not worth full retail, but getting all the Halo 3 maps with it is nice. "

Well after checking the playlists out, I may have to get the maps. I'm not joking when I say that I can only play 3(!) of all the available playlists. I can play Team Slayer and Lone Wolf in Ranked, and then just Social Slayer in the unranked playlists. It's ridiculous!"

This is why I usually only play in parties with friends
Although at the start of Halo 3 there were some nice people who didn't care
People get way too competitive over games

As long as I finish in the top half of my team, I feel like I played well.  I mean, only one person gets to be first, and frankly I don't have the will or skill to be that person.  So as long as I can do better than average I feel I did well.  And as long as I don't get ganged up on or play like an idiot, I have fun.

4realsies, that sounds pretty common in Halo 3. I had plenty of people screaming and trash-talking players who weren't getting many kills. Its real sad, people taking it so seriously...
 
I had my moments of getting really pissed off, but i didn't take it out on my teammates...

This sounds like Jeff and Ryan's conversation during the Bad Company 2 TNT; games need to be about having fun and playing to have fun instead of being littered with a bunch of over-competitive assholes who just care about the numbers at the end of the match and nothing about the amount of "fun" they are having.  I get that to some people being competitive is the only way they can really have fun, but instead of just focusing on how much they're winning they could try and compete with other players on the basis of who can do the craziest or most awesome thing during a match regardless if they win or lose (EG: Ryan getting a full helicopter and then having everyone jump out at the last second so that he could crash the whole helicopter into an enemy waypoint.)

I think the best way to have fun in halo is custom games of infection and such soo much fun! The ranked team slayer is more for serious i wanna get to general guys, i've also gotten back into halo lately but just been playing with my friends.

Some people get way too worked up.

This is the reason I mainly only play with people I know in real life. Way too many dicks on XBL

That's the kind of thing that makes me avoid trying to make friends with random XBL dudes, heh.

Maybe you should play Social Slayer, and let the big boys play ranked.