By Kieron Gillen on November 6th, 2009 at 11:36 am.
John B noticed this little quote-span-into-article over at C&VG where Chet opines that the British are “notorious non-talkers” in online games. Basically, while Americans yabber constantly, the Brits take a more taciturn approach. This will, apparently, cause some major problems when playing L4D2′s realism mode. Talk or die. TALK OR DIE. What do you make of it. Is this true? Or is it that Americans think that because Brits just don’t like speaking to you. And understandably. Give us our tea, you bastards. You don’t even drink the stuff.
06/11/2009 at 11:38 Rick says:
Yes, I refuse to speak to Americans because I wanted the tea they dumped in Boston harbour.
06/11/2009 at 11:40 Kieron Gillen says:
The bastards!
KG
06/11/2009 at 11:41 ChaosSmurf says:
Can we have an RPS article about how American’s never shut up :(
06/11/2009 at 16:56 Tyshalle says:
It’s not the incessant talking that should bother you. It’s the fact that we rarely know what the fuck we’re blabbering on about that should do it.
06/11/2009 at 11:41 Jamie A says:
I would talk, but whenever I try to use my microphone over a steam game it goes berserk! Horrible noise galore!
That’s why I use Skype to chat to friends while playing, and boy what a great sound quality!
06/11/2009 at 12:47 Ingenu says:
I’d advise you to try out mumble (free software) for voice chat, it has low latency, takes very little CPU and so is ideal for action games.
There are free mumble servers available, or you can run a server on your own machine.
06/11/2009 at 11:42 monchberter says:
Well, my own Team Fortress 2 community is rather verbose, ok, so this is due to a few overcontributors, but from what i’ve read on Kotaku and CVG, most people seem to be taking the opposite tack (on consoles admittedly) with the opinion that the majority of American voices are far from tactical, but abusive immature trolls.
I can say for myself that i’m on the mic, but not all the time.
06/11/2009 at 11:44 Jacques says:
I’ve not had a mic until recently, but it always seems to be Americans that try to tell me what to do when I play L4D, which generally then involves me shooting them in the face with whatever weapon is handy.
06/11/2009 at 11:45 Starky says:
Indeed the difference is we Brits speak when we think something needs to be said, or we’re having a friendly banter with people we know (often on a dedicated server we are a regular on). While many Americans I have known will jabber on constantly about nothing at all, seemingly having a need to fill the silence with their own voices.
Personally I like having the silences there.
06/11/2009 at 12:36 HidesHisEyes says:
I notice this as well, especially on steam games. I seriously don’t go on CS:S to hear you guys discuss your boring yankee weekends.
Game chat is for saying things like “There’re 5 of them round the corner and they’ve all got shotguns”, not “lol yeah lol lol.”
06/11/2009 at 11:45 Kester says:
Do they have any data to back this up? Valve are the kings of data collection, so if he's actually speaking from evidence it's pretty interesting. If he's just throwing around stereotypes about stiff upper lips it's rather less interesting.
06/11/2009 at 11:46 Tei says:
I have found some servers are mute, to the moment you say some inane thing, then everyone “remenbers” that can talk, and start chatting. I start some of these inane comments, as seems games where people talk are better than games where people is mute. I can have some silent communication with teammates, words are not always needed, but words may make stuff more fun.
06/11/2009 at 11:46 Been says:
It appears this “Chet” never played TF2 on the INXS Server.
06/11/2009 at 11:49 Ian says:
I’ve never played a game with voice chat with folks I don’t know, but how much I talked would depend entirely on how chatty others seemed I would think.
06/11/2009 at 11:51 Psychopomp says:
The TF2 server I frequent, Baron’s Pub, has the odd brit that comes in every now and again, and they never shut up. Then again, no one on Baron’s ever shuts up. We’re always talking about something. We like it that way.
I have, however, noticed that when a L4D game is formed in RPS, I normally end up having to take the lead, since the rest don’t really say much unless something bad happens.
06/11/2009 at 11:52 Riotpoll says:
I only use my mic when on ventrilo, as it’s the only programme where I can have my voice boosted loud enough for people to hear, as it has an option to turn individual people louder. Also, if you play with the same people long enough you don’t need voice comms anyway as you know what they’ll do in most situations.
