Playing With Others: Bring the Funny

There are few things in any multiplayer game that I search for more than this, humor. Not for me is the over Moutain Dew addled smack talkathon's that come from frats that are more comfortable in their native environment of Xbox live and trying to get chicks drunk to date rape them. Nor is it the overly competitive tweak addicts that glorify in your bad luck or low latency or simple lack of skill at the time and delight in teabagging your hapless corpse to make their e-penis seem big. No, gentle readers, this is not for me.

Instead, I search for matches and players that can try to break the 4th wall of what is going on. Realize they are in a game, and treat it as such, but still have sufficienct ability not to suck, nor to be angered at dying to the point of rage quit. Players that delight in doing voice overs for NPC's or enemies in the game, giving them back stories that make you laugh as you end their short digital lives and leave behind their grieving virtual loved ones. Or players that do amusing voices for themselves that entertain the others to no end, though there are the occasional "serious" players that are not amused by this and constantly tell them to STFU and concentrate on winning, as the fate of the world lies in that objective.

I have encountered many such souls on my travels through the digital planescape. I have tried hard to find them again and continue along with them. Usually, this turns out to be fruitless, as they seem to disappear before you can exchange contact info. Humor can make a good game even better, or a terrible game tolerable, as long as you have the right people with you at the time all can be right with the world. This is something you can't get in a single player campaign game, yet at the same time, finding it in a multiplayer setting can be difficult too. There is a fine line as well, between funny and abusive. Abusive players will attack others constantly, citing lack of skill, sexual preferences, or intercourse with one's own mother as their weapons of choice. These are not funny players, they are merely bullies in a digital age. A funny player knows how and when to use such humor sparingly, and in such exaggerated ways as to soften the blow or make it seem ridiculous to the point of self parody.

So, to all the players out there, try to find the funny players, and, for TFSM's sake, do it for the lulz.