Does online gaming turn people into dicks?

[Ninja-Jordan]

I'm doing a story as part of my Journalism program, however this is something I have been noticing playing massive amounts of GTA online. For some reason, no one can just play nice in that game, and more often than not, I may be just coming out of my apartment, or trying to go to the local convenience store and I get run over or gunned down by some other player. Even if I just try to ignore them, they're given all the tools to be the biggest bunch of dicks, and I wonder: is there something about the anonymity of online gaming and the power bestowed upon players be it through actual skill or just greater time spent that turns normal human beings into giant dicks? Even in games like Halo or COD, every death is usually followed by a tea-bagging, or someone who sounds like their 12 on their mic telling you you suck and you're a fag. Is there a difference now than say 20 years ago when players had to be in the same room with their opponents?

Or what about when you're discovered to be a girl gamer? No girl it seems can be online without a cavalcade of players shouting "YOU'RE A GIRL" and any other kind of weird things.

Weigh in please! Insight from actual gamers would be GREAT!

 

[Magix]

Well, first of all I've never played GTA online, so I can't say anything about that, but GTA in itself is a game that is MADE for running people over with your car and shooting them. I don't see anything wrong with doing it in the online version.

That being said, I don't think it turns people into "dicks", it just releases their inner "dick". (I have to put quotation marks around that word because I think it's so obnoxious)
So if you play games that happen to have a lot of teenagers, and combine that with an anonymous atmosphere where that kind of thing isn't punished, of course it's going to happen.

Those people are the same kinds of "dicks" in real life, but there are actual consequences there, so they hide and downplay it.

 

[Able Seacat]

Have a gander at this thread showing examples of silly things people have done online.

Otherwise, I think Magix hit the nail on the head.

 

[synobal]

I don't think so, having gamed online for ages I've never ran into online trolls. But I understand Live is a cesspool compared to most other online communities.

 

[Parasondox]

I have recently gotten into online gaming and I must admit I am just not happy with it and its mostly down to other players being either racist, sexist, homophobic, or just down right egotistical. A certain player gets one kill over you and all you hear is "I am the best mother fucker, I own these streets *****, no one can fuck with me", then if you kill them, they respond with "you are fucking shit you mother fucker, i didnt even have my gun out you pussy". I think what's worse is most of the abuse is from those under the age of 15. I just get sick of it and left GTA online and just now starting the Uncharted series. I wanna be as far away from the online thing as possible. Sick of the in need abuse.

Does online gaming turn you into a dick? Depends on the games you play and how you take them. FPS games is where you will find most of the massive online abuse with everyone trying to get killstreaks, the best kill cam and something to just show their "dominance" in one game. I don't know about 20 years ago but maybe back then didn't have such easy access to online gaming cause it was all on PC with not the best internet and now gaming has become so so serious now. Some are just having fun with mates I understand but others are just acting as if its a serious life changing do or die situation.

 

[Asita]

Online Gaming? Nah. Being online 'turns people into dicks'. It's a phenomenon 'lovingly' called the GIFT: The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (Seriously, it even has a page on Know Your Meme), or to use less objectionable phrasing and to address a somewhat broader concept, the 'Online Disinhibition Effect'. While gaming is necessarily part of this phenomenon, it's a more expansive effect stemming from the perceived advantage of anonymity preventing true consequences. It's not a hard and fast rule by any stretch, but it does explain a lot of online behavior both in and out of the gaming community.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

People are already dicks. The anonymity provided by the internet and in particular the competitive nature of games give people the freedom to express and explore their inner dick. Online gaming doesn't change people, they just act differently because it is a very different environment that they must adapt to.