You know Dexter17 really is wonderful. Here’s another guest piece from him on teenagers.
What does the term “teenager” mean to you? For me it serves as a positive indication, but I know that many members of the online gaming community would hasten to highlight their contrasting connotations. For many online players the mere contemplation of a teenager comes with an expectation of abuse, immaturity and ignorance.
[drop]But when the average gaming age is twenty three, aren’t these stereotypical images to be expected? As a teenager myself, I am all too aware of the ungracious comments that fly around online lobbies on a daily basis. Some serve to provoke attention, but some are simply the product of ignorance and the unjustifiable air of confidence that makes being a teenager both daunting and exciting. Generally, a response to these tirades most commonly results in an unpleasant argument that proves excruciatingly irritating for you and the rest of the lobby. When you have switched on your PlayStation with the aim of relaxing it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and even if you can utilise the powers of a mute button you can’t help but think that someone, somewhere, is cursing your name solely because you decided not to tolerate their verbal grievances.
I have always accepted the fact that members of the human race will naturally become braver behind anonymity, but I have come across a worrying trend recently that I personally find quite offensive. It now seems to be that the general online consensus is that if a game is full of the younger generation, then it simply deserves to be discarded and another game found. Many a time I have heard (and read, on internet forums) that if a game is full of thirteen to nineteen year olds, then it is a foregone conclusion that no one will play properly and that the lobby will suffer from lengthened abuse, made even worse by the use of the PS3’s built in voice changer.
I cannot even explain how angry these sorts of generalisations make me feel. I don’t deny that there are teenagers out there that actively search for arguments and make online lobbies hell, but aren’t there adults that go about executing similar practises too? I can confidently say that I venture into every online game with a friendly attitude, and when I have disclosed my age, the players at the other end have seemed genuinely surprised. Why? Because due to their past experiences they are under the misguided impression that the typical teenage gamer is frothing at the mouth and doesn’t know how to string a sentence together without a inserting a few four lettered words.
Frankly, these stereotyped ruminations need to stop. A brief flick through the comments section of this very website may highlight a few teenage comments laced with immaturity, but I’m betting that if you wanted to you could find several more teenage comments that are not only articulate, but funny and informative too. The teenagers of today are the developers and writers of tomorrow, and if they are tarnished with the same brush without a fair crack at the whip, then the videogame industry stands no chance of evolving into something better. So the next time you are in an online lobby and having to tolerate the ramblings of a teenager, look at the sixteen other players in the lobby without headsets. Sure, some of those sixteen are likely to be adults, but in amongst them, are teenagers who ultimately, want exactly the same thing as you; a challenging and enjoyable online experience.
Daywalker
This site itself shows what teenagers can be like. Until I found out their real ages, i assumed most people on this site were over 20! The level of maturity is very high here and people like Dexter himself could be mistaken for being 10+ years older! Obviously you get the odd few who dun Tawk l1k dis, but thats only one in a thousand.
Online games such as Call of duty suffer in terms or immaturity from every age. You get the older one who just insult the teenagers, the teenagers who are just lairy little bastards, and then the <13 year olds who just act their age basically.
I'm insulted regualry on Blops but i just start using large words and saying interesting staments in a very british accent. They don't half get confused :P
After playing COD for the best part of 4 years i've heard my fair share of people and only few have been worthy firends. Just goes to show, its not the teenagers that are a problem, but the people assuming they are. Those people that constantly ridicule them are worse than what they are against.
Just sayin'
nemesisND1derboy
*cough* Balram *cough* :D
Death_In_Flamez
Sir thats exactly what I do. I would shake your hand but the boundary of the internet lies between us.
Daywalker
Quite. Feeling is mutual wonderous genttleman. One gratiously requests a humble *Virtual High-five* to satify the encounter.
I bid you great salutations Sir!
spooferbarnabas
Great article toby! I have people of a wide spread age on my friends list and they’re all great fun to have some online games with…so age doesn’t make much difference to me. Being a teenager myself, I always try and be respectful to others online whilst still having a good laugh with others…it’s a balance :)
Guyers94
As you smart people may be aware from my username I’m a teenager, 16 to be exact and I am shocked at how bad people of my age on PS3 generally are. You can say it’s a stereotype but to be honest it’s a pretty fair one from what I have seen.
