Things you learn about yourself from video games

[weemadando]

Another one - I'm the guy who will spend 20 minutes crawling prone across the very edge of the map/through the most convoluted but well camoflaged areas to get behind you and stab you in the back you CHEAP SNIPING FUCKERS.

[Tolya]

The "I tried it fifty times, it's the absolute last thing they'll expect me to do this time" school of FPS strategy seems to have really good attendance among the bulk of online FPS players.

Personally I call it "Lemmings school of gaming".

[Lord Revan]

I seem to end up in positions where I'm responsible for the groups survival in MMO's (Healer and tank) and in FPS and RTS I seem to prefer a slow and patient approach over zerging people asap.

the MMO part is kind of ironic as in RL I hate being in the spotlight or being responsible for anyone but myself.

but still I enjoy playing those roles.

[chitoryu12]

I've generally always been the support guy. In, say, Battlefield: Bad Company, I'll usually grab a sniper rifle and sit a good three dozen yards from the battle in some foliage and pick off individual soldiers, or I'll jump on the artillery (the fact that it's the most fun thing to do in the game has NOTHING to do with it). During a game like the Insurgency mod for HL2, I'll pick up a light machine gun, set it up just behind the main assault, and have everyone duck and fire as I hose the space above their heads.

This is all the opposite of how I play real-life games (Like the Hard Knocks arena in Orlando), where I'm usually right at the front or rushing around to flank an enemy. This is aided because I'm a dancer, so I'm very good at moving my body and I've dodge rapid point-blank shooting because I moved so fast, he couldn't hit my sensor, yet I never moved more than two feet from where I started.

[chitoryu12]

Goddamn those limited editing times!

One thing I forgot to mention was that I get a real thrill out of scaring the shit out of people, and this shows in my gameplay. In Left4Dead I had one guy screaming into his mic when I hid in a tiny room as a hunter and pounced on him as he entered, and I love messing with people as 617 in The Hidden mod for HL2.

[Venator]

I tend to turtle beyond compare in RTS games, and I gravitate towards longer-ranged classes in MMOs. For shooters, it's mostly tactical, cover-to-cover, keep things at long range.

I think Far Cry 2 has been a great indicator of my mood, if not teaching me much about myself - sometimes I'll go in all tactical like with a dart (silent) sniper rifle, get sneaky kills, finish things off with a suppressed handgun or high-tech, aimpoint-fitted AR-16.

Other times I go for leg shots with a conventional sniper rifle so I can hose them with a flamethrower as they stagger for cover.

It really just boils down to whether or not I have a biochemistry assignment at the time .

[Singer]

RPGs: I am way too obsessive-compulsive. I can't allow myself to play games where it's easy to break characters; Elder Scrolls and Diablo II being good examples. If I play games like that then I end up spending way too much time worrying about doing everything right rather than actually having fun.

FPSs: I like guns with a faster rate-of-fire much better than guns with a slower ROF. I really don't like stumbling upon an enemy and then dying because I missed that first critical shot.

Fighting: I like picking the characters with terrible movesets except for their one or two overwhelmingly awesome moves. I do this mainly because it cuts down on the time it takes me to get into the game; memorizing a dozen different button combos takes too much time and isn't fun.

RTSs: One vs. one games used to make me incredibly tense. Calm and relaxation comes to me much easier as I've gotten older.

Games in general: If there is some sort of random selection option, I will use it. I've learned to do this since I always end up changing my character/race/side/whatever within a few rounds of play anyway.

[Oscar Wilde]

Another one - I'm the guy who will spend 20 minutes crawling prone across the very edge of the map/through the most convoluted but well camoflaged areas to get behind you and stab you in the back you CHEAP SNIPING FUCKERS.

God, CoD4 was fucking built for that shit. I had this one guy pissed at the end cause almost all I did was rush him with UAV Jammer and a silenced Skorp, getting streaks everytime.

