Well guys, I've had a well earned holiday, albeit 10 days camping, but I seriously enjoyed the break and the great weather.
So we come onto the subject of this Blog......
Real Life/Gaming split
To be fair, being an older gamer with a family, I probably have more time away from gaming than some of you younger types!
I rarely get to game during the day, but to be fair, its not something that interests me. Most of my gaming friends are online in the evenings, and this suits me fine.
However, it does interest me how much time people spend on their gaming, and how much it is split with their real life interests. If we start right at the top end, it amazes me just how little spare time the Pro Gamers seem to get at times, simply hopping from one event to the next, and in some cases, one country to the next. I know that they are mostly young guys, and that they sometimes get handsome rewards for this, and as such it is almost their accepted routine.
I often wonder what these guys do to unwind after events such as this, as often gaming is OUR way of unwinding after a day of work.
Obviously for many of us mere mortal gamers, that is not something we have to worry about, and as such gaming will inevitably be simply a relaxation and a past time to keep us entertained. However, when, for example, a CoD title is released, and you see people hitting top prestige really quickly, all of us think 1 of 2 things; Booster/Hacker or THEY HAVE NO LIFE!
It is baffling to me that people spend SO much time a) on one single game, or b) on their console without doing other things.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE my gaming, but without outside interests, there simply cannot be any sort of perspective in your gaming. You start to game for the sake of gaming, NOT because you enjoy it, and for me thats the big issue. Gaming is FUN, and if you start to play games just for the sake of it, then surely you've lost the buzz.
My advice....go camping (in a real tent, not in a corner on Black Ops 2), have some beers, go to the beach, enjoy the sun.......I think you'll find you'll come back a happier, and more inclined to enjoy your gaming again!
Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR
Peas out chaps!
Neil
Firstly, can I thank all the people who took the time to read my first blog, and all those who promoted it on Twitter, I really appreciate it!
I also have a new Twitter account just for the blog which is - @Old_GrumpyGamer
So onto my second subject for discussion, and given the hype, I simply couldn't ignore this weeks MP reveal for CoD Ghosts.
To be fair, this is a personal subject for me, as I have to admit to being a bit of a Infinity Ward fanboy (well, fan-oldtimer!). They have, in my humble opinion, always produced the more rounded game in terms of experience, both cinemtaic/visual and on story line. Yeah OK, so maybe the multiplayer sometimes has issues that we might not all agree on, but lets be fair, which multiplayer doesn't?
My first view of Ghosts, from the 14th August live reveal, was that it seemed to be good ol' IW fayre, with most of the features that we experienced before being employed again.
I personally prefer the near future/current day weapons more than some of the slightly more futuristic weaponary in BO2 and so, all that seems to be to my liking too.
I'm not sure about that bloody dog walking round after me all the time, imagine the amount of dog crap littering the place! Hope they've got pooper scoopers as a side arm!
All in all the small amount of information and videos that we've seen, appear to show that we could be in for our usual experience, so on that score all well and good. However, I've heard that some of the Esports community are concerned that nothing was mentioned about the support that the game will offer their side of the game - I too was surprised this wasn't mentioned, especially given the fanfare that BO2 gave in its reveals especially with CoD Casting and other competitive elements.
They've also removed Death Streaks, and I know that you'll be all HURRAH-ing at that...but how can I get kills now?! :(
My last point is one that bloody narks me something proper! How bad is it that I've already heard people on forums and on Twitter whinging and whining that they'll buy it, but fully expect to hate the game after a short time!
Now don't get me wrong, I can get angry at times with CoD games, but the way some people get wound up by it, and then flatly refuse to play the game online after about 3 months of having the game is plainly ridiculous! No game is EVER going to be perfect, so please young 'uns, just accept that, play the game to have fun, and accept that you'll only have 12 months to wait before you have another one to complain about!
So....thats my second blog done! Spread the word people - and you if you follow me on twitter, you see that I have an AMAZING giveaway going one!!
SPREAD THE WORD!
Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR
Peas out chaps!
Neil
Right then people, where to begin?
I'm a mature gamer and my recent posting on forums and tweeting got me thinking about putting my gaming thoughts down in a blog to see what people think about what I've got to say.
My name is Neil, I'm a 36 year old family man and I've been gaming seriously on Xbox for around 6 years. In that time I've progressed from a complete noob to gaming competitively with clans within an online league, and even watching Pro gaming and starting to appreciate what the Esports circuit involves.
I'm going to try to pick a relavant issue/point of discussion within gaming for each blog and give my opinion on this.
First topic up is Trash Talk.......
I think we've all encountered the discussions either on forums or on Twitter this week revolving around trash talking, particularly at LAN and within Pro gamers. The questions were raised about how trash talking may affect the view of esports in the mainstream and how this may have an impact on things like sponsorship and future events.
My personal opinion is that there surely has to be a limit and a responsability on the participants to show a level of respect and behaviour befitting of their position within an organisation. Even as a grumpy old gamer, I understand the feelings involved whilst being under pressure at the high end of performance, but some of the videos that have been shown recently seem to show that even after a game has finished, some people seem to not know when/how to switch off.
The teams/organisations especially in Pro gaming now must realise the positions that they find themselves in, with a growing fan base, they must show some aspect of control over their players, or what image do they want to portray to those people on the outside of Esports?
Their are people involved in the organisation of gaming events that are obviously putting a lot of effort into trying to attract a more widescale audience to either viewing or sponsoring these events, and my perosnal opinion is that if this behaviour continues, then how long before someone oversteps the mark? This simply undermines the hard work put in by others in trying to improve the image/standing of Esports in the mainstream media/public eye.
So, whats the solution? In my humble opinion, this can only be answered by the players and the teams themselves. Surely the future of Esports rests with attracting bigger audiences and bigger sponsors to drive it into new directions, however if this is harmed by childish behaviour at events then how can the scene grow?
So please please play the game with your heart and soul, and yes show that you care, and show that you know you are better than your opponent, but also show respect and show humility in both defeat and victory, because lets face it, none of us, however good you are, are going to be top dog forever.....what goes around comes around guys!
Lets help the scene grow, and let give those trying to help achieve this, the best opportunity to promote competitive gaming to its fullist.
Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR
Peas out chaps!
Neil
