The good experiences
I posted previously about my experience with World of Warcraft. When I first started off playing WoW I mostly played it as a single player game. I ran around and did quests mostly. But then I realized I was missing out on a huge part of the game and decided to check out dungeons and raiding (this is before the days of the dungeon/raid finder). It was a struggle at first, but eventually I fell in with a good group. Probably the best/most fun experiences I have had in gaming were downing raid bosses in WoW. There really isn't anything like working as a group to figure out a boss, wiping a lot, and then finally downing it and waiting for the loot. I've also met some really awesome people in WoW who I wouldn't have met otherwise. I will fully admit to doing very little PvP when I played WoW. Every time I entered a battleground it seemed like everyone was more interested in sniping at each other rather than successfully working together. Not fun.
The bad experiences
I am not a big player of shooters. I've never been into Call of Duty or games of that type. I played the BioShock series, does that count? When Left 4 Dead came out I decided to get on the shooty-game wagon. A game where you get to slaughter legions of zombies...I'm down. I tried it out on my own with the AI and found out it is almost impossible to accomplish anything. So I decided to take the plunge and try it out on multiplayer. Everything went shockingly smooth for several games. Then it all came crashing down in a magnificent fashion. I got into a game and discovered I was grouped with what sounded like a very vocal twelve year-old. (I don't mind if kids play games. Kids should play games--maybe not L4D.) From the second we started off he/she was spitting out orders like he/she was the next general Patton. Our little group managed to make it through the first two maps fairly easily.
On the third map everything came crashing down. Our group encountered a tank in an awkward spot. A long narrow place where it was difficult to find good shots or get out of the way. The tank proceeded to bulldoze us down amazingly quickly. General Patton Jr....went........off.....the........wall. 12 YEAR OLD NERD RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm censoring this because GP Jr. had a potty mouth and this is a family blog). "You guys *$&% suck!" "You can't handle one $*%&%&% tank!" "This is the worst !@$%%# group I've ever played in!" Meanwhile, the rest of us, who through the entire two and a half maps hadn't said a word just stood around in silence. The tirade continued after we had been placed at the beginning of the map to start over--and it wasn't going to stop. So, I did a bad thing....Did I cuss out some 12 year old with anger management issues and probably more than a little ADHD? No. I shot him right in the face as we stood in the starting area. "WHAT? WHAT DID YOU ##$*%&% do? YOU $*%*)#!*$!" Then I promptly left the game and haven't played L4D since. Which is a shame because I really like L4D.
Now, looking back on my actions I sort of regret them. There was most likely an option to mute the little turkey and that would have been a much better choice. I don't believe in griefing or trolling or generally ruining someone else's gaming experience and I had just done exactly that.
In the end I guess it comes down to your own personal preferences. I like co-op multiplayer. I would much rather work together with a group than compete with other players. Can I say that a new gamer should absolutely avoid multiplayer? No, I can't. You really are missing out on a unique aspect of gaming. My advice would be to find a group of friends to play with or friend people you meet in-game who you enjoy playing with.
On the third map everything came crashing down. Our group encountered a tank in an awkward spot. A long narrow place where it was difficult to find good shots or get out of the way. The tank proceeded to bulldoze us down amazingly quickly. General Patton Jr....went........off.....the........wall. 12 YEAR OLD NERD RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm censoring this because GP Jr. had a potty mouth and this is a family blog). "You guys *$&% suck!" "You can't handle one $*%&%&% tank!" "This is the worst !@$%%# group I've ever played in!" Meanwhile, the rest of us, who through the entire two and a half maps hadn't said a word just stood around in silence. The tirade continued after we had been placed at the beginning of the map to start over--and it wasn't going to stop. So, I did a bad thing....Did I cuss out some 12 year old with anger management issues and probably more than a little ADHD? No. I shot him right in the face as we stood in the starting area. "WHAT? WHAT DID YOU ##$*%&% do? YOU $*%*)#!*$!" Then I promptly left the game and haven't played L4D since. Which is a shame because I really like L4D.
Now, looking back on my actions I sort of regret them. There was most likely an option to mute the little turkey and that would have been a much better choice. I don't believe in griefing or trolling or generally ruining someone else's gaming experience and I had just done exactly that.
In the end I guess it comes down to your own personal preferences. I like co-op multiplayer. I would much rather work together with a group than compete with other players. Can I say that a new gamer should absolutely avoid multiplayer? No, I can't. You really are missing out on a unique aspect of gaming. My advice would be to find a group of friends to play with or friend people you meet in-game who you enjoy playing with.
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