06/11/2009 at 11:55 Sobric says:
I think a lot of Brits are talking, they just have the decency not to have their “push to talk” button pressed.
I for one, am usually spitting and cursing at the game, the opposition, my team, the moon, god and the numerous Americans who just WONT SHUT THE FUCK UP.
06/11/2009 at 11:56 Freudian Trip says:
I don’t talk because my microphone makes me sound like the zodiac killer.
06/11/2009 at 12:21 Chaz says:
You go around maliciously bursting rubber boats?
06/11/2009 at 11:56 El_MUERkO says:
On BF:Bad Company everyone yapped, all nationalities from what I heard, the American “fag/gay” kiddies were often out filth’d by the English, I remember one verbose Liverpudlian spouting such a torrent of abuse as to get universal praise from the servers Americans, much ‘I have to remember that one’ :)
Maybe the British are less willing to start talking, but once it starts they seem perfectly happy to join in.
06/11/2009 at 11:59 Schmung says:
I used to play on Barons Pub back when it was a TS server..
It certainly seems to be the case in my experience that teh Yanks will blather on about anything whereas the Brits only pipe up to moan or convey information.
06/11/2009 at 12:02 Rinox says:
As a non-native speaker I always feel a little self-conscious about using voice comm in games. My English is more than good enough, but there’s always an accent so…
But generally, I think the Yabbering Americans vs. Taciturn Brits idea holds up. It certainly is in line with my experiences. Even in games like L4D with friends the Americans always seem to have less qualms about using the voice comm than my Brit friends.
06/11/2009 at 12:03 Magnus says:
Used to be plenty of chatter from both sides of the pond when I played the HL1 mod Firearms with [KOD].
We had to set up Roger Wilco mind, so it was just clan members talking through matches, none of this modern free-for-all malarkey.
Here are a few quotes I find quite apt.
“The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.”
–Benjamin Franklin
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.”
– Plato
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
– Abraham Lincoln
06/11/2009 at 12:54 kikito says:
Man,
If your headshots are half as good as your quotes, you must be a very powerful opponent. I salute you.
06/11/2009 at 12:03 spinks says:
I was blogging about that today, and looking at some of the responses on the article. I think it’s a mixture of different cultural norm (we just are more hesitant to talk to strangers anyway, plus americans more likely to engage in smack talk/ gangsta talk), and open servers tending to attract the bottom feeders.
06/11/2009 at 12:07 Psychopomp says:
On Baron’s, the smacktalk doesn’t really go beyond “SIRFY!” “Psychopomp.”
06/11/2009 at 12:06 Pl4t0 says:
In my experience, it’s somewhat true. There are certainly quite a few talkative brits though (especially in HL2 mods, like Insurgency or ZP:S) .
06/11/2009 at 12:07 Cooper says:
I do not need running commentary on the game we are playing.
I KNOW that there’s a Boomer, I can hear it. I know you’ve been caught by a smoker as I can see AND hear you.
What I don’t know is where you want to holdout for the incoming horde, where the second pistol or which way the tank is coming from.
However, this I don’t get, because of point 2:
I do not need to hear about how great ‘House’ was last night.
Sure, house is an excellent TV show, but that’s secondary to THE HUNDREDS OF ZOMBIES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO EAT MY FACE
06/11/2009 at 12:13 Bforge says:
I really dislike that Chet guy for some reason.
Anyway, been on UK servers in L4D more than a few times, and when a team was using mics they were all talking normally. Not yapping or blabbering constantly about irrelevant crap, but just talking when the need arised.
06/11/2009 at 12:13 Rinox says:
Incidentally, how much do we know about Realism Mode anyway? I mean, L4D2 on expert is already pretty unforgiving (even if hardly impossible). What’s Realism Mode gonna be? No medkits ever, permanent deaths, no pipe bombs?
Or just one-hit kill zombies?
06/11/2009 at 12:17 Psychopomp says:
1)Zombies can take a load of damage, but headshots still work fine.
2)You no longer find survivors in closets. They must be revived by a defibrillator.
3)None of the glowy silhouettes on everything, including other survivors.
