Things you learn about yourself from video games

[Flash]

LOOK MAN!! I am just good at sniping and I like providing cover. Plus, it's cool to watch someone blast a bad guy five times with their shotgun, then snipe him in the toe and steal the kill.

...not that I would ever do that.

Fucker.

I've learned that Hav, Stark, JSF and the Chairman are a bunch of cunts.

I generally prefer support positions. I may not have the highest kill count (often due to kill stealing motherfuckers), but I soak up a lot of damage, and generally distract the enemy so that the team stays alive. In MMOs I prefer to be a tank, in FPS i'll be a heavy weapons guy (also sniper, as needs demand).

I have also learned that my voice can provide great amusement to certain americans.

[Alyeska]

I split our little discussion off to Testing.

Link

[Stark]

In that spirit, I guess I should mention that I'm both competitive and easily frustrated; a bad combination that makes pub games either extremely amusing or a horrible flame-fest. Trying to play Saints 2 multi with stacked teams = RAR YOU BASTARDS.

[Ryan Thunder]

I've learned that Hav, Stark, JSF and the Chairman are a bunch of cunts.

What, you didn't realize he was already?

[Flash]

I've learned that Hav, Stark, JSF and the Chairman are a bunch of cunts.

What, you didn't realize he was already?

Ha. Stark has been one of my best mates for 15 years now. I'd worked it out.

Back to the OP. I'm more suited to puzzle and driving games than twitch shooters. I don't have the reflexes for them, although for some reason I don't have that problem in arcade racers, like Burnout.

Like Stark, I am incredibly competitive. I get angry VERY quickly, but tend to calm down quickly as well. I will repeatedly fail a section or task, and won't stop until I succeed, or get so frustrated I am at the 'hurl controller across the room' stage of angry. I know how i'm going to die - multiplayer Burnout Paradise is going to give me a heart attack.

[Thirdfain]

To answer to the OP:

The essential thing is, if the question comes down to what you want most or what your team needs most, going for what the team needs will win it for you every time.

I hate rushing, but in a 3v3 WC3 game, if you fail to back up the initial rush which your team mates are going for, it'll fail and you'll all lose. So, if my team-mates go for it, I go for it.

In TF2, my favorite classes are Heavy and Demoman. I get a real thrill out of big kill counts and mowing down screaming hordes of Blu bastards. However, I've recently started checking to see if my team is deficient in any of the important classes- A mess of pyros, demos and soldiers but no medics? I'll be shooting glowy beams for the next 15 minutes. Are we on the defense, and there's only 1 engineer? Toss me that wrench, even though I fucking hate baby-sitting sentries.

I've noticed an overall increase in wins through this- one guy going medic on a team without any can sometimes turn the tide. I enjoy that slight twinge of pleasure after twenty minutes whacking my sentry (hot) more than I enjoy cutting the enemy to pieces with a relentless hail of hot lead, but losing the match.

[RazorOutlaw]

I guess I'll continue my last post since I ran out of time.

Although competitive gaming seems to be where most people learn about themselves when I take a look back at most of the RTS games I've played I realize that I have next to no experience playing online. I played Starcraft for months on end, but a fraction of that was against other players. Most of the time I was attempting to break myself away from the habit of cheating (I completed the entire single player game by cheating because I was twelve or so and was too good to lose and then had nothing to show for myself online) but that also required me to get over the fact that I was terrible. So I gradually moved from Use Map Settings, to Comp Stomps, to finally a precious few games against a human opponent. That's where I lost the most, of course, but after giving an honest look at how I play my strategy games recently I realize I've never changed.

If I can pull the strategy off I will build an ever-expanding network of static defenses just because that's how I'm used to playing and from those defenses I'll attack the enemy. If the attack fails then I attempt to retreat, if the retreat is wiped out then I at least have layers to protect the main base and its economy. I just did that the other day with Soulstorm and again with Supreme Commander (well, the former was more just to get the game over with but the latter was because I didn't know how to deal with how big the game is). And of course I wonder why some games take so long when a much more ruthless approach would be more effective.

[The Yosemite Bear]

FPS: I like exploring/playing around. Include some gimmic item and I will go for it like a ferret with a shiny, I will also try to get into just about everywhere. I have broken a game or two, (actually getting into spaces which I shouldn't be able too, namely through rocket leaps, and other tricks)

[RazorOutlaw]

I'll echo the sentiment of wanting to explore. As a kid I loved to poke around in Quake to see the architecture and if there were any creepy images on the wall (one was a giant painting of Christ, albeit a gothic depiction) and Unreal Tournament/Unreal was also a big offender. The game world were big and often presented interesting vistas. When Morrowind/GTA 3 came out I literally went insane looking at everything I possibly could.

