Gamer rage -- why?

[Owyn_Merrilin]

This is inspired by the "I just threw my controller" thread that is currently going on.

What is it with gamers and pitching tantrums like small children? Think of all the threads about broken and thrown controllers. Think about all of the people shouting obscenities on Xbox Live. Why do gamers consider this acceptable? Connected to this, why do the people who are raging keep playing when they obviously aren't having fun? Last year, I watched my roommate break at least two or three of his Xbox 360 controllers from throwing them on the floor, and I just can't fathom why he kept it up after the first one, let alone why he seems to be the norm among gamers, instead of an exception with an anger problem -- to the contrary, he's actually quite mild mannered outside of videogames.

I know I never throw my controllers, and if a game is so frustrating that it makes me angry, I turn it off. Every controller I've ever had break involved internal breaks in the wires of wired controllers due to wear and tear, discounting the one my dad tripped over and broke, and the flightstick which eventually stopped registering in a certain direction after years of hard use. Point being, none of them were from deliberate damage. And yet I seem to be a minority here. Why is that?

Does anybody have any insight into why this is so common? Do gamers have a huge population of people with anger management issues, or is it something else?

 

[Radoh]

Because and why not? Video games are like any other thing in the world, people can get angry over them and often do.
As for the actual throwing of controllers, I can't help you with that, I never really get too mad at anything to escalate to that.

 

[Goomboss]

pfft who throws controllers, one day my xbox original stopped working so i threw that out of a two story building, worked fine after that, until it fell off my bed and exploded lol

 

[Hyper-space]

Its because we view video-games as we view sports, at least on a sub-conscious level.

Playing a game of football and loosing makes me as angry as when i loose at video-games, if not more. Some people are just generally more angry and are prone to outbursts (harsh tackling, throwing the controller) and seeing as games are meant as an outlet, these emotions are nothing uncommon.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Its because we view video-games as we view sports, at least on a sub-conscious level.

Playing a game of football and loosing makes me as angry as when i loose at video-games, if not more. Some people are just generally more angry and are prone to outbursts (harsh tackling, throwing the controller) and seeing as games are meant as an outlet, these emotions are nothing uncommon.

So in other words, gamers have become the people who used to steal their lunch money? That saddens me. I see them as, you know, games -- although I see sports that way too...

 

[Weaver]

Because modern gamers are pampered children who despise challenge and risk.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Depends on why you are annoyed.

A big part of games is seeing the NPCs as people, at least to some small degree. If the stupid bastards don't clear the room properly and you get shot by a terrorist iguana or whatever, you are going to swear at them in a similar way to how you'd swear at real people in that situation [small]in the afterlife[/small].

If you don't clear the room properly, and get shot by a terrorist iguana, it's still annoying, but you've only got yourself to blame.

 

[ZeZZZZevy]

frustration mixed with a need to complete an objective is a terrible combination.

Mind you I've never thrown a controller (those things cost $40 now my god!) but I've certainly started swearing 100x more than I usually do.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Because games that are genuinely challenging and engrossing cause a lot of people to go on huge adrenaline highs. There's nothing bad about that and it is extremely fun to play like that.

The downside of that is when a game we've become very passionate about suddenly decides to kick our arse, it can lead to frayed tempers. It's not a pretty sight, but It's being a bit harsh to judge people for getting passionate about games, especially on a gaming site. People express their passion for things in different ways, and just because you don't blow your top doesn't make you better than them.

 

[Soviet Steve]

All people get worked up about something, and anything they can't directly fix or influence gets channelled into something else where one can take out frustration. Why does it surprise you that gamers get worked up and rage about games? o.o

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

All people get worked up about something, and anything they can't directly fix or influence gets channelled into something else where one can take out frustration. Why does it surprise you that gamers get worked up and rage about games? o.o

Because it shows a severe lack of ability to control that rage. I'm not saying I've never gotten angry at a game, but I am saying I manage that anger like a mature adult and don't go throwing controllers or screaming at people. Why on earth would one continue to play a game that's making them mad enough to do that? At least take a 10 minute break and cool down. You'll play better when your head is clear anyway.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Because games that are genuinely challenging and engrossing cause a lot of people to go on huge adrenaline highs. There's nothing bad about that and it is extremely fun to play like that.

