Have FPS games trained you to use a weapon? Survive in a warzone?

[Grell Sutcliff]

I play games all the time and have a multitude of weapons at my disposal but I don't care for guns though I have used them for hunting and firing at a shooting range but I perfer swords and I don't fool around with them because they are dangerous.

I haven't dealt with gore or violence in real life aside from a small brawl but if I was I assume I would get away from whatever was causing it, call the police, and go home to watch tv and play games because it's no longer my problem.

Shooting someone is too stupid and could have massive negative results for you in the future but if it was an itruder or mugger I would have no regrets putting them down for attacking me. I doubt I'd care if I shot someone on the battlefield because if you don't shoot them they'll shoot you.

I have almost no gun knowledge at all I know a few names and what type those names are but by looking at the gun I could never identify it but I'll probably get the type right like smg, rifle, shotgun etc... but who can't do that?

I know how to reload and fire a gun aswell as where the safety is and how to use a scope but not how to adjust it and I never learned any of that from a game I learned it from my dad.

I know absolutely nothing about tactics other than shoot the ones that are closer and facing towards you first aswell as a few hand to hand combat moves. I got these from deadliest warrior and karate classes though.

I did snipe a bird once, however I have to strike that to luck because I'm unable to hit a larger target that's only like fifthteen feet away.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

Anyone who thinks being the shiz at CoD makes them a war machine is the person I want on the front lines... as a meat shield for all the REAL soldiers.

As for what I know about firearms, etc... Enough. And it didn't come from video games, that's for dang sure. Unless you count the BFG. I would totally know how to use that from playing Doom. It's called point-and-click.

 

[Gauntes]

no because Counter strike would tell you to pull the forward assist instead of the charging handle, call of duty would have you believe that SCAR-H and FN FAL shoots different rounds, and that every single shotgun ever made has a range slightly greater than a lunge distance.

 

[StrixMaxima]

Gamers would be good at recognizing the games they got shot with, that I am sure of.

But, as others aptly commented here, no. In fact, it will probably make people nuisances and a danger to themselves and others, in a real combat situation.

 

[Reaper195]

I one fired a gun after playing video games. Luckily, I was not an idiot and had my father with me, so I expected kick-back, holding a rifle with two hands, aiming properly, etc. Anyone who says there is anything to learn about using guns in real life from video games is obviously either trolling, or an idiot who knows either nothing about guns or has never used one. Ever.

 

[Ironman126]

Yes and no. While i am a good shot, it has fuck-all to do with my FPS playing. However, i am pretty sure that if someone were to hand me any firearm ever featured in a video game, i'd be able to load, aim, and fire it. Like the first time i handled an AK-47, I knew exactly how to load and charge the rifle (not that it's all that hard).

As for tactics, video games teach you nothing. I play paintball and i see a lot of CoD kiddies out there going to "kick some noob ass." It gives me great pleasure to pick them off from many meters away while they stumble through obstacles and try to hit a target. Lol, kids...

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Does looking at a picture of a steak make me a chef?

In all seriousness, I have shot a few guns in my day, I also play paintball, I know how to take cover, cover team mates, advance while the opposing team is reloading, all kinds of stuff like that, my friends and I actually beat some guys who are actually U.S. Infantry men while playing paintball on an Army base, so yeah I guess I kind of know about fighting with guns if that kind of thing would carry over.

But has anything I've done in an FPS ever improve my accuracy with a gun? Or help me play a competitive team shooting sport? Hell no.

 

[Saelune]

Games dont train you, not enough to actually be useful, and people who think otherwise are idiots.
I do want to shoot a gun though, but Im not expecting to be amazing at it.

 

[I.N.producer]

Maybe reloading and that's about it. Then you just get the general picture and not practiced hands. So no.

 

[Srs bzns]

Actually, before I played CoD MW I was unaware guns had sights. So maybe a little bit I guess.

I'm serious. And I thought the stock went under the armpit until I was 11. Thank god no-one has ever handed me a gun.

But it's certain doubt that shooting games in their current form will ever compare to actual physical practice with a gun.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

The only thing I've truly learned from FPS games is that I would never do most of the stuff the characters do. "Soap! I know this rocket launcher is only TWO INCHES from me and you're half a mile away, but grab it and take out that helicopter! I've cover you! And by that, I mean I'll hide behind this wall and fire one bullet every five minutes. Good luck, sucker--I mean, mate."

The only two guns I would know on sight would be a P90 and a M-16, and I actually knew those before I played shooters. I liked the look of both of them, so I learned them. Oh, and I can probably ID World War II weapons well.

