MP Courtesy

[Hancock the Superb]

Gentleman (and perhaps the occasional lady):

I hate to big the big bad wolf and perhaps I'm even stepping over my limit in doing so, but I will anyway, and I hope that everyone will bear with me.

I believe that after getting a taste of the forum for the past several years, and MP in the past few weeks, I have gotten most of the positive and negative aspects of the Multiplayer community.

It is understood that many people are very competitive (like me), and will do everything to win a MP battle. This includes chewing out people that miserably fail.

Unfortunatly, sometimes this goes to far, perhaps just to of occasionally harassing on the board or in teamspeak, to downright disgust of the tactically-inept person all the time. If I may say so, this needs to stop.

Perhaps I need to be blunt, so I will. What all I've said comes down to is one word: bullying.

We are one heck of a small community here, with people stretching from Britain, to Africa, to Australia, to the US, and we cannot afford for people to be angry with each other. Norb has too many things going on to solve domestic disputes, and frankly, some of us are tired of the constant battering of poor individuals. I'm sure we've all heard someone say it, but to be a royal pain, I'll repeat it: If you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all. (Sorry to act like your mother, but it had to be done to bring across my point.)

However, I'm not saying, drop the competitive spirit. I always am ready for a challenging game, and I will serve my best to help out the side I'm on. If I play badly in a game, I can stand the harassment, and I learn from my mistakes. In fact, I support the clans, and teams, and I'm unfortunate to not have a regular time schedual that I can fight with teams of friends against my friends playing as my foes.

While many people on this forum and I can stand the heat and the competition, I would like to remind everyone that there are people out there that just want to play a friendly one on one game that is relaxed. Or maybe, they just want to play with a large group of people in a friendly fashion, without the highly competitive spirit.

To solve this, I would advise creating a regular password on MP known to people who regularly participate in competitive games, and run set up games with that password (just include me on that list of regulars). A word of caution, however. Due to the competitive nature of a large portion of the gaming community here, that may mean that many people will not be able to play MP games that often. So I challenge those competitive natured people to play against those that aren't as competitive, perhaps with a setting of 70 or 80 instead of 100, to make it fun for everyone. Then the competitive person really has to work hard to win, and the non-competitive general can have fun without being overrun or looking like they're a terrible player.

So I urge you, take this message from a friend and consider it. Again, we are a small group of civil war game players that want to have fun, competitive or not. There is no reason why some of us cannot have the same opportunity for fun just because they don't have the same killer instinct as the rest of us.

Perhaps as a threat, I would like to remind those of the community who continue to harass those that have played not to par that they should watch what they are saying. If it came down to it, I am a freshman high school runner with a mile time of 4:27. That is the third fastest freshman in the state of Washington, and fastest enough to be top eight in Arizona, for all classes, freshman through seniors. If anyone is competitive enough, I am always willing for a race, and unless you are a college runner or a professional runner, I doubt you can beat me in a mile. I am positive it would not look good on this forum if it was known that you were beaten by a fifteen year old.

When it comes down to it, let those of us that want to be competitive, be competitive, and remember to allow those that want to just play, a game to play. We are a tight community and this community will not survive long if it is borne by the strife of clans, and the harassment of individuals. If we work together in a fun way, we can achieve a special group of friends that will support each other, like the way the forum supported JC Edwards during his down time.

Let the best general win, and the worst player have the best time.

I thank all of you for reading this and giving some thought to what I have to say.

[Ephrum]

Eloquently stated Hancock.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Hancock, that was very well put. Your eloquence belies your age.

[Sweeney]

Well put Hancock! I was wondering if some of the coder/modders/ fellows who know there way around programs and such could create a ranking/ladder system and maybe the forum could host it. Then after a trial period of battles people would have a general idea of peoples skill level and thusly those who were roughly ranked evenly could compete more enjoyably. I am a rated chessplayer and it is always more enjoyable and competitive to play another who is close to your ranking. Games either where you crush the opponent or are crushed yourself are not as rewarding as when there is a good fight with chances for both sides. Maybe this idea is not really applicable to this simulation but I thought I would throw it out there to see what the community thought.

[Rich Mac]

I'm all for keeping as many games open to the public as possible. I want the MP community to flourish and thrive and it can only do so with numbers.

One thing that really burns my biscuits is when more established veteran players belittle "noobs". That's absolutely ridiculous. If someone is having trouble, either technically or tactically, do your best to help them out. I try to go out of my way to help the new guys out in MP and certainly hope that I would never act in any demeaning fashion.

You are not helping anyone by chasing away players.

[Paladin]

Hancock the Superb wrote:

Gentleman (and perhaps the occasional lady):

I hate to big the big bad wolf and perhaps I'm even stepping over my limit in doing so, but I will anyway, and I hope that everyone will bear with me.

I believe that after getting a taste of the forum for the past several years, and MP in the past few weeks, I have gotten most of the positive and negative aspects of the Multiplayer community.

It is understood that many people are very competitive (like me), and will do everything to win a MP battle. This includes chewing out people that miserably fail.

