Guild Wars 2

Something happened while I was PVP-ing last night that illuminated something I think we all need to be aware of:

I had the misfortune of having to play on Skyhammer. The infamous 1 troll vote won out and we had to make it through this god awful map. I camped the lazer cannon hard, and provided a lot of support for my team. But one member of my team was raging at me. I had no idea why, but he was telling me I was out of position and just kept saying “WTF JUGGERNAUT (my name)”. Rather than blow up in this guys face, I just PM him and ask him whats wrong, and if there was something else I should be doing.

I didnt get a response until about 5 minutes after the match had ended. It turns out that a father had stepped away from his computer for 10 minutes, and his twelve year old son had hopped on for a PvP match, and had thought he was the opposite color the whole match. If I had followed the naturally aggressive instinct that seems to come with PvP, I would have been raging at some confused kid half my age!

I just think its important to remember that you cannot make any assumptions on who is on the other end of the text on your screen. Be patient, and remember that its a real person youre talking to.

Also, a side note on giving instructions: I cant think of anyone who likes to be told what to do without an explanation, regardless if theyre a kid or 30 years old (unless you’re in the armed forces I suppose?). Just try to put some constructive criticism with whatever suggestions you make, so that we improve each other’s abilities.

I hope you took something from this and that I didnt waste your time, but I thought it was an important reminder to everyone that we aren’t just avatars on a screen, but real people.