I like to say that I have no problem killing someone. If they are trying to kill me, I believe I wouldn't have a second thought about ending them. That being said, I've never even come close to a situation like that, and I'm told that everything changes when you are faced with something that serious. I have done some other crazy things--and react well under pressure--that other people give me odds looks for, so it's possible I'm telling the truth, but the only way to know for sure would be to be put in that situation.

Never fired--or reloaded--a gun in my life. Now, you give me a bow and some arrows, and I can shoot an apple off of your head. Did it with a playing card at range. But yeah, hand me a gun and I'll point and shoot. Pretty sure the recoil and noise will screw me up, and once I'm out of ammo I'll have no idea what to do.

I do know the concept of covering and suppressing fire. Use it in paintball. That's something that's always bothered me about games actually. If someone unloads a few rounds toward you, you will duck under cover. Enemies tend to stand there and keep shooting until they're hit. Bothers me to no end.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I started playing videogames after using air-soft rifles (Strong ones, pass a tin can) when i was about 10. I never used a weapon, but i'd bet i can land at least 7/10 shots where i want since i never missed a shot with those guns.

By tin can, do you mean soda cans or the thick steel ones that canned food comes in? Because it doesn't take much to go through the former, but anything that can go through the latter has a non-trivial chance of killing any person you might shoot with it.

Edit: To expand, I've never heard of an air-soft rifle that powerful. Now, an air rifle that shoots steel bbs and lead pellets, sure, but not an airsoft gun -- those exclusively shoot plastic bbs, and are meant as a cheaper alternative to paintball guns.

 

[Greedy_Smurph]

I know more about those subjects than the average joe, but less than G.I. Joe.

 

[ultrachicken]

I know where the trigger is, where to place the stock and hold the gun, but beyond that is a guessing game. Very few games feature a safety, and while I may be able to figure out how to shove a magazine in, I would probably not be even remotely as efficient at it as a real marine. I also would be inaccurate as hell.

As for real combat tactics, I only know little snippets of the basics. Kill snipers and RPG units as quickly as possible, keep your head down, use suppressing fire if your comrades need to move, and listen to your CO. That's it. I'd probably die in a heartbeat unless I got lucky.

I'm very... ruthless, to say the least, but only in video games. I'm fairly squeamish in real life.

 

[Vornek]

Spoiler: Let's go down your little checklist shall we?

I think guns are good looking and very nice pieces of engineering. But put one in my hand, and I'll act like I'm holding an active time-bomb. I can enjoy firing at a target range...for about five shots, then i realize how bad I am, how loud it is, and generally how much they differ from their game counterparts.

How I deal with gore and violence. I think it's very amusing, oh wait, real life. AAH get that away from me.

How I'd feel about shooting someone... [generic I'd never condone it response].
Killing someone on a battlefield. Pf, I'd be hiding behind a crate...like a wimp.

I might be able to look at the types of gun and recognize them. But nothing more. I know how to fire a gun. reload it, Perhaps the easy ones (remove clip, insert new clip. Or insert new bullet.)
How to handle the safety...eh, no.
How to use a scope, yes. How to adjust it... not really.

Military tactics...HAHAHA! (Although I would be a boss at taking cover, just saying.)

I despise guns. I can admire them for their looks, and their mechanisms. However, with what they do. I despise them. I'd like a gun that can only fire...well fire. A lighter-gun is very awesome.

Spoiler: Lighter Gun img

-V

 

[MrJKapowey]

How do you feel about guns and other weapons, about handling and shooting them?
How do you deal with gore or violence in real life?
How would you feel about shooting someone, would you have a problem killing someone on a battlefield, would it affect you?
How much gun knowledge do you think you have garnered from playing video games? Would you be able to identify different types of guns? Know how to fire, reload a gun? How about where the safety is located? How to use and adjust a scope?

Yes, I would know what to do during a full on contact. Why? I am an Army Cadet (second year) and hae thus far covered: Everything to do with the L98 cadet rifle, the L86A2 LSW, section battle drills, FiBUA and numerous other things.

Games wouldn't help me. They may desensitize me pulling the trigger, but I'd be really fucked if I tried to use CoD, BF or Halo tactics during a firefight.

Games have on the other hand helped me to be able to recognise different types of guns. They haven't helped me to learn how to use them: Did you know that the L86 andEnfield in MW2 and BlOps are both reloaded entirely incorrectly. I feel that given a few minutes I could work out how to use most weapons, but only because of the basic theory present throughout learning how to use the L98.