He knew I was coming, but didn't know from where.
At the end "who the fuck was the noob camping me?"
Me: Wasn't camping you fucking tool, I kicked ass on the whole bridge.(Wetwork)

[Peptuck]

I've discovered while playing RTS games that I'm very much the methodical, thorough type. I tend to expand through the map steadily, strangling the enemy by grabbing resources and harassing their harvesters or whatever. Or if I'm playing campaign, I just tend to slowly spread across the campaign map until I hold all the territory outside the enemy's base, and then crush him under waves of heavy units.

I'm kind of the same way in tactical strategy games like X-COM, where I tend to move slowly and blanket the entire map with fire and explosions.

In FPS games I'm almost always support. In TF2 I play Engineer and Sniper almost exclusively, though in the latter's case I tend to follow behind the main assault and pick off enemies one by one while they're preoccupied with the Medic-Heavies.

[Civil War Man]

I tend to be the nearly psychopathic player who either uses way too much high explosives, a giant penis-extension weapon, or both.

I will use a rocket launcher at pistol range, and be surprisingly effective with it considering that I often blow up myself as well as my target.

I'm also the pilot of the erratically spinning vehicle that has somehow managed to go all this time without dying in spite of the enemy's best efforts. On good days this will be because this erratic spinning somehow causes the vehicle to run over any enemy that approaches.

In MMOs, I'm the drunk Alliance guy streaking through the Horde capital.

In other RPGs, I'm the guy who somehow manages to completely avoid the consequences of his actions. Either someone else ends up taking all the blame or the destruction my characters leave in their wake is so complete that it's impossible to gather admissable evidence from the wreckage.

[Alan Bolte]

From my rare attempts at commanding a game of Allegiance, I have learned that I should not be put in charge of other human beings.

[thejester]

In real life a mixture of laziness, conservatism and cynicism keeps me from doing even relatively mundane things and in front of the computer/tv/cup of tea instead. I find online it's the complete opposite. It's full ahead and if that means I soak up the oppositions opening grenade salvo then so be it. I find myself screaming at all my camping teammates "GODFATHER BELIEVES IN THE VIOLENCE OF ACTION" and everyone else in the stairway gets a bit upset.

Doesn't stop the dumbfuckers from camping at either end of the map, though.

[chitoryu12]

I've gotten back into fighting games, and I've found that I almost always play as characters with unorthodox movesets, like Brad Wong in DOA, because almost nobody expects what I end up doing. In the Wong example, I'll always end up backflipping, lying down and kicking you in the shins, or rolling around on the ground dodging kicks before flipping back up and hitting you in the face.

[The Vortex Empire]

I seem to be a lone wolf kind of player. In Left 4 Dead, for example, I always find myself rushing through the level and making it o the next event/safehouse almost untouched, while my friends flounder about halfway through the level and get ripped apart by a tank.

[Havok]

All primary snipers are cowards if they can't fight any other way. It's a rule of the internet that anyone who plays artillery, sniper or other ranged units exclusively is a) worthless, b) a coward or c) both. It helps this rule that 50% of everyone is a coward.

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.

[Oskuro]

One one hand, I tend to be a bit obsessive compulsive about securing the area, building an über-base in Strategy games, or thouroughly checking the area in shooters, not to mention cleaning the room for any adds in MMOs.

On the other hand, at times I become really good with a facet of the game, and then go crazy with it (Flamer in RTCW, Humilliation-Fist in Quake 3, Railguns, the HIND in Desert Combat, Dual Pistols in whatever game has them), often dying in glorious ways, and causing plenty of "you bastard" comments.

I'm also obsessive about seeing all the game has to offer, wich usually means playing a couple times through in regular games, but means RPGs (specially MMOs) are my bane as I spend untold hours trying to do everything! (Yes, I both cursed and cheered at the inclusion of an achievement system in WoW).

[Adrian Laguna]

I learned from playing Perfect Dark multiplayer with rocket launchers that explosions make me laugh like a maniac.

I learned from playing most single-player shooters that I am very, very patient, willing to hide for a long time to memorize guard patrol patterns so that I can then kill them one by one with my bare hands.

