Hello everyone, usually I am not one to start new threads, and to most of you I am a nobody, because I have been playing aoe2 for about a year, and I've been a silent part of it. I'd like to say, that my goal here is not to spark drama, but to have a civil discussion about the topic, I am glad to hear opinions that disagree with me.
So what do I actually want to talk about here? Well, ever since I am playing online, I started noticing some patterns regarding how players respond to others that do not play the game in a similar way. People enjoy this game in different ways, so there is going to be some indifference about this, it's normal. However, what seemed to be just a few trolls that I met while I was lower elo, they did not disappear when I reached higher elo levels, in fact, the number only increased.
I want you to take a look at this list I quickly compiled off the top of my head: playing defensively, walling, picking mayans, picking burmese, picking civs in general, going 1 TC all-in, trushing, vil rushing, playing m@a into 1 range archers, going FC, laming resources, playing a few minutes longer than opponent expects. I've been insulted for doing ALL of these things, at least once. Most of the time, after the game when I am receiving toxic remarks, I was just left wondering what I did wrong, because I legitimately had no idea. I am still relatively new to the scene, still trying out new strategies and trying to learn. Also I am a fan of variety so I like to try out all kinds of strats, even trying to come up with one myself. But when some people meet me in ranked for 1-2-3 games, they think it's okay to insult me and put certain labels on me, based on so few games.
You could now say, that trolls will always exist and I should just ignore them. And to that I say, this is not restricted to players that are relatively unknown. I will not mention names, but seeing some streamers think it's okay to insult an opponent because they play in a certain way, to me is very worrying, because it's basically telling the audience that they condone this kind of thinking.
Maybe it's just my mindset, or I'm way too patient. I played heroes of might and magic 3 on a high level for many years, and in that game, one match takes several hours. For tournaments, I had the mindset of "anything within the rules of the game goes", so when my opponent in a ranked aoe2 match does not resign after the first bad engagement, lames me, inca vil rushes me, or walls like fatslob, I really could not give a damn. If I lose, I say gg and move on, and try to figure out a good way to counter the strat I lost to. I will never flame my opponent for playing defensively if it's his win condition, he is playing to win and I respect that, I really don't care if there is no action for 15-20 minutes, that was nothing compared when I played homm3...So maybe it's just me, and aoe2 playerbase has a different approach. With that being said, my general experience with this community has been good, I've met many amazing people here, it just felt like I had to say this issue of mine to the public.
Now I'll thank you for reading it, and will go back to the cave I've been hiding in.
So what do I actually want to talk about here? Well, ever since I am playing online, I started noticing some patterns regarding how players respond to others that do not play the game in a similar way. People enjoy this game in different ways, so there is going to be some indifference about this, it's normal. However, what seemed to be just a few trolls that I met while I was lower elo, they did not disappear when I reached higher elo levels, in fact, the number only increased.
I want you to take a look at this list I quickly compiled off the top of my head: playing defensively, walling, picking mayans, picking burmese, picking civs in general, going 1 TC all-in, trushing, vil rushing, playing m@a into 1 range archers, going FC, laming resources, playing a few minutes longer than opponent expects. I've been insulted for doing ALL of these things, at least once. Most of the time, after the game when I am receiving toxic remarks, I was just left wondering what I did wrong, because I legitimately had no idea. I am still relatively new to the scene, still trying out new strategies and trying to learn. Also I am a fan of variety so I like to try out all kinds of strats, even trying to come up with one myself. But when some people meet me in ranked for 1-2-3 games, they think it's okay to insult me and put certain labels on me, based on so few games.
You could now say, that trolls will always exist and I should just ignore them. And to that I say, this is not restricted to players that are relatively unknown. I will not mention names, but seeing some streamers think it's okay to insult an opponent because they play in a certain way, to me is very worrying, because it's basically telling the audience that they condone this kind of thinking.
Maybe it's just my mindset, or I'm way too patient. I played heroes of might and magic 3 on a high level for many years, and in that game, one match takes several hours. For tournaments, I had the mindset of "anything within the rules of the game goes", so when my opponent in a ranked aoe2 match does not resign after the first bad engagement, lames me, inca vil rushes me, or walls like fatslob, I really could not give a damn. If I lose, I say gg and move on, and try to figure out a good way to counter the strat I lost to. I will never flame my opponent for playing defensively if it's his win condition, he is playing to win and I respect that, I really don't care if there is no action for 15-20 minutes, that was nothing compared when I played homm3...So maybe it's just me, and aoe2 playerbase has a different approach. With that being said, my general experience with this community has been good, I've met many amazing people here, it just felt like I had to say this issue of mine to the public.
Now I'll thank you for reading it, and will go back to the cave I've been hiding in.
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