by Felipe Parada

 

Let's face it, gaming can be very toxic at times. You log in for a relaxing session and all of a sudden you are bombarded with yells, screams, insults and curse words. But it isn't only the toxic language that can make it a nightmare for gamers.

 

The sinful actions of the many can ruin it those few trying to have fun. Some of us don't want to admit that we are guilty of these sins but some are through no fault of our own so I have decided to come up with a list of the more annoying gaming sins. I have listed the sins based on level of offense. Lets take a look shall we? 

 

7. Stepping away from your controller (Sloth)

I have been guilty of this. But in my defense I do have a child and sometimes it is unavoidable. Also there have been times where I have just forgotten to charge my remote. But stepping away from your remote during crucial online gaming moments is sometimes unforgivable. 

 

This hurts more when you are in the middle of an intense co-op mission. You just get past countless waves of enemies and have looted everything in sight. As you push forward you notice that one of your teammates is not moving. You turn back to investigate only to notice that he hasn't been killed, he's just not moving, he's just standing there lost in time. You come to the realization that the player is just not there, either he's on the phone or he has gone for a bathroom break. Both are valid excuses but it would be nice to warn your fellow brethren before you decide to step away. 

 

How can you expect to effectively attack an enemy if you constantly have to worry about your teammates bladder? You can't predict what can happen during a 5 minute match but why you can do is let us know when something does. I don't think it is difficult to keep an open line of communication but for some its obviously a mountain to climb. The easiest solution for this is just to kick the person from your group but then you have to wait to matchmake with another. I would definitely approve team-killing but then you are solving one sin with another.

 

6. Tyrannical Tea-bagging (Lust)

I never really understood this one but this is a cardinal sin in gaming. I am sure you have come across it at least once in your competitive gaming career. The literal act of getting tea bagged by another player is the ultimate form of disrespect and must be dealt immediately with great vengeance and furious anger. The first time I ever experienced the aforementioned "Tea Bag" was when I purchased Halo 2 back in 2004.

 

I can remember it as if it were yesterday. An intense firefight was taking place down a narrow corridor. As I peeked around the corner I saw my opponent and my opponent saw me and as we locked eyes we began the dance of the duel knowing very well that only one of us can survive. As we fought viciously neither one of us could get the advantage that we were hoping for so we needed to improvise. A well tossed grenade can distract him while I flank him for the kill but what I didn't realize is that my opponent had already made the move and was behind me. As I turned he was racing toward me as if he stole something and with one swift jab I was dead but it didn't stop there. While I stared up  waiting for the respawn counter to reach 0 he began to hover over my lifeless cyber body and began to crouch frantically rubbing his cyber crotch all over my cyber face and thus tea-bagging for me was born. 

 

Till this day I still don't get it. Isn't killing your opponent more than enough? What makes it worse is that you are helpless, you cant do anything. You're pretty much getting raped and what's more disturbing is the fact that your opponent is doing the act with a lifeless body. We get it, in that moment you are awesome, you've won, all hail the king. Is it really necessary for the extra act of homo-eroticism? 

 

5. Item Stealing (Avarice)

This falls under the category of "Seriously, Not Cool". I've experienced this recently in the newest patch of Tom Clancy's The Division™, mainly in Resistance Mode. Hunkering down while you take on a horde of enemies can provide for some high levels of anxiety and tension not to mention the always lingering incentive of high quality gear. But in this mode SHD Credits are absolutely crucial to the survival of your team. The only way to obtain these credits is by eliminating enemies, no matter who lands the final blow. 

 

So imagine it: Through determination (and sometimes luck) you take down a group of enemies that have you pinned. After the smoke has cleared you pop out of cover to survey your work. As you get closer you see the bright shiny icon rewarding you for your hard work. As you get even closer you begin to feel a real sense of accomplishment as you think of how you are going to spend your new found wealth. And right as you are about to pick up the loot, out of nowhere, another player from your team rolls in and hijacks your winnings. And just like that, in a split second, its gone, forever lost in the gaming abyss.

 

We don't realize that dropped items are the essential lifeblood to any game, whether it be multiplayer or singleplayer. It doesn't matter if it's ammunition, gear or power ups, without these crucial items the player is pretty much f*****. This is why I find it so frustrating (and very painful to watch) to see some tool who cant score a head-shot even if he had Aim-Assist On, come in and steal your hard-earned items. The same individual who steals health packs knowing very well his teammate is bleeding out saying his or her final goodbyes to his parents. You my friend are the reason why I hate matchmaking with random strangers. I would normally pray for god to forgive you because you know not what you do but I pray that you get sent to eternal damnation where you are trapped in an open-world full of items you cant pick up.

