NineToez.net

Let’s first start with the definition, shall we?

team·work /ˈtēmˌwərk/

In a recent online gaming match where the object is to play together as a team for a common goal, I told a long time friend and squad mate to shoot an enemy instead of running toward him to get a knife kill. As someone who has over 800 knife kills in this particular game, I know how satisfying it is to get knife kills, but I do them when flanking the enemy and when they least expect it; not running toward their field of vision where their only reaction is to shoot.

Well, his actions and decision to run into “the middle of the street” to possibly chase down that one knife kill just as I spawn in on him, got us both spotted and killed. We lost the round shortly after and I commented that their negative kill/death is indicative of poor decisions and bad habits. Granted, I didn’t say it like that, but that’s what I was getting at.

While it’s just a video game and no one is “going professional”, I spent my money to buy games to win them, have fun, and play as a team whenever possible. I don’t think that any boxer or professional sports team has the mindset of losing every match they have with continued bad habits, or they wouldn’t be successful. His retort was that he bought the game and can play it any way he sees fit; while this is true, my intention isn’t to ruin anyone’s experience or fun, however he seems to constantly run into trouble when facing enemies. Whether it be a knife kill or running toward a tank with C4, I’ve seen him run into their field of vision where 8 times out of 10, he gets killed in the process.

So why the post on this you ask? Because in objective play where you only have so many lives or “spawns”, you’re wasting valuable TEAM tickets with poor decisions and behavior like this and maybe some have forgotten what it means to play together as a team. It’s not just once or twice, but this is many times in ANY particular round. A negative KDR, or kill/death ratio, is indicative of your play style not working. If this was a pro sport, a coach would yell and bench you; I’m no coach and am not trying to be, but rather I’m trying to guide and help by acknowledging a bad habit that if corrected would actually benefit everyone, especially the player.

His reaction to my comments since he felt as if I was attacking him was to turn off the game instead of reasoning why I felt that way. Again, I wasn’t ever rude or disrespectful, but I was disappointed. He is set in his ways since he won’t take constructive criticism and acknowledge what is really best for team play as well as for himself in the long run. He got offended, and I can understand that, but far be it for me to push my thoughts onto someone else.

Play the game, have fun, but if others around you are saying stop being selfish by running around and trying to knife kill everyone (they don’t help the team; they only benefit you) while the enemy can see you running in their field of vision, you get yourself in trouble every time and make for a bad spawn point for your squad. That’s not smart team play, that’s selfish and it doesn’t help anyone.

Let’s get started with the gaming community as a whole and their love of whining. If you’re a fan of any game and the developer announces changes that aren’t to your liking, remember that they have an entire ecosystem to keep in mind; not just you.

Since I’ve been a long standing fan of the Battlefield series, I’ll use it as an example. I’m sure most will agree that the USAS + frag rounds are the most hated combo in BF3. Fans bitched, DICE listened and will be nerfing aforementioned combo in a yet to be dated patch. Fans are also kind of split with the MAV elevator use and depending on what side you’re on, you’re either applauding or pumping your fist.

Now, just because your favorite exploit is being nerfed or patched up doesn’t mean you spend the rest of your days trolling anywhere possible to display your disgust; be a man, man. If the balance of something is way off for the community, they have a responsibility to equalize the field for the masses. What, did you think you’d seriously continue your entire career with the same load out each time, with a ridiculously artificial KDR? You’re not the only one that’s paid to play, so learn to pick a new load out and stop depending on your crutch.

If it isn’t using n00by and known overpowered weaponry that causes online arguments, it’s the cost of things. Most gamers are cheap bastards and we’ve gotten accustomed to look for the easy way out (cheat codes anyone?). Game publishers and developers have been fully aware of this, however they have taxes, salaries, property leases, insurance, royalty payments, music licensing clearances, distribution costs, etc. just like any other business incurs, making them no different to most other business models. Since most of the bitching and whiners are under 22 years old, money isn’t exactly aplenty with that demographic… and apparently neither are brains.

When you enjoy your favorite game online with friends, keep in mind the gods of gaming didn’t just wave a wand, enabling online play. The publishers bought the equipment, networking services, and staff to have them there and surprise; they all cost real money. When you “save a few bucks” by buying a used copy, the publishers and developers also lose a few bucks when you play online. How? They profited from the original purchase but when it’s sold or traded and that entity must profit to make it worth their while, the publishers don’t see a penny of that recycled purchase. However they’re expected to still provide the servers and back end to support your play at no additional cost to you, right?

