Jerks!

I've been playing a lot of Halo 3 recently and it got me thinking about what makes people act like complete asshats online. Every 20 second post-game lobby of a Halo 3 match is filled with more expletives than a 20 minute Lewis Black stand up special. What the hell is going on here?

Contrary to the beliefs of many Halo 3 players, I am in fact not an African American Homosexual. (side note: Why are these two "insults" the most popular ones heard on xbox live? Are we really that racist and homophobic?) I've been working on this theory about why the XBox Live community seems to be comprised primarily of douche bags. Here's my breakdown:

1) The Greater Internet Dickwad Theory. It's pretty simple... normal people, when given a public forum and pure anonymity, tend to just fly off the handle and become assholes.

2) Competition. I'm guessing that most hardcore gamers haven't been exposed to the concept of healthy competition. (or at least they think it's a load of shit) They don't see the positive qualities of being a humble winner and loser, so there's no reason for them to do it, especially in the consequence-free environment of the internets.

3) Fraternity hazing logic. I think that a lot of hardcore gamers are abused in other parts of their lives. School, girls, jocks, parents, etc... there are a lot of forces arrayed against them and they tend to be a frustrated lot. I know that I had a rough time being a nerd in school. Judging by the pitch of my opponents' voices, it seems like most of them are in middle-to-high school, facing a lot of rough challenges everyday. When given the chance to be a good sport after winning or losing, these kids tend to vent their anger and pass it along to me. Thanks kids!

4) Single player games. Most console-only gamers are pretty new to mutliplayer online gaming. Single player games have largely been about player experience... making you feel like a powerful badass as you stomp on the AI and achieve total action-hero victory. Most single player games have only gotten easier in recent years as well... they're pretty damn easy compared to how difficult they used to be. Halo's matchmaking is pretty good... resulting in a 50% win/loss ratio. That should be good enough for everyone to have a good time, but when you're used to utterly destroying an uncaring AI 98% of the time, winning 50% of the time is kind of like a swift kick in the junk.

I wish that I knew more about psychology or other sciences that deal with why people act like asshats. Maybe I would have more facts to back up my theory. So take all of this with a grain of salt... I'm sure there's someone out there with a PhD that could tell me just how far off base I really am.

And finally... my apologies go out to the 5% of players who genuinely return my "Good Game" sentiments in the Halo 3 post-game lobby. You guys are fucking awesome and you give me hope for both gamers and humanity in general. :D!

-Brad!