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4. Rage Quitting (Envy)

We all know that ONE person who just decided to quit because things don't go their way and then they blame it on lag. If you cant think of that ONE person, guess what YOU ARE THAT PERSON. You mainly see this sort of behavior in the online shooter and fighting communities (Call of Duty and Street Fighter Series to be precise). I haven't experienced this one recently because I have managed to stay away from toxic online shooter environments but I remember the days hearing 14yr old boys scream out in terror as their bodies fell to the floor due to some sort of glitch in the matrix. Somehow it was never their fault. 

 

Falling under the "Really???" category, we were always taught from an early age to play nice with others because nobody likes a sore loser. Apparently nobody taught this crucial life lesson to these rage-quitters because in just one button press and a total lack of courtesy, the act of dominating someone through sheer skill just vanishes in thin air. Congratulations my friend because this is the equivalent of flipping over a desk while losing at Uno. You cant honestly think that you are not going to lose while playing online because that is utter lunacy. If you are more concerned with K/D Ratio's and a near perfect fighting record than you have bigger problems than just rage quitting. I pray for a life of eternal suckage as every competitive online game you participate in leaves you with a record of 0 and a K/D Ratio that reads "I SUCK".

 

3. Team Killing (Wrath)

I've never done this but I have been in sessions where this took place. You would like to think your teammates will play nice and play the game the way it's supposed to be played. Should friendly fire be on or off? That is the important question. Some say yes and some say no but what we can agree on is that there's always that one person who tries to kill his teammates regardless if friendly fire is off.

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You know who I am talking about, the guy who throws grenades at his teammates and often melee's them for no reason. This is the same individual that run across the battlefield into fire just so he can be given a reason to fire back at his teammates. In my opinion team killing does count as murder and should be treated as such. You can put these individuals in the same category as trolls but trolls have something to gain whereas these players just like to cause chaos no matter which team they are playing on.

 

It's a rule pretty much set in stone and one we often overlook when gaming. A Rule that is overlooked during a crucial online match where you are surrounded by people you consider your friends. Worrying about other players on my own team isn't something I look forward to when I'm playing online. Getting team killed is the ultimate betrayal and I'm putting it up there with Judas turning in Jesus. After all, Judas hung himself out of guilt but this guy is probably running around team killing other players. They need to be stopped at whatever cost and they need to be relegated to a dimension where as soon as they respawn they do so with C-4 attached to them. 

 

2. Trolling (Gluttony)

Who doesn't love a good troll? Gamers who go out of their way to deliberately offend or provocate someone with the intent on generating an angry response deserve a special kind of hell. This is very common in MMORPG's where it is very easy to misjudge a character before you engage them in a little PvP. I cant begin to re-count the times that I have fallen victim to the infamous troll. Gamers would like to believe that a game is designed in a way that let's all players participate in a level playing field but sadly that isn't the case

 

Reaching a high level in any game is an accomplishment because of the hours of dedication and repetition required. But when you use that character to constantly kill lower level players you transcend what it means to be a d***. It takes no effort and skill what so ever to kill low level players and they are more than happy to take advantage. Fallen player after fallen player, the troll roams the lands looking for its next prey but it doesn't look for a challenge because that actually involves a little bit of work. Finally at the end of the day they look back on their session and actually think that they had a productive day but I wont condemn them because living with Disillusions of Grandeur is a punishment all in itself. 

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1. Exploiting (Pride)

The end all be all of sins. People who exploit are a real special breed because they feel that going outside the confines of the game-world is perfectly fine if it meets a need to an end. Its just plain unfair and selfish but it happens more and more as games release pretty much in an unfinished state. I had the chance to take part in an exploit (Loot Cave in Destiny) but I didn't because i just felt like a scumbag for doing it.

 

I like to meet some of those gamers that treat this aspect of gaming like a second job.  The sit in front of their monitor working away trying to find out the next exploit so they can announce it on reddit with a sense of pride. They feel that somehow they are successfully re-writing the gaming code falsely believing that they have mastered the game via hard work and skill. In reality you are just helping the developers fix a portion of the game that needed fixing so the joke is on you. Some developers have even gone as far as relegating these gamers to special servers where they are labeled as cheaters. In all honesty it is a fitting punishment but I would like to see a server where gamers can exploit and be exploited. The server would be just an endless loop of exploits where the gamer is winning and losing at the same time. This would me a more fitting punishment for those who like to think they are playing god.