Obviously COD is the big example. I like the odd game of COD with a few friends but the amount of abuse you get is phenomenal. And then you talk normally and they have a go at you for being posh (I’m from Liverpool so trust me that felt odd when someone called me posh). Even when I first played COD4 online which I got for my 13th birthday, I’m sure I was much more mature than the majority of players on that game.
FIFA is probably worse however, the amount of abusive PSN messages you receive after winning a close game is remarkable. Of course there’s no way of telling that the person sending said messages is a teenager (Unless they have a telling name like myself) but if I found out that an adult said certain things I’ve been sent, then maybe we should extend this stereotype to the entire human race.
blackredyellow
You’re closing point, I fear, may have some truth. Age will obviously have a big part to play in maturity, but from my experiences in life you will always get ‘that guy’, regardless of age. For example, you mention Fifa, many football fans will unfortunately have experienced something similar face to face at a football ground. It seems to be a problem with society. I can’t explain why this happens, but I see it week in, week out.
I am encouraged by the maturity of members here, love this website, this article a great example. Thanks Dexter.
Daywalker
We are the same my friend. I don’t have fifa (Not a fan really) and i can see exactly where you are coming from. I used to get congratulatory messages in COD4 for doing well sometimes! Most of my friendslist is comprised of people i met in that game and they are some of the best online games i’ve come across in online gaming. MW2 and the rest seem to be full of angry american pre-pubescents.
bunimomike
Guyers is spot on, Dex. The stereotype cannot stop until the people contributing to said stereotype change their ways. The likes of you (and all the other sub-twenty year old members of TSA) are in the minority, sadly. Sure, there’s immaturity at all ages but it’s usually synonymous with a more tender demographic.
Thankfully, when it comes to gaming with TSA folk, everyone is usually out for a good laugh and has a healthy dollop of respect for their fellow gamer.
Good article, fella. Solid stuff.
Death_In_Flamez
I hate walking into cafes and people just looking at me expecting to make trouble. Even worse online, it’s usually American adults actually who act VERY immaturely and insult me because I’m 16. We are unfairly judged because of our age, but also those of us who are causing the bad reputation must be disciplined :/
Burgess_101
the sterotypes and completely unfounded ive come across my fair share of annoying 13 year olds anything above that seems to be alot more controlled IMO .
I myself am 15 and find squeaky voices over the mic annoying (my voice has broken though) .
i suppose all i can say is hazaar for the mute button ;P
Burgess_101
*the sterotypical claims are not
Dan Lee
I rarely go online, however the worst group of people I’ve seen are the elitist, who simply refuse to believe they can be beaten at a game. Those who follow Delriach will have seen some of the abuse he gets sent for ending a person’s winning streak in Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.
spooferbarnabas
I’d tend to agree with that, the number of abusive messages i’d get after dominating people who were higher ranks than me in KZ2 was silly. Obviously incredibly bad losers.
colossalblue
I like to imagine that Del has never been beaten at Street Fighter. They come here prepared to fight a madman but instead they find a god…
david
I constantly tell my teenagers, that their ub-group should be drowned at birth! cos its a horrible ego-centric age.
:D
Ro6afc11
A good article Dexter. Not sure how many Grandads frequent this site but I’m one of them (albeit a pretty young one I hasten to add!) and like Daywalker above I have often been surprised when members reveal their ages and I find out they are younger than I thought. My daughter has been through the teenage years so there is not much I haven’t seen. I have to say there are a pretty good bunch of teenagers here.
Most of my online gaming is done with people from this site purely because it is a good mix of people, regardless of age.
bunimomike
I will do ANYTHING for a Werther’s Original. Just letting you know.
moshi
Mmmm Anything!
aerobes
*wets whistle* My sack is full.
Ro6afc11
I’ll leave the Werther’s out, you can help yourselves. I can’t just go offering them around what with all the kids we have here. Could get us oldies a bad name!
InternationalGamer
It doesnt matter for the ages, I encountered many douches of many ages online.
Crocadillian
Nice article, and something I can definitely agree with. However, I am most surprised that people even talk in PSN. Every time I have played online, I have found no-one with a headset.