4)Friendly fire does a lot more damage
06/11/2009 at 12:19 Rinox says:
I see, thanks for the info! So basically teamwork is made a lot harder/more crucial then.
06/11/2009 at 12:53 Vandelay says:
Quite honestly, these are all things that should be on Expert mode. It is a pretty easy when you are playing with at least two other competent players. I hope there is a Versus realism mode too.
Still, it is a welcome addition.
06/11/2009 at 12:13 Chaz says:
If people are talking about the game and relaying team information and such, I’m fine with it. However in my experience, there’s always one who just wants to waffle constantly about anything and everything that’s not to do with the game, and it’s nearly always an American I’m afraid to say. Having to listen to some guy just droning on and on in the backgroud is bloody anoying and distracting. Of course then someone will tell him to “shut the f**k up”, and from there on it’s all down hill. And thats on a good server. Usually all you hear is a bunch of squeaky voiced American teens coming out with a constant stream of profanities and insults about how you suck and are such a fag. And thats from the guys on your team.
06/11/2009 at 12:13 Persus-9 says:
I think he’s right. Brits do need to talk more and a lot of the time as Tei has mentioned it just needs someone to be the first person to talk and then everyone else wakes up and starts chatting nicely. I’m making an effort to be that person in L4D these days because I’ve got a feeling L4D would be a lot more fun if people would just talk more.
06/11/2009 at 12:17 Edgar the Peaceful says:
My PC is in the living room of our flat. Once I reach for the headset with mic I get mercilessly ribbed by my wife for being a complete geek and/or having some kind of military commander / Madonna fetish.
= silence.
06/11/2009 at 12:58 dartt says:
You might benefit from seriously asking her to stop doing that.
Seriously, it would be like you calling her a tart when she reaches for the make-up, not nice.
06/11/2009 at 13:15 Edgar the Peaceful says:
It’s all in good humour! But in our front room I couldn’t really start bawling ‘The demoman’s a spy’ without disturbing Strictly Come Dancing or Mad Men or something. Actually if Mad Men’s on I’ll turn TF2 off.
06/11/2009 at 15:00 dartt says:
Fair enough :D
I just had an image of you being mocked by your bully of a wife and I felt very sorry for you.
06/11/2009 at 15:12 Edgar the Peaceful says:
No she’s not a bully. It’s just the incomprehension thing that was discussed in the Gamer Stigma thread. She couldn’t even get into World of Goo…
06/11/2009 at 12:17 ElBandito says:
Try turning off skype to fix this. I have the same problem with using Vent while Skype is running. Its to do with two apps listening to the same input device (apparently)
06/11/2009 at 12:18 Ffitz says:
The British gamer simply greets other players on the server in the traditional manner (weather, tea, polite enquiries as to the current status of wives and children), and then keeps his own counsel until circumstances determine it necessary to impart specific information to one’s team. That one has spotted a Boomer by the lorry, for example, or that a Hunter has had the sheer temerity to knock the player to the ground, that one’s suit is in danger of being creased, and that a degree of assistance from a nearby companion would be very much appreciated.
06/11/2009 at 12:19 tigershuffle says:
I used to play Iron Crescendo (Red Orchestra mod thang) and because it had two rounds of play on the weekend…..one was more frequented by European members and a later more USofA one……………..
For some reason the v.talkative yanks couldnt understand a word of my lovely Hull accent….so I gave up communicating with them
“Targer tank on t’ rart side o rerd” would be met with “what you say bud?” and then instadeath.. :(
Had far more fun with a Glaswegian and a bloke from Helsinki……. because we knew we would just stick to relevant information………and not a load of constant “whoopin an a hollerin”
06/11/2009 at 18:15 psyk says:
Thats what they pretend to do as soon as you say something wrong or that they agree with they jump on it and thats all ages from kids to adults is sad.
06/11/2009 at 12:23 bill says:
I don’t play games online, so i don’t use voice chat. But to be honest, one of the reasons I don’t play games online is that i have this irrational fear/hatred of the necessary voice chat.
Watching a few gameplay videos on youtube, of people running around a war-torn landscape littered with smoke and wreckage – yet overlaid with shrill teen voices talking crap about pointless crap, and using loads of dumb sounding niche terminology. It sounds like one of the circles of hell… but i’m not sure which.