I learned from playing online FPSs (and real life paintball) that I'm a craven coward who'll hang back as far as possible and hug a wall somewhere while trying to not piss my pants. I also learned that I am utterly worthless as a soldier. When I see the enemy I panic and spray bullets everywhere, and then I get shot. When I don't see the enemy I inch forward very, very slowly, and then I get shot. When I see an enemy and don't panic, I'll take careful aim, fire, miss, and then get shot. On those rare occasions when I don't miss, I was actually shooting at a friendly, and then I get shot.

I learned from slow paced, especially turn-based, strategy games that I am a good defensive commander at the tactical level, and a competent offensive commander at the operational level.

I learned from traditional RTSes that I can't multi-task worth a damn and take at least twice as long as everyone else to do anything.

I learned that I like artillery a lot and prefer to pound my enemies to dust from afar.

I learned from various tactical shooters that I will always get all or most of my squad killed, unless I know where every enemy is before hand, or am allowed to indiscriminately level buildings with explosives.

[The Romulan Republic]

I learned from tactical and RTS games that I am bad at co-ordinating fights on multiple fronts. Part of the problem is an unwillingness to use weak or wounded units as canon-fodder. In a fight with only one front, I can of course (and will) pull back wounded units and play defensively (though defensive play will get you killed in some games due to losing initiative and sources of resources). But if I have to deal with multiple fronts, that's not so easy.

Also, their's my general suckiness at micromanaging. In Age of Empires, I will always build up too slowly, have a small economy and army, and get overrun by those who are good at rushing. At times I will forget about the pressense of some small unit in the middle of nowhere and leave it inactive. I also found that in playing Battlestations Midway, I largely preferred subs or battleships partly because they were slow and few in number. I frankly sucked at micromanaging all the small, fast planes.

Games also confirmed what I already knew about my impatience, and about my utter lack of ruthlessness. I often rush into things without checking weather its really to my advantage, even in turn-based games (knew this already from Chess). And I always feel bad about sending wounded units into battle, or attacking the enemies civilians or wounded, no matter how tactically or strategically wise it would be to do so.

Finally, I've found that I prefer strategies that negate these weaknesses. I tend to like using large numbers of fast, multi-purpose units, and/or a few powerful, durable units.

[The Romulan Republic]

I should say, "help negate." I still probably lose most games more than I win.

Also, I find a certain stylistic appeal in the concept of the decapitation strike. Quick, clean, and devestating. Of course, a good opponent will interfere with such plans, so I don't get to use the decapitation strike approach as much as I'd like to.

[Akkleptos]

Hmmm... Interesting...

RTS: When playing against humans I risk losing because I focus on advancing technology and economy over military. Still I fondly remember that time years ago when I took on that Age of Kings bully no one could beat on a bet and completely anihilated his civilisation, to the last peasant. But I usually try to look after the civvies (my dear subjects ) to the point of match-making ("see this poor fuck, chopping trees in this isolated area, all by his lonesome. Let's make him a wife!")

FPS (single player): lure monsters/zombies/nazis etc to where I can mow them down with a heavy weapon or machine guns. Explore everything (Sighteeing!)

FPS (deathmatch): roam around the Health and Ammo spawning points. Go back and forth between Ammo spawning point and kill zone. Throw grenades!

RPG: Talk to everyone! Touch everything! Get the girl! Drink!

[TheKwas]

FPS: I tend to be a sniper, but a fairly aggresive sniper. I will constantly move and change positions (Especially after playing Medal of Honour: Heros 2, where when you kill someone they view your screen until they re spawn), and tend to push enemy bottlenecks for short periods of time before retreating and laying low somewhere else. I also value living for a long period of time than having a really high kill count. This leads to me having decent ratios, but rarely being the leading player on a map.

RTS: I cheese, meaning I tend to use the same strategies over and over again. However, the strategies that I do use are mine and mine alone, developed over a long period of self-learning. This, I think, is a pretty impressive accomplishment considering that SC and Warcraft (my only real RTS passions) have very set strategies that almost all decent players adopt.