Your online pass now makes certain that you buy new so the money stays within the publisher cycle to keep providing these services we enjoy ongoing. Think for a moment; if you worked your balls off on a project that many loved and enjoyed, however all you got was high fives and lots of Facebook friends saying what a great job you did, how long would you continue to support it with no income?

First, I apologize for not mentioning this earlier since the timing now seems bandwagon-ish, however I’ll admit I never imagined the awareness against SOPA would have grown this large. If you’re anything like me, you use the internet daily for entertainment and convenience, so I’m sure you have heard of SOPA and/or PIPA by now. I’m aware there are still those that use the internet daily in some capacity, yet have not heard of SOPA or PIPA, or just unaware of what they are or even how they feel about it.

Today, some of my favorite sites have gone dark in protest against SOPA such as Wikipedia & reddit however while SOPA might have its own demons and is almost dead before it hits the legislation floor, it is an election year and lobbyists can potentially revive it if they chose to. Don’t bank on this just going away while it seems to be down just yet, remember what’s at stake here in the grander scope of things; money. Mammoth entertainment firms in film and music stand to lose billions if SOPA and PIPA pass.

While to you and I, the internet consumerists, the fundamental of this bill is appalling, but remember who is actually voting on our behalf at the House of Representatives; old men and women that are severely out of touch with technology and don’t understand how it works or how it is, just who is their lobbyist and have they received their portion of the money lately to vote for or against something.

Do something, now. I have.

Paul Christoforo

If you don’t know this name by now, invest the 10 or so minutes to read through a post from yesterday’s Penny Arcade. This is a true, modern story of an alleged “David v. Goliath” of sorts. Goliath in this case isn’t a super massive corporation, but a grown man that claims to be the president of a social media public relations firm in an email exchange of words when a consumer was simply trying to get a straight answer as to the whereabouts of his order.

Couple of things I want to mention because this entire ordeal has been brought up in many, many other forms of media including websites, blogs, web magazines, twitter, Facebook, etc. First, Ocean Marketing (or Ocean Stratagy or Ocean Deep Sea… and yes folks, that’s how he spelled it) is a public relations firm hired by the inventor of this device known as the Avenger Controller, so the angst of this “movement” should be solely directed at Paul, not Avenger. While I’m not sure how Paul got this contract since he clearly can’t spell nor compose simple sentences with proper punctuation, and for a man that’s 38 years old, married, and father of a little son, that’s pretty sad.

I know everyone wants to succeed and be a baller, but this is a clear case of a man who has taken his opportunity and squandered it with his own lack of intelligence. How ever he made his fistful of dollars previously, I’m fairly confident that his next opportunity won’t be so willing to hire him on that quickly if they just simply Googled his name from here on out.

He’s now officially a meme and has been parodied on YouTube, mostly for his lack of professionalism, gross misspellings, blatant self promotion, and negligent attention to customer service.  When Dave, his customer, writes in to gather information, he addresses him as Dan at one point. His lengthy and rather pointless banter about knowing industry executives, like they’ll come to his rescue, should Dave pursue any legal or anti-promotional or defamatory campaigns, just sound like Paul was trying to bully his way around a scenario he truly felt he was in control of originally.

Moral of the story, kids? Karma is a mother fucker and treat others with the respect you would wish in return.

Additional reading:

• Know Your Meme
• Nates Network
• Kotaku

Unless you’ve been hibernating the last few days, you may have heard by now of the latest gripe from interweb citizens; YouTube has changed, and it sucks. Anytime something is drastically changed, we tend to get all soap opera drama queens and rebel. Change is how anything evolves, including you. What, you still think Ricky Schroder is hawt or play with Legos?

YouTube is quickly replacing traditional media that we’ve grown accustomed to as television. With TV, we must sit and watch what content it displays. You just have to pay attention during those hours when they’re aired, or record them to a DVR for consumption when you’re ready to watch. What if you want to watch a specific documentary right after you’re done reading this, what do you do? There’s Netflix, however there’s a subscription cost. Then there’s YouTube that hosts millions of videos ranging from how-tos to outright feature films and just about anything imaginable in between.

Mind you, the content on YouTube hasn’t changed, however the format in which our PC browsers display videos, suggestions, channel activity, etc. has changed. Change is good. Change means that growth was recognized. Change is inevitable. So if you’re one of the many bitching that the new YouTube sucks, too bad. I dig it and it’s easier to navigate to find information not to mention eye pleasing. Don’t worry, in a few months, you’ll get acclimated to it and forget all about how you hate the new YouTube… until it’s changed again later.