Boadle.com Blog: Gamers Epiphany

Boadle.com Blog

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Gamers Epiphany

I remain convinced that every gamer accepts that a large proportion of their in-game experience will be grind, repetition, annoyance or frustration. Indeed, it might be argued that the highs of victory or achievement would not be highs were it not for those relative 'lows'.

In internet gaming, those lows can be more pronounced than in offline mode (MMOG's set us ever more time-consuming tasks in order to be assured of our continued subscription, for example). Furthermore, in the congested pipeline of packets and pings, there is ample opportunity for the gaming experience to be hampered, broken or corrupted. I wont mention the continued spectre of Griefers, TK-ers and Spawn Campers. Sometimes, I forget to remember why I'm a gamer.

It is within this context that I experienced my latest gaming epiphany.

A long weekend into the excellent 'Battlefield 2', during which I endured my fair share of dropped packets, long load times and obstreperous teammates (things outside the control of even the mighty EA) , I clambered aboard an attack helicopter manned by one 'SmallFatKat', and placed myself beside the chain gun.

'SFK' (as I came to know him) lilted the aircraft into the sulphur-filled air in a smooth movement, and took the two of us to the final (and hotly-contested) flag. Sighting enemy infantry taking up defences positions below, he dropped our altitude and lined up the first enemy in my sights (90 degrees to his left). Said foe dispatched in a hail of digital lead (I could hardly miss) he turned briskly (whilst maintaining a perfect hover - no mean feat) perpendicular to the next enemy.

Suddenly the aircraft lurched violently, but quickly regained its straight and level orientation, and I realised SFK had saved our collective bacon from a distinctly unfriendly Rocket Propelled Grenade. Whilst I was doing my rambo impersonation in the back, my ace Chickenhawk was evading incoming rockets and offering me repeated, simple kills.

This display of outstanding piloting continued for about 90 seconds (a long time in a hot Landing Zone, or so it felt), during which time I happily took out a good 7 or 8 enemies soldiers, and we danced around at least 3 RPGs. Finally a lucky shot brought us down, and we plummeted to a grisly demise. Even ace pilots can be outnumbered. The game UI informed me that I had been awarded a collection of in-game medals, and it was at about this time I realised that a huge smile had formed on my wide-eyed face, which had moved to within 12 inches of the screen.

I sent an in-game message of thanks and skill-appreciation to SFK, and went to bed. As I dozed off, I remember recalling 'that' 1.5 minutes of sheer gaming perfection, in which hardware, software, design, code, art, community and interconnectivity came together in electronic Nirvana, and suddenly, I remembered why I'm a gamer.

posted by Boadle # 10:57 PM

Comments:

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I sometimes have to remind myself! Alan B." # posted by Anonymous : Wednesday, July 27, 2005

"Hi Lewis,

Normally Bloggs bore the ass off me. Unless your country is in the middle of an invasion or you're being evicted from the Gaza Strip then It's all usually so much narcistic "me, me, me..." toss.

That said really liked your 'Gamers Ephipany' piece. Having been screwed around by dirtwad team mates in Battlefield Vietnam and kicked off a poxy Irish BV server because I crashed a Huey by accident it's good to hear a positive story from the online world. My PC can't handle the Pixel Shader graphic requirements of B2 but these games have a long shelf life so I should catch you in combat, post upgrade, by the end of the year hopefully.

ciao,

C." # posted by Jack Daedalus : Friday, September 02, 2005

"Thanks for your comments, C.

I look forward to playing alongside you sometime soon." # posted by Boadle : Friday, September 02, 2005