Rome: Total War. I can only play horse-based races. I'm simply waaaay too impatient to wait 10 turns to walk to a neighbouring country.

RPG: Always play the mage and my ego isn't satisfied until my mage can destroy enemies as if it were a god. Sure, I'll die LOTS perfecting a strategy that would utterly devastate a group of enemies, but the self satisfaction that comes with defeating a dragon with a single mage can't be reproduced anywhere else in gaming.

[Shroom Man 777]

I play mostly FPS. I was thinking about it and I guess I don't really have a specific play-style, except that I always move around lot. I have excellent twitch reflexes and good awareness, which are good for close-in work, but I also have fairly good aim, although I'm typically not a very good sniper because I often take bad shots (twitchy).

Mmm... yeah, I love playing CS and popping fools while doing real cover and fire rather than bouncing around like a retard like those bunny hoppers. Moving around and taking low-profile positions around corners, behind terrain and stuff, or moving quick but not right out in the open, and either popping them from a good range with a rifle burst or maneuvering close in to shotgun blast 'em and then going to cover to reload. But I totally suck at sniping.

In retarded games like Quake 3 though, I'm totally a spaz running guns and shooting the fuck out of everything and eating rockets and shit. Goddamn, I love the frantic pace of those games, and moving totally mindlessly like some adrenalin-pumped junkie. ROCKET JUMP! SPLASH DAMAGE! *explodes*

[Minischoles]

In real life a mixture of laziness, conservatism and cynicism keeps me from doing even relatively mundane things and in front of the computer/tv/cup of tea instead. I find online it's the complete opposite. It's full ahead and if that means I soak up the oppositions opening grenade salvo then so be it. I find myself screaming at all my camping teammates "GODFATHER BELIEVES IN THE VIOLENCE OF ACTION" and everyone else in the stairway gets a bit upset.

Doesn't stop the dumbfuckers from camping at either end of the map, though.

I actually laughed out reading that, love the reference.

As for me

MMOs: I'm the healer, always have been always will be. It may be the hardest job, and the least forgiving but I love the challenge of it, of keeping people up against some damn tough bosses, of having to work my arse off to get that sense of achievement at the end (yes i'm one of those people that nerd screams when I get a new kill on a tough boss, particularly in WoW)

FPS: I actually like to think tactically, I get to know my opponents and then set myself up in the perfect firing position to rain down hell on them. Used to work wonders when I played with a group of friends on LAN. That and i'm the guy that will stealth across the entire map, avoiding everyone else, just to camp that bloody sniper whore. Goddamn snipers, hate them all and I like to just spend the entire game noobing it up on them, even if it means i do nothing for the team.

RTS: I'm a very fast, on the fly kind of player. No thought out strategy beyond aggression, i just expand fast and harass my enemy, I don't ever build static defences, if i'm on the defence i'll use my units. Through being a fast expander i'm usually the person with the most cash as well, so i'll end up out-resourcing the enemy.

[Shroom Man 777]

In RTS and DOTA, where you have to think things through, I tend to freeze up and stuff since these kinds of things don't allow you to do things instinctually like in FPS games, so I tend to suck at them if I don't get a helping hand.

I prefer to keep things simple.

[Stark]

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.

Only one of us waits until there's a rocket inflight from another player to kill a boomer before headshotting them.

GUESS WHO???

It's actually fascinating - now that the thread has metamorphosed from 'things I learned' to 'how I view my playstyle' - to read people's excuses for their foibles. I like to hang back away from danger and kill people with simple weapons... because ... um... I have a nervous disorder!

I mean, I lead because I don't trust anyone else to make a decent decision and I expect people to follow because otherwise we'll all die. Operation : Set Hav and Flash on overwatch with rifles, give Chairman a minigun and skirmish the enemy with JSF always works, because everyone's good at something. Most people are just good at 'hiding' and 'running away'.