[18-Till-I-Die]

I learned that i'm a fucking coward.

I grab the nearest sniper weapon, if an effective one is available in the game, and hide so i can pick off enemies in my own time. That's probably why i like games like Turok (2008) where they have an effective assortment of sniper weapons--eg, the pulse rifle, tek bow--and for once a truly functional stealth system that is not easy to circumvent.

Everyone calls me a camper. Because you know, we should all run screaming at the enemy with no strategy and obviously it's MY fault i have the ability to hit targets without auto-aim (sarcasm).

[TheFeniX]

I've learned that even when dealing with NPCs in RPGs, I can't be a dick for no reason. I can't tell some person begging for help to "Fuck off" when it takes little or no effort to help them. Now, if they give me good reason, I'll blow their head off with no qualms. But being evil for the sake of being evil is just stupid in my book.

I've learned that many public players can be brought around to work with their team if you put in the effort. This goes back to TFC and some newer games, but I despise pubbing for the most part. When I'm forced to in Left 4 Dead, as long as someone has a mic, I can usually get them to quit ramboing and work together. My friends list on XBLive has increased by about 10 people just due to me leading a team and doing our best to win.

I've learned that I will sacrifice my score for the sake of the team with no thought about the former. In a team game, the individual score is worthless. If winning is your angle, only the score at the top matters. If I can buy my team enough time to capture an objective or run a flank by firing wildly and eating lead: sign me up and leave some space in the spawn queue.

I've learned that one well-timed shot to the back of an unaware player's head is much more satisfying than those fired into their chest.

Related to Natural Selection: I've learned that, in the future, Space Marines have to get by with pump shotguns.

[chitoryu12]

I've learned that even when dealing with NPCs in RPGs, I can't be a dick for no reason. I can't tell some person begging for help to "Fuck off" when it takes little or no effort to help them. Now, if they give me good reason, I'll blow their head off with no qualms. But being evil for the sake of being evil is just stupid in my book.

Yeah, that's a problem for me as well. I can just never bring myself to give the mean responses, and it's hard for me even when roleplaying an "evil" character or psychopath, though it's not really because it's more worth it to help them. Just that I feel like a total shit if the characters are well-developed enough. Sometimes I actually feel bad being an asshole to a little old lady made of pixels with a brain of code lines.

[Raj Ahten]

Whenever I play a FPS I find that I'm always adapting my strategy to how others players do things. For instance in COD4 when everyone runs around like crazy once a radar goes up, I'll have the UAV jammer and run around myself getting people when thy are out of position and not expecting me. I also tend to pay very close attention to how people move around on a give map. Even if there are multiple ways to get around, inevitably most people end up taking the same routes every time. It makes flanking a lot easier. I love nothing better than when my team slightly sucks and ends up getting in grinding gunfights with the entirely of the other team. This gives me the opportunity to run around like crazy on the paths no one else seems to be using and flank the entire enemy team.

I must also admit I am a grenade whore and in almost every damn game, even in one where grenades aren't that good, I'll use the crap out of them. Usually either to ambush players at the start of a match when I can throw grenades where I know they will be running to or I will volley all my grenades in tight situations.

[Exonerate]

I find that how riskily I play is directly proportional to how competent I am in that game. When I'm not very good at a game, I try to play optimally, and as I get better, I start taking larger and larger risks. In FPSes, I'm very proactive/aggressive, meaning I don't like sitting around, waiting for something to happen, I find things to do. I'm pretty stubborn, even if I know there's an ambush, I'll say "fuck you" and force a confrontation. It doesn't matter if I'm outnumbered 3:1, because I will prevail, goddammit. I do have limits on what I'm willing to engage - they're just much higher than the average player. I do things hard and fast, and as far as I'm concerned, the only reason to go soft and slow is so you can go harder and faster later.

Oh, and it occurs to me that such things are better shown than told - people should start posting replays/videos or something.

[Stark]

We need to record some Hav/Flash/Stark/JSF/etc Gears games.

[Havok]

We would need to actually play again. How many can multi on Saints 2?

[Alferd Packer]

Hmm, I think I've learned from FPS' that I enjoy a support role more than anything else. Probably because I've never been a really good FPS player. I am good, however, at laying down covering fire, vaulting people up on ledges, and checking what's around the corner.

From strategy games, I've learned that I can come up with some pretty innovative stuff on the fly, though it sometimes doesn't succeed.

From rhythm games, I've learned that sucking at a game can be fun, too. Especially when you're listening to some good music.