Online Gaming: The Art of Humiliation

Reading Brayn's post about online play encouraged me to reflect on my own experiences with online play. I have actually had many negative and positive experiences with playing online, so I figure it's best to spread them out over several posts. I'll discuss my experience with MMOs in the next one.

I wasn't a real big gamer until college. My senior year of high school I had been introduced to the Tony Hawk series by one of my friends. I played Tony Hawk 2 with him several times, and I really enjoyed it. After a year away from the franchise, I purchased a PS2 my sophomore year of college. It was a no brainer that I would buy Tony Hawk 3 (which is still by far the best in the series). At first I was diligent in my studies, only finding time for Tony Hawk on weekends or when I had a break. As time passed, however, I found myself playing the game more and more, neglecting school, sleep, and food. Okay, so maybe I didn't neglect food, but you get the point.

Anyway, I'd challenge my friends from time to time, but I was just too experienced in the game, and even with all handicaps turned on, I'd still slaughter them every single time. It got to the point where they just weren't having fun anymore, and I found myself playing alone more often than not. Every single time I played people for the first time, they'd start trash-talking me about how good they were until they saw the score. No matter who I played, I would always destroy them. I distinctly remember one time in which a self described "Hawk-pro" watched in awe as I got over 100 million points AFTER the timer had run out on the Airport level.

Flashforward six years. In 2007 I purchased an Xbox 360, and soon after that I got Tony Hawk's Project 8. I noticed the game had online play, so I thought it might be fun to play with some players who might be able to challenge me. After signing up for Xbox live, I signed in and got my ass handed to me in a most embarrassing fashion. Sure, there were several players in there that I beat (there were 10 total), but for the most part I looked no good. In fact, one player had several hundred million points more than I did.

That day two things happened: First, I was humbled. Second, I wondered how many hours upon hours (years upon years?) those players played to get so good. That bewilderment will be a recurring theme in my posts about online gaming.