The downside of that is when a game we've become very passionate about suddenly decides to kick our arse, it can lead to frayed tempers. It's not a pretty sight, but It's being a bit harsh to judge people for getting passionate about games, especially on a gaming site. People express their passion for things in different ways, and just because you don't blow your top doesn't make you better than them.

I'm going to point you to my above post. Not blowing my top is a sign that I'm a well adjusted human being; small children blow their stack, as do people with rage issues. Normal people don't, at least not on a regular basis. I really find it scary that not only is this common, but accepted among gamers.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Because it shows a severe lack of ability to control that rage. I'm not saying I've never gotten angry at a game, but I am saying I manage that anger like a mature adult and don't go throwing controllers or screaming at people. Why on earth would one continue to play a game that's making them mad enough to do that? At least take a 10 minute break and cool down. You'll play better when your head is clear anyway.

You mean you feel that this behaviour occurs much more frequently amongst gamers than it does amongst people who are very interested in other activities like football or the like?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Because it shows a severe lack of ability to control that rage. I'm not saying I've never gotten angry at a game, but I am saying I manage that anger like a mature adult and don't go throwing controllers or screaming at people. Why on earth would one continue to play a game that's making them mad enough to do that? At least take a 10 minute break and cool down. You'll play better when your head is clear anyway.

You mean you feel that this behaviour occurs much more frequently amongst gamers than it does amongst people who are very interested in other activities like football or the like?

Yes, unless football players go around punching holes in the wall (the closest equivalent I can think of for breaking a $50 controller.)
Edit: It's not even a good equivalent, because the hole in the wall is a lot cheaper to fix, assuming you know how to do it yourself.

Edit Edit: In fact, stereotypes to the contrary, most athletes I've known have been very well adjusted, and highly unlikely to blow up the way gamers do on a regular basis. The phrase "teddy bear" tends to apply.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

I don't see how somebody can go breaking a controller I have enough self-restraint(and lack of monetary funds to go around doing that) to punch the couch if I get sufficiently mad at something; even then that rarely happens.

I usually go play something else long before anything like that could occur.

 

[Hop-along Nussbaum]

Gamer rage or whatever is a sure sign that someone didn't learn to adequately deal with failure when they were growing up. Failure is a part of life. You pick yourself up, dust off, and get back in the fight.

It takes some people many, many years to learn that they're not as great as they think they are, they can't always do or have whatever they want, and sometimes you have to deal with shit.

Took me a long time, but I grew up.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Yes, unless football players go around punching holes in the wall (the closest equivalent I can think of for breaking a $50 controller.)

Well some people with a deep interest in football tend to go around burning down cities and murdering people over their frustrations in my experience at least. Anyway breaking an object out of frustration is hardly common behaviour amongst gamers despite the fact that it has ocurred recently for one of them. I don't disagree with the fact that it is a silly thing to do but it seems like you are generalizing by simply assuming that all gamers do it - for instance when I'm frustrated with a game I tend to shut it down and not play it for a while.

 

[ScoopMeister]

Some people are just very angry. Since video games are meant to be an outlet, people let out their anger on them. Is it better that they take it out on other people in real life?

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Because games that are genuinely challenging and engrossing cause a lot of people to go on huge adrenaline highs. There's nothing bad about that and it is extremely fun to play like that.

The downside of that is when a game we've become very passionate about suddenly decides to kick our arse, it can lead to frayed tempers. It's not a pretty sight, but It's being a bit harsh to judge people for getting passionate about games, especially on a gaming site. People express their passion for things in different ways, and just because you don't blow your top doesn't make you better than them.

I'm going to point you to my above post. Not blowing my top is a sign that I'm a well adjusted human being; small children blow their stack, as do people with rage issues. Normal people don't, at least not on a regular basis. I really find it scary that not only is this common, but accepted among gamers.

Anger is a legitimate human emotion (closely related to situations of thrilling excitement) and people are going to express it whether you like it or not. What would you rather? They vent it at a game where they're not hurting anyone, or they vent it at real people, with real blood?

People aren't perfect, but comparing them to bratty children just because they sometimes get angry at things that don't really matter makes you look like an ass, just sayin'