# Can we rant about the idiots on public game servers? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534 "2008-12-10T08:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/81 "2009-01-08T16:45:00Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > This sort of attitude is why I don’t play online games much anymore. > > “Oh, you’re not part of a clan/tribe/party/group already? Fuck off then, weirdo.” Talk about reading between the lines. For me, it depends on the game. When playing Halo, I like to play with people I know (for the most part). When playing Call f Duty, it doesn’t matter if I play with pubbies. I like playing with people I know because, well, I know them. I’ve got some rapport with them, they’re good people, and, chances are, we’re not going to lose very often. You’re a touch defensive, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/82 "2009-01-08T21:57:49Z")
I still play _Battlefield 2_ on occasion and there is no shortage of cheaters, I’m not talking about spawn killers, cartillery or 'nade spamming, I’m talking about bullet proof Aim-bot glitching motherfuckers. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/83 "2009-01-08T22:00:34Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > People who take online games seriously bore me. > > There is always one… the guy in TF2 who is constantly barking into the mic that there is too much of one class. I’m probably “that guy”. No team consisting of solely snipers, spies, and engineers has probably ever won a match in the history of TF2, and yet that is what most public servers seem to devolve to. I understand everyone’s playing to have fun, but it’s competely frustrating (for everyone) to get slaughtered because no one wants to switch from their “favorite” class. Especially when they’re terrible at that class to begin with. I’ll take a terrible heavy/soldier/medic over a terrible sniper/spy/engineer anyday. But yes, some of the “serious business” people annoy me too. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/84 "2009-01-08T23:02:26Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Well, if you’re 25 or older, I can recommend a group. Otherwise, use the Internets. There are plenty of groups out there that game together that are as serious (or not) as you are (or not). I don’t play with pubbies much anymore. Well, play \*with \*pubbies. So just to get this straight, to not play with pick-up groups I have to play with pick-up groups. How you can not see the contradiction in your statements I have no idea. > [@Tijuana\_Golds](#): > > Play with people you do know like Guildies, decent players you’ve already met, RL friends. Pick Up Groups aren’t the only option. The real-life friends is the only true solution but there it assumes that my friends are gamers with the exact same tastes as myself which over the years has been far from true. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/85 "2009-01-08T23:10:02Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > So just to get this straight, to not play with pick-up groups I have to play with pick-up groups. How you can not see the contradiction in your statements I have no idea. > > The real-life friends is the only true solution but there it assumes that my friends are gamers with the exact same tastes as myself which over the years has been far from true. Nope. Pick-up groups are different from a group of people that you know beforehand. It’s no different than, say, playing with people from the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/86 "2009-01-08T23:11:15Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > So just to get this straight, to not play with pick-up groups I have to play with pick-up groups. How you can not see the contradiction in your statements I have no idea. You’ve lost me. Pick-up groups are groups of random folks that happen to be looking for a game. Groups like **LOUNE** is talking about are more-or-less permanent rosters (as he just said while I was composing this post, the SDMB is an example), so when you want to play Left 4 Dead or something you know you’ll be playing with a sampling from this consistent group of people. It’s like MMO guilds. It’s not necessary to locate these gaming groups during the course of gameplay; most groups who have their stuff together have webpages or are at least listed on certain sites. (Sorry for being vague, but I don’t have details for your specific situation.) If you consider anything but playing with the same 3 or 4 people every time you play to be a pick-up group, though, then there’s little we can do to help. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/87 "2009-01-09T14:02:07Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > You’ve lost me. Pick-up groups are groups of random folks that happen to be looking for a game. Groups like **LOUNE** is talking about are more-or-less permanent rosters (as he just said while I was composing this post, the SDMB is an example), so when you want to play Left 4 Dead or something you know you’ll be playing with a sampling from this consistent group of people. It’s like MMO guilds. > > It’s not necessary to locate these gaming groups during the course of gameplay; most groups who have their stuff together have webpages or are at least listed on certain sites. (Sorry for being vague, but I don’t have details for your specific situation.) > > If you consider anything but playing with the same 3 or 4 people every time you play to be a pick-up group, though, then there’s little we can do to help. That’s only useful **if you’re already part of the group**. So according to Least people who have bad experiences online shouldn’t play in pick-up groups and to do this they need to join a group. This ignores the fact that for someone not already part of the group playing with an unknown group to them is the **exact same thing as playing with a pick-up group**. Relationships between human beings do not spring full formed from the ground; people do not automatically know people they’ve never encountered before. There are insiders and outsiders to a group of people and crossing the threshhold between the two requires playing with people who you’ve never played with before. How this is a difficult concept to grasp is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/88 "2009-01-09T14:18:00Z")
Yeeeeah, I think you’re asking for a little much, then. Of course you’ll be playing with strangers the first couple of times, but the point is that it’ll always be the same people there on out, whom you can then get to know. If your current friends have no interest in playing the game, then your next best solution is to make more friends who do have an interest in playing the game, or at the very least hook up with a stable group. I’m not going to turn around and snark how difficult this concept is to grasp, because I think you do understand. Your requirements are narrower than typical, though, and there’s little anyone can do to help with that. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/89 "2009-01-09T15:05:28Z")
The problem that you’re having to grasp the concept is your own and, apparently, native to only you. ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/90 "2009-01-09T16:58:13Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > The problem that you’re having to grasp the concept is your own and, apparently, native to only you. I’ll have you know that I also fully understood what **Just Some Guy** is saying and agree with him. So that makes two of us. You can go back to being insufferably annoying now. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/91 "2009-01-09T17:05:13Z")