If i ever did play a game with voice chat, i think i’d stay as quiet as possible and just speak when needed. If the vocies of the other players hadn’t made me jam pencils in my ears by that point…
06/11/2009 at 14:51 Jesse says:
Public voice chat needs an age filter.
06/11/2009 at 12:25 CMaster says:
For myself, a reasonably quiet Brit there’s a couple of factors.
One is that when playing a game, especially a reasonably intense multiplayer game, I (and a lot of other people I know) keep voice chat to what is relevant. In TF2 especially, I only reach for the voice button to say things like “Spy demo” or “call for the uber when you need it”. L4D adds the need for speculation on what is ahead, chose route around the train car etc. When in any of these games somebody is using voicecomms to blather on about their trip to PC World last week, I normally end up muting them.
The other is that I’m on Ventrilo whenever I’m gaming. We chat among ourselves on there plenty. I’m not so interested in talking with people who are for the time being strangers. We also learned long ago playing big op-wars in Neocron that when stuff starts happening, voice-comm discipline is neccessary.
06/11/2009 at 12:26 derFeef says:
Well – I see it that way. US folks need to talk to get their things going – Europeans just need to look and listen to understand what to do.
06/11/2009 at 12:27 Archonsod says:
In my experience it’s the same thing in real life. Most Americans can and will talk the hind legs of the donkey if given the opportunity. Most Brits need to be prodded with a burning poker to elicit more than a one line response.
06/11/2009 at 13:03 TeeJay says:
After a year working in Japan with a mixed bunch of people I deduced, re. talking/emoting/expressing:
Americans > Canadians/Aussies/Brits/Kiwis > Japanese
I also concluded that there are both advantages and disadvantages to ‘lots of talking’ versus ‘lots of silence’. If you have grown up with one ‘style’ the complete opposite can make you uncomfortable. As someone in the ‘middle’ somewhere I had sympathy for both ‘sides’.
06/11/2009 at 13:10 Kalkyrie says:
Why do you need more than a one line response? ;)
06/11/2009 at 12:28 Gap Gen says:
An equal problem is someone who won’t shut up about random stuff when people are trying to shout out targets or discuss strategies. We once came up with an elaborate plan for squad tactics in ArmA 2 after a team of 8 people got too unwieldy for the server, and then never used it as people stopped playing it.
In public servers, yeah, I never really talk much (although this is in games like CoD4, which was basically a huge brawl on public servers). Haven’t really tried something like L4D on a public server.
06/11/2009 at 12:29 Psychopomp says:
“An equal problem is someone who won’t shut up about random stuff when people are trying to shout out targets or discuss strategies.”
That is fucking annoying.
06/11/2009 at 12:29 aoanla says:
Quoted to save me writing basically the same sentiments again.
(I do play online games, but I don't talk in them. This is partly because I've never bothered to buy a microphone, which is something of a catch-22, I accept :D.
That said, I can echo the sentiments of others here that I've been on plenty of servers with Brits talking on them, and in general, the conversation is actually tactical. I've also been on servers with Americans, and the conversation is predominantly… not. Same seems true of the French, which is unsurprising, given stereotypes :D)
((Oh, and another thing: Chet's just convinced me not to buy L4D2, since apparently he doesn't want people who don't talk to play his game. Good diplomacy, Chet. ))
06/11/2009 at 12:32 Fatrat says:
I personally jabber away, always keeping people updated if it’s needed.
Say for instance i’m playing L4D. I tell my teammates whenever i get caught by a special infected, tell them if i spot a special, things like that. They don’t need to know about every zombie, just the special ones that can screw you up bad. Aside from that, i won’t just talk about no-relevant shit, not unless it’s just a chill game we’re playing, something more slow paced.
I like it when people talk and can’t enjoy a game fully without comms if it’s something large scale or fast paced.
I’m actually in a closed beta for a GTA-esque game (no prizes for guessing) and while it even has inbuilt VOIP, people tend to not use it. I even got a group the other day and asked people to come on my private TS2 server and they said they didn’t want to.
