The law of diminishing returns states that the decrease in the incremental output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is incrementally increased, while the amounts of all other factors of production stay constant.
This has absolutely nothing to do with gaming at first glance, but anything can be twisted to suit my needs. If you Google “Average Xbox Live Gamer”, the above image is number one. The below image is number three.
The first picture looks like two guys enjoying a quick game before heading to go bowling. The second looks like the Hulk is transforming back into Bruce Banner during No Shave November. I have played online on PC, Playstation, and Xbox, but my multiplayer home is Xbox Live. So I’m not dropping the hate on anyone, I’m just highlighting things I have notices in the many years of gaming, using YouTube and other sources.
Note: I played multiplayer on PS3 a few times. Each time I was exposed to extreme levels of BS. Cheating beyond anything I’ve ever seen on Xbox Live, and let’s not even bring up the cheating on PC. Of course the online element of the Playstaion is free used to be free, so you get what you pay for. Xbox live may be the birthplace of ***, but at least the game is playable. Playstation owns at single player games though.
1) Racism
I have only been called *** once on Xbox Live, as the guy who felt the need to insult me must have been the only not lazy racist I have come across. He actually took the time to look at my avatar, felt it not quite white enough and slung out this insult. My avatar immediately broke into dance for having purpose.
But just because I have not been on the receiving end does not mean I have not heard it. What’s sad is that it’s not even the opposing team that receives the wrath of a technologically advanced inbreed. To many times I have heard people (or worse a group of people) going at it using all manner of expletives. It’s usually one or two guys aggressively defending themselves while a group of guys call them dumb, monkey, *** and so on. I usually mute them by this point, as I try not to get involved. Except this one time this guy made a comment about the dog killstreak in Black Ops 2 being “*** dogs”. I made the stupid mistake of saying “there’s on in every lobby”. And he let loose on me, calling me a “*** loving liberal”. Thankfully he didn’t see my avatar or he would have been really pissed. Now I just keep my mic muted, but that doesn’t stop me from hearing the…….
2) Underage Players
Don’t get me wrong, I am one hundred percent against censorship of any kind. There’s a time and a place for exposure and the parents should be the one to decide. But I also understand what the M rating on my games means. That means my nephew is SOL if he seriously thinks he will be playing Advanced Warfare. The screeching, whining, name calling aside, Xbox Live is not a place for anybody under 13. I know that I have dropped as many F-bombs on there as there are hours in the year. It breeds a vicious cycle, it’s been proven that while violent games do not affect young adults, but they work wonders for kids. Letting a child play violent games alongside potty mouth adults will not only cost you parent of the year, you could possibly be writing the prologue for what will inevitably be the police investigation into their crimes. Ahhh, the future leaders of America.
3 ) Sexism and Homophobia
Seeing as though the stereotype of gamers is that they are losers with no girlfriends and they live in their parents basement, I guess it’s only right that a good percentage of them don’t know how to deal with the opposite sex. Or the same sex for that matter.
Anytime I have been had the privilege to be in a lobby with a female gamer, she’s usually with a group of male players. I assume this type of female gamer has learned her lesson about veering onto Xbox Live alone. Because the other type of female I encounter is usually the one who, once it’s discovered she’s not a nine year old boy, she is treated with the same reverence as an ovulating woman who happened to be the last woman on earth. That is until she befriends them. At that point all bets are off. As a matter of fact, this list could easily have a different title. Why I’m Ashamed to Be American. Or Why I’m Ashamed To Be Human. Xbox Live is all about competition and there is no other creature on earth as competitive as an American Human. And just like America, Xbox Live takes it’s competitive spirit a little to far…
4) Extreme Competition
There is nothing wrong with competition. It breeds success. It’s fun. It makes us better at work, at home, in our personal lives. It makes companies give us lower rates and better products. Competition is why we landed on the moon and mapped the human genome. It’s why the video game console market is what it is today. Of course competition is also why we have performance enhancing drugs, hacks that give players an unfair edge for as little as twenty-five dollars a month and this little gem. It’s like the Jersey Shore mating call. Of course these guys are purposely being douchbags. There are many,many, many more instances where this isn’t the case. It’s the thrill of the hunt. Plus the anonymity of the internet. Ah, who am I kidding, knowing that you just pwned your opponent feels good. Feels even better when you rub it in. Oh, but if you lose then they must have cheated and now their going to get a very pleasant letter expressing what you feel.
Who am I kidding. I’ve been on Xbox Live while writing a good bit of this. I’m Xbox for life. I will just treat it like the first and second rule of fight club.