Unfortunatly, sometimes this goes to far, perhaps just to of occasionally harassing on the board or in teamspeak, to downright disgust of the tactically-inept person all the time. If I may say so, this needs to stop.

Perhaps I need to be blunt, so I will. What all I've said comes down to is one word: bullying.

We are one heck of a small community here, with people stretching from Britain, to Africa, to Australia, to the US, and we cannot afford for people to be angry with each other. Norb has too many things going on to solve domestic disputes, and frankly, some of us are tired of the constant battering of poor individuals. I'm sure we've all heard someone say it, but to be a royal pain, I'll repeat it: If you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all. (Sorry to act like your mother, but it had to be done to bring across my point.)

However, I'm not saying, drop the competitive spirit. I always am ready for a challenging game, and I will serve my best to help out the side I'm on. If I play badly in a game, I can stand the harassment, and I learn from my mistakes. In fact, I support the clans, and teams, and I'm unfortunate to not have a regular time schedual that I can fight with teams of friends against my friends playing as my foes.

While many people on this forum and I can stand the heat and the competition, I would like to remind everyone that there are people out there that just want to play a friendly one on one game that is relaxed. Or maybe, they just want to play with a large group of people in a friendly fashion, without the highly competitive spirit.

To solve this, I would advise creating a regular password on MP known to people who regularly participate in competitive games, and run set up games with that password (just include me on that list of regulars). A word of caution, however. Due to the competitive nature of a large portion of the gaming community here, that may mean that many people will not be able to play MP games that often. So I challenge those competitive natured people to play against those that aren't as competitive, perhaps with a setting of 70 or 80 instead of 100, to make it fun for everyone. Then the competitive person really has to work hard to win, and the non-competitive general can have fun without being overrun or looking like they're a terrible player.

So I urge you, take this message from a friend and consider it. Again, we are a small group of civil war game players that want to have fun, competitive or not. There is no reason why some of us cannot have the same opportunity for fun just because they don't have the same killer instinct as the rest of us.

Perhaps as a threat, I would like to remind those of the community who continue to harass those that have played not to par that they should watch what they are saying. If it came down to it, I am a freshman high school runner with a mile time of 4:27. That is the third fastest freshman in the state of Washington, and fastest enough to be top eight in Arizona, for all classes, freshman through seniors. If anyone is competitive enough, I am always willing for a race, and unless you are a college runner or a professional runner, I doubt you can beat me in a mile. I am positive it would not look good on this forum if it was known that you were beaten by a fifteen year old.

When it comes down to it, let those of us that want to be competitive, be competitive, and remember to allow those that want to just play, a game to play. We are a tight community and this community will not survive long if it is borne by the strife of clans, and the harassment of individuals. If we work together in a fun way, we can achieve a special group of friends that will support each other, like the way the forum supported JC Edwards during his down time.

Let the best general win, and the worst player have the best time.

I thank all of you for reading this and giving some thought to what I have to say.

If this situation exists on my TS3 server please PM with the details. Harassment/disrespect for your fellow players is something that I absolutely will not tolerate on my server.

[Jack ONeill]

All,

Hancock - nicely said.

I have been observing this for awhile. My question to the assembled multitudes is this - Are we here to play a game or what? I'm not a huge fan of "leagues" as such. They tend to breed this type of stuff. I'm the first, (of many, I know), to help when someone is struggling with the game.
So, just because YOU may be the greatest game General since sliced bread, doesn't mean the rest of us are as competitive. If you're that good, there are 3 US Military Academies for you to join and get a taste of the real elephant. Otherwise, keep it to yourself. You will find out soon enough you will have no-one to game with. Remember, it's a GAME. It is supposed to be fun.

Sic Semper Fidelis

Jack O'Neill B)

P.S. - My apologies to our European (and others) for leaving out their respective Military institutes. I only know of Sandhurst for our Brothers in Great Britain.

P.S.S. - My further apologies if I have offended anyone or was overly critical.

[Sweeney]

I used to fly the WW2 combat flight sim IL2 online for many long hours each day and the community was unbelievably accomodating. The pilots would go out of their way to help "noobs", even though online combat flight sims are probably the most competitive sims you can play(IMHO). Only on the most rare occasion would an experienced pilot dress down a "noob" and then it was usually cause the experienced pilot made an error and was taking it out on the "noob". I wonder if that pertains here?

[Braxton Bragg]

I agree with you! well put and well done General Hancock


Braxton Bragg

[Mowgli]

As a complete "noob" to multi-player my first port of call was Armchair Generals just a short time ago, where I enlisted because I liked the idea of being part of a team.

I was made most welcome and given tips and instructions for getting all aspects of playing in multi-player.

However when AG closed down, I moved seamlessly over to the Army of the Shenandoah league and I have found them to be most friendly and who actively encourage new player to join them in their friendly games - obviously "league" games with their tailored OOBs exempt non AoS members.

I also spend a lot of time on Teamspeak and do not believe I have ever heard a cross word exchanged but of course I am not there 24/7.