I find it quite annoying playing without comms, as i said. And i’d prefer it if people DID talk more. I’m in the UK and i find we talk enough, unless playing with strangers. Other Euros tend to speak a bit more, specially the French who just babble in their own language and expect you to know what they’re saying (i’m still talking about in L4D by the way) and Americans? Well i haven’t got to play much with them much as of late, but if they DO talk a lot, then they’re obviously going to do well in things like L4D2. Silence kills.
Anyway, essay over. Everybody get your mics working and stop being so shy, thx.
PS – It doesn’t matter if your english is bad, it’s better than nothing. Plus, accents are fun.
06/11/2009 at 12:35 Dispirited says:
Is it not well understood that when distributing a game globally, it is often necessary to adapt the game to the different cultures where the game is going to be sold?
Perhaps instead of highlighting the inadequacies of their target market, the developers should be spending their time localizing their game to suit the culture they are hoping to sell to.
06/11/2009 at 12:37 aoanla says:
My English is perfect, I just don't like talking. :D
Guess I won't be playing L4D2, then. (Not that I bought L4D, for the same reason. I do wish people would go back to making online games where you aren't expected to have a mic and chatter all the time…)
06/11/2009 at 13:40 Persus-9 says:
In L4D you certainly aren’t expected to have a mic and chatter all the time. The game probably works better with more chatter but in almost every game I’ve ever played there has been less than a couple of dozen words said in the whole campaign.
06/11/2009 at 14:42 Fatrat says:
Yeah, you don’t really need to ‘talk’ on L4D, as said above, it just works better if you do. But the characters themselves have a lot of dialog and such that lets you know what’s going on quite well. So L4D is a bad example i guess as you can get away with it just using your ears a lot of the time.
Many games don’t have characters that shout out their current state/situation though, which makes it more of a problem. But hey, there’s always typing. Though that’s a bit slow when you’re mid-firefight, etc. =P
06/11/2009 at 12:38 Jakson Breen says:
Regarding the article, I’d have to say that it’s false. In my opinion, Brits talk more than Americans… or at least they do in my EVE Corp. Oh, and apparently you all live in castles and communicate by carrier pigeon? =)
In seriousness though, except for one American I know which is particularly obnoxious, I know no difference between the rates at which people talk. I do believe however that the occasional obnoxious person stands out from everyone that is fairly quiet. It just so happens that the majority of obnoxious gamers happens to be American, but don’t read too far into that. I’ve heard the obnoxious British gamer, so it’s not unheard of.
06/11/2009 at 13:22 Kalkyrie says:
Speaking as another EVE player (from Lyrus Associates, amusingly), we Brits can talk the hind leg off a donkey (our alliance ‘leader’ is renowned for 500 word monologues).
Of course we then STFU as soon as a battle starts. Nothing wrecks a battleplan quicker than people going ‘I’m hit!’ over voice comms as the leader is trying to issue tactial commands. (I think this holds true for all nationalities in EVE, since it’s more obvious there, and has more painful losses).
06/11/2009 at 13:22 Kalkyrie says:
Speaking as another EVE player (from Lyrus Associates, amusingly), we Brits can talk the hind leg off a donkey (our alliance ‘leader’ is renowned for 500 word monologues).
Of course we then STFU as soon as a battle starts. Nothing wrecks a battleplan quicker than people going ‘I’m hit!’ over voice comms as the leader is trying to issue tactial commands. (I think this holds true for all nationalities in EVE, since it’s more obvious there, and has more painful losses. The higher average age/maturity helps as well).
06/11/2009 at 12:40 monchberter says:
The irony of a Valve employee lamenting a lack of speech when their multiplayer games feature some of the most entertaining and comprehensive voice commands in any game
06/11/2009 at 12:44 plugmonkey says:
I’ve played several games of L4D with total strangers with headsets, and we do talk. It’s just that rather than an incessant stream or consciousness, it’s restricted to critical survival information mixed with the occasional dry one-liner that renders everyone helpless with giggles.
06/11/2009 at 12:46 invisiblejesus says:
Huh. Granted, I only play with a couple Brits, but I hadn’t noticed a difference. They seem as talkative as any American, moreso than some really.
