Here's my grief:
Well, it isn't so much of a spontaneous grief as something that's been building up over the past few weeks.
Whatever you do in the game, it's because you're about to ragequit. Whenever you quit, it's a ragequit. Lagging? Ragequit. Controls are acting like garbage? Ragequit. Host surrounding survivors in invincible chain link fences? Ragequit. Game's already over with no pending maps? Ragequit. Phone call? Food? Bed? Work? LOLRagequit.
Yes, I know it's a meme, but as a meme it's not a very good one. Pingas is over 9000 times as funny as 'ragequit.' It's a jaw-droppingly stupid cliche and I'm frankly sick of it. If you leave the game for any reason, it can't be under amiable conditions, noOOOoo...you ragequit.
So then what is a ragequit? Or...what should one actually be? Swapping teams is usually not an option because the opposite one is either already filled or you'll never hear the end of it for the next hour or so. Here's some things I will 'ragequit' at:
1) Zero teamplay in a teamplay game, unless everyone's just dicking around for fun.
2) Directed friendly fire.
3) Idle teammates that can't get kicked.
4) 4v1 lopsided teams with a ten minute or so history of not filling. It's not fun being the lone boomer trying to stop four players, only to have to escort three bots when sides switch.
5) Same as 1, but if nobody uses voice, it's harder to keep track of what's going on.
6) Shrieky prepubescent animosity coupled with tinny music over a third world microphone that won't go away.
And it isn't even so much of a rage quit as it is tossing aside a rotten apple at a fruit stand for something a bit more fresh. When this game first came out, the community wasn't nearly this sour. Now you got to either play with buddies or find a guaranteed open spot on a familiar server to be spared (highly probable) potential aggravation. I know 'rage' is older than L4D, but it's hit it like the black fucking plague. And it's insidious. One isn't enough to rile me up, but one after the other...buddies accused of ragequitting when I know very well they had a valid reason, players on opposing teams and my teams accused of ragequitting when neither team had a distinct advantage over the other...and me being a ragequitter whenever I leave for
whatever reason. Not even the massive amounts of accusations should really get anyone upset, but it sticks in the back of a gamer's mind like libel.
See, I remember player vs player games on the NES and other era consoles. Accusing someone leaving a game because they were pissed off and losing was tantamount to picking an actual fight.
Hitting the submit post button? Ragequit.
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2009-05-19 01:58:23)