Trash talking: do we REALLY need it?

[maddawg IAJI]

unfrotunatly the answer may be yes. in team games such as halo, l4d, and gears of war trash talking can make or break the game. trash talking is a pschlogical weapon. if you can make your oppenet think hes bad he'll play bad. unfortunatly this is considered unetical by most of the gaming community. i tend not to do it but on some occasions i tend to burst out.

 

[darthzew]

It depends. I like it in moderation and only if it's good trash talk.

But most of it is pure garbage.

And crap... no pun intended.

 

[EeveeElectro]

If someone 'trash talked' me, they'd get a controller in their face.

 

[Grayjack]

The only time I thrash talk is when somebody starts with me. Yeah, I know an eye for an eye makes the world blind.

 

[I_LIKE_CAKE]

Trash talking can be fun if everyone is having a good time, you just have to be able to realize when it stops being funny, and just makes you look like a douche.

 

[TJM8]

Wow lots of long posts im not reading haha. ok my opinion is trash talk is basically necessary, its the people that do it incorrectly that make it annoying. My biggest peeve is the use of the word noob. Gamers, its starting to be used in popular culture, we need to find a new word, noob makes u sound retarded. Other than that theres not much you can do besides report people I guess. You're always gonna have the racist 12 year old screaming curses and saying the n-word (though hes obviously white), the crap player that when he actually gets a kill hollers about it, or the actually good player but is over cocky about his severe lack of life because he knows where to throw a grenade across a board so it lands right on a point. The main thing is that those people fuel of people responding and getting pissed off, and if you cant get over it that way theres always mute

 

[gigastrike]

There's nothing funnier than watching trash talk backfiring.

for eg, (in cricket) Freddie Flintoff(england) trash talks Yuvraj Singh(India) before Yuvraj bats an over... He goes on to smack out six sixs in a row. (the highest score possible in an over)

A truly humbling comeback yet Yuvraj didn't say a single word back at any given point. Pure class.

Ya, I have no idea what you just said.

I don't trash talk. Partly because I don't have a mic, but mostly because I think it's just plain stupid. Has anyone ever met someone who though that trash-talking was part of the game? So annoying.

 

[BasicMojo]

Some people will say that trash talk is a way to anger your opponent and make them play worse than they already are, that it's the "psychological warfare aspect" of gaming. I personally think that it makes you a dick, and so I'm never the one who starts it. However, sometimes it is necessary to, when someone's been talking shit to you all night starts getting their testicles removed through their anus, turn the tables and let them have it. This I only do to excessively annoying people, partially because I don't believe that there's any merit in trash talk but also because I have a very sharp tongue and have caused teams to become unbalanced by players on the other side leaving.

I find the best way to deal with trash talk is to simply ignore it. Most PC games will come equipped with a /squelch or /ignore command, hiding text entered by the target player. On games like Halo, played on XBox Live, admittedly it's a bit harder, but I always comfort myself with the realization that I'm more mature than they are, have a girlfriend, a job, etc.

 

[Fingolfin High-King of the Noldor]

I hate people who trash talk because it's usually some eight year old who has nothing better to do so he just sits online for hours on end and that when I really get annoyed. The only time I trash talk is if someone is being a complete douche(Cheating, insulting) and I hate that I do it but I can't help it.

 

[ChaosTheory3133]

Only with my brothers but we always trash talk each other in games. We don't get big about it nor do we let it phase us but I think its ok if you got a relationship where its something you normally do with people.

 

[ImperialPyromancer]

Two of my friends (one in particular) are seasoned trash talkers. I don't see the point personally, but sometimes watching them do it is bloody hilarious. Admittedly other times (usually when I'm in the same game, as opposed to just watching) it's just embarassing to know them.

 

[Raven's Nest]

There's nothing funnier than watching trash talk backfiring.

for eg, (in cricket) Freddie Flintoff(england) trash talks Yuvraj Singh(India) before Yuvraj bats an over... He goes on to smack out six sixs in a row. (the highest score possible in an over)

A truly humbling comeback yet Yuvraj didn't say a single word back at any given point. Pure class.

Ya, I have no idea what you just said.

I don't trash talk. Partly because I don't have a mic, but mostly because I think it's just plain stupid. Has anyone ever met someone who though that trash-talking was part of the game? So annoying.

Actually come to think of it watch BASEketball! Its a film by the creators of south park. The game is a cross between basketball and baseball (duh), but the best part of the game is trash talking. The team who aren't taking a free throw, get to trash talk the thrower before he throws to try and make him miss his shot, for eg...

Defense: Your mother's deaf...
Thrower: My mother's dead, you little twerp.
Defense: I guess that why she didn't move around much.

Thrower gets psyched out and misses the shot.

Fecking funny stuff especially if you like south park

 

[Your Mom is Attractive]

Trash talk is necessary. It is a form of mental combat. One must learn to accept and dish it out. If he keeps beating you, just claim that he is using the same attacks over and over, even if he is not. Complain that he is using stronger characters, or that you broke your thumb earlier the day killing a man with it. Once they realize that you are superior in your trash talking abilities, they will be forced to take you serious.

 

[KungFuMaster]

It's anthropological; it's part of ingrained male psyche to always be "better" than everyone else, that's how you secure a mate, good hunting lands, leadership of the tribe, etc. and so on. Thing is, we don't have to show our teeth and meet in mortal combat anymore, we just grab the peanut and bust off 15 move combos. Same basic idea, but in today's homogenized society, it's a vestigial organ of sorts, the appendix of male behavior, no longer necessary, but still there. The best thing you can do is learn to find the balance between a healthy amount of shit talking without tipping towards being an arrogant asshole.

One of my favorite things to do after a healthy ass-whupin' (no matter how much I try, my fingers just seem to be, well, stupid) is to challenge the biggest loud mouth to a game of chess, and then proceed to brow beat them into accepting when they toss up the usual excuses of "that shit is ghey" (this being the boiled down, condensed version of the myriad responses I tend to get) with responses in the vein of "any idiot can mash buttons, come and use your brain for a minute and really impress me." Soon enough, their egos and pride lead them to accept; and I four-move them in the first game, and lord knows their man-pride can't take that. Next thing you know, we're six or seven games deep, I feel better about myself (that is the point, after all, isn't it?) and the guy who just spent an hour or better hadouken-ing *grimace* my ass all over the big screen is tearing his hair out and cursing me for a jackal-whelped hellspawn (that actually happened once.) as I smile, chuckle low in my throat, say "Well, that was stupid..." and go for another checkmate.

Then we drink Jameson and have Kendo battles in the back yard, but that's another story for another time.