06/11/2009 at 12:49 Lu-Tze says:
L4D2′s realism mode is going to become an awful cesspit of people trying to be as tactical as possible. I fully expect the increased friendly fire damage to result in people calling out almost everytime they are even moving to avoid accidentally eating some bullets from someone, and stripping everything down into simple barked commands like we are Delta Force or some other nonsense.
Voice chat is so you can scream “OH GOD IT’S GOT ME IT’S GOT ME HELP HELP IT’S GOT ME” and make witty James Bondy one liners when you Cr0wn a witch.
06/11/2009 at 12:51 The Sombrero Kid says:
generally if there’s an American on a server I’m playing I’ll quit and find another, the tf2 servers i generally play on are generally filled with talkative Englishmen, which is slightly less grating.
06/11/2009 at 12:55 RiptoR says:
I play NeoTokyo almost exclusive on a British server, and the guys running the server are constantly chatting and planning tactics on voicecom.
Also, a friend of mine from Manchester talked a lot when we used to play online coop.
So in my experience: Brits DO talk a lot in online games.
06/11/2009 at 13:00 spacerumsfeld says:
I, as an American, am highly offended by the characterization of my people in this post.
I DO drink tea!
06/11/2009 at 13:05 Psychopomp says:
Hear hear!
06/11/2009 at 13:18 Starky says:
But as an American I’d wager you don’t drink tea correctly.
Boiled orange in a builder’s boot, with 2 sugars and yesterday’s milk. Of course.
06/11/2009 at 13:00 Gundrea says:
I’d say the Brits are just as talkative once you get them going by swearing revenge for 800 years of oppression. Take that ya limey! Of course being Irish and having a great deal of experience playing with my fellow Irish I can state categorically that online an Irishman is distuingished by every second word from his mic being F**k
06/11/2009 at 13:04 Dr Lulz says:
4stam 4strength Rubber Boat?
06/11/2009 at 13:04 DXN says:
Actually, this is definitely something I’d noticed. Well, no — when I played public games they were mostly with Europeans, not just British. So quite often there was a language barrier, which meant people talked much less (and less successfully). But even then, I noticed Americans were definitely much more chatty than us lot, and it helped a whole lot as well as making the game more fun, so I’d seek them out when I could, even if it meant playing with a higher ping.
I really wish there was an option to set your language, so the matchmaker could at least try and pair up homophones together.
06/11/2009 at 13:06 Oak says:
I tend to have more fun on TF2 servers where people are talking, even if it’s just banter between the regulars.
06/11/2009 at 13:06 sleepygamer says:
When I am on TF2 with fellow Brits, we talk, but not a whole lot. When I am on TF2 with Americans, I talk a lot.
When I’m playing any game with friends, we talk, but it’s somewhere in between the overseas nattery of the Americans, and the quiet, strategy based murmurings of we Brits.
I sometimes wonder if I am part American.
06/11/2009 at 13:13 plugmonkey says:
I had a great game with a French chap who’s english was about as bad as my french, so to communicate we both had to use the other’s language to ensure maximum vocabulary cross-over.
“On y va? Allez! Allez! Allez! Aaaiiiieeeeeee! M’aidez! Il y a un Hunter sur mon tete!”
We did suprisingly well.
06/11/2009 at 14:30 Jesse says:
When the first L4D demo came out I joined a quick match and ended up playing for an hour with three Japanese guys. I don’t know any Japanese, and apparently about the only English phrase they knew was “No problem!” They would save me from a Special Infected, I would say thanks, and they would say ‘No problem!’ and then laugh and talk to each other. Or one of them would be grabbed by a smoker, and as he was being dragged away he’d shout, “no problem no problem NO PROBLEM!” Sometimes I’d be the one to free him and he’d be like, “Arigato!” and I’d be like, “No problem.” That was fun. I still remember those guys.
That was almost the only time it was fun to have a mike. These days I keep it within reach but usually leave it unplugged. The avatars in L4D automatically communicate the bare necessities. It should be fun to use voice chat again for the first couple weeks of the new L4D2 release, when there’s still new content to talk about. I like tactical chatter, so maybe realistic mode is for me?