> [@mske](#): > > I’ll have you know that I also fully understood what **Just Some Guy** is saying and agree with him. So that makes two of us. > > You can go back to being insufferably annoying now. Fair enough. Then the point is whizzing over two heads. ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Goodfellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Robin\_Goodfellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robin_Goodfellow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/92 "2009-01-09T17:29:57Z")
I think the point that’s whizzing over everyone’s heads is that the OP was not looking for people to swoop in and save us with their favorite suggestions on how to not play with PUGs. The OP’s point, if we can all think back, was an invitation: > [@Captain\_C](#): > > Anyone else got some good stories or ranting they want to get out of their system? There was no invitation anyone to solve the problem. There was no begging anyone to magically make it so one’s coworkers or friends play the same games as them. It was a thread about sharing one’s experiences. Not a FixMe! thread. There is a type of personality who can never tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/93 "2009-01-09T17:46:22Z")
> [@mske](#): > > I’ll have you know that I also fully understood what **Just Some Guy** is saying and agree with him. So that makes two of us. > > You can go back to being insufferably annoying now. I have never played online in my life, in any shape or form, but even I can see what LOUNE is saying. You can A) Play with real life friends B) Play a pick-up game with random anybodies (not desireable here) or the magic third option C) Search online for established groups with DEFINED characteristics and tendancies that suit your own goals. Voila, you just found a group without playing the “Pubbies”. (The magic of the WWW. I know stuff about games I have never even seen played) ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/94 "2009-01-09T18:24:37Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I have never played online in my life, in any shape or form, but even I can see what LOUNE is saying. > > You can > A) Play with real life friends > > B) Play a pick-up game with random anybodies (not desireable here) > > or the magic third option > > C) Search online for established groups with DEFINED characteristics and tendancies that suit your own goals. > > Voila, you just found a group without playing the “Pubbies”. > > (The magic of the WWW. I know stuff about games I have never even seen played) Oh, I fully understand what he is saying. I also understand **Just Some Guy** ’s point and can sympathise with him. It appears that I am about the only other person who can do so. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/95 "2009-01-09T18:59:33Z")
> [@mske](#): > > Oh, I fully understand what he is saying. I also understand **Just Some Guy** ’s point and can sympathise with him. It appears that I am about the only other person who can do so. So can I, to a certain extent. I love MMOs, but I have trouble making friends on them without another friend to ease the process, and I refuse to PUG it. It’s much easier if I start playing with friends I already know. That doesn’t mean established groups/guilds/clans = pick-up groups. There’s a distinct difference and it’s odd that **Just Some Guy** seems to be equating the two. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/96 "2009-01-09T22:42:20Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > C) Search online for established groups with DEFINED characteristics and tendancies that suit your own goals. > > Voila, you just found a group without playing the “Pubbies”. > > (The magic of the WWW. I know stuff about games I have never even seen played) I’m sure they’ll tell you that they’re nice guys who are good with children but that doesn’t mean you want NAMBLA babysitting your kids. Until you play with a bunch of strangers to you (the definition of a pick-up group) you don’t know a thing about how they really are; how they present themselves and the reality are typically two completely different things. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/97 "2009-01-09T23:48:53Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Timmies? Uh, when did that become a term? ☹ For the sake of people who may or may not be called Timmy IRL, can we squash this term? I don’t know if this is [where it started](http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b), but the Wizards of the Coast guys have popularized it. Mark Rosewater claims to be the source. The split is Timmy/Johnny/Spike. Simply, Timmy wants to play around and have fun, Johnny wants to break the game, ie, find a bizarre or non-standard strategy that works (even if it isn’t the best), and Spike wants to win. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/98 "2009-01-10T00:10:34Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I don’t know if this is [where it started](http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b), but the Wizards of the Coast guys have popularized it. Mark Rosewater claims to be the source. > > The split is Timmy/Johnny/Spike. Simply, Timmy wants to play around and have fun, Johnny wants to break the game, ie, find a bizarre or non-standard strategy that works (even if it isn’t the best), and Spike wants to win. Even before that, it was used in the 2old2play forums. Ah, [here’s](http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1352&start=0)its birth. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/99 "2009-01-10T05:36:29Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I don’t know if this is [where it started](http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b), but the Wizards of the Coast guys have popularized it. Mark Rosewater claims to be the source. > > The split is Timmy/Johnny/Spike. Simply, Timmy wants to play around and have fun, Johnny wants to break the game, ie, find a bizarre or non-standard strategy that works (even if it isn’t the best), and Spike wants to win. The version I heard is that the term comes from the character of Timmy on _South Park_. ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Goodfellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Robin\_Goodfellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robin_Goodfellow)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534/100 "2009-01-12T01:36:53Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Even before that, it was used in the 2old2play forums. Ah, [here’s](http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1352&start=0)its birth. I don’t want to step on your toes, here, but just for the sake of fighting ignorance, the “Timmy” quote from WoTC came about during the development of the Tempest set, which puts it [pre-1997](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=2270217). They’re basically different terms, anyway, but in that case it’s probably better that no one mixes their origins and thus their meanings. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-rant-about-the-idiots-on-public-game-servers/476534.md?page=6)