06/11/2009 at 13:13 CMaster says:
A few people have raised something I hadn’t thought to mention earlier – when playng L4D, I avoided using voicechat, typing when something had to be said instead as I wasn’t sure how many of my teammates spoke english. I was normally playing with at least one friend on vent however,
06/11/2009 at 13:14 TeeJay says:
Maybe because I only play TF2 on <100 ping servers at certain times of day but I have luckily never come these hoardes of 'racist/sexist/homophobic/'wannabagangsta' voice-spamming Americans that people are going on about over on CVG.
It's high-pitched voiced Russian (teenage boys?) that seem to be doing lots of talking on some servers I visit, but they seem good-natured enough and I don't speak Russan so I don't know if it is relevant/tactical or not.
I like servers where people are using voice chat to co-ordinate tactics and be reasonably sociable, as long as it doesn't turn into continuous private converstions and isn't stupidy offensive. I personally don't have a microphone etc so make do with typing my half of conversations.
06/11/2009 at 13:24 Gnoupi says:
Funny fact indeed, is that english is not what I hear the most (on L4D, typically). Probably because indeed, for ping reasons, they are most likely or brits, or people trying to speak english but having difficulties with it.
However, a rule which seems proving often, is that 2 typical type of people, on european servers, won’t shut up, and most importantly, won’t bother consider english to be understood by others.
These two are russian and french people, obviously both convinced that the whole world speaks their language, and who will bark orders at you, that you can’t understand, and finally kick you, from not listening to them…
I mean, seriously, from all countries of Europe (ping-wise), all are making effort to adapt and speak a common language, all but these two.
And being French myself, I try to sometimes make them understand that it would be nice to not spam the voice chat with their own language when not everyone can understand… But try to reason a French teenager in his high pitch/low pitch transition…
06/11/2009 at 13:15 chris hyde says:
Some dare call it stiffupperlipism
06/11/2009 at 13:19 Pod says:
With all due respect: fuck off. Maybe the reason we don’t jabber on is precisley because we don’t want to be best buds with some random internet folk — I just want to shoot them in the face. I hear “British” people talking on voice comms all the time, but it’s usually only ingame information. There’s a zombie here, etc. None of this jabbering on, best-buddies talk that just spams the airwaves and makes the real game information not get heard/supressed.
Save that for the safe room, eh?
06/11/2009 at 14:44 Jesse says:
Yup. Most of the people who talk in my L4D games (I play in America) are little kids, and I’m an adult with a 9-to-5, and we’re not about to become best buddies. Funny thing, though, about the original L4D these days – seems like almost every game I join, there’s a woman on, playing Zoe. Literally, the majority of the games I played over the last month, this was the case. Are more women playing it because…what? It’s co-op? Because there’s a female avatar (who’s not an embarrassing insult to women)? Because their husbands/boyfriends are playing with them on a system-linked XBox? That seemed to happen often, too. Whatever the reason I hope it carries over to L4D2 as well. It’s nice to break up the all-guys atmosphere.
Also: I used to enjoy signing onto CoD4 in the early morning because I’d catch a lot of Brits before they signed off. Not to over-generalize but they were usually fun to talk to. I wish ping limitations allowed for more of this.
06/11/2009 at 14:47 Psychopomp says:
“With all due respect: fuck off. Maybe the reason we don’t jabber on is precisley because we don’t want to be best buds with some random internet folk”
What exactly is wrong with a bit of camaraderie?
06/11/2009 at 14:55 Jesse says:
Camaraderie is one thing, jabbering on is something else.
06/11/2009 at 13:20 Legionary says:
I think that many British and European gamers tend to speak when there’s a point to what they’re saying, whereas typically Americans tend to be happier to talk just for the sake of it. It’s a generalisation of course and many Americans are just as taciturn as the British, but they have more of those very chatty people.
Aside from the ‘fag’ crowd the most annoying thing about constant chat is that it gets in the way of the game sometimes. It’s difficult to coordinate over the top of people shouting jovially or angrily about their in-game successes or failures.
06/11/2009 at 13:25 yabon says:
Sssoooo… It seems that people do have sound on when playing tf2 / l4d?
The constant booms and aaarghs tire me quickly, and the voice channel is more annoying than helpful : I mute the game, except sometimes on a planned session with people I know.
Also, I feel – just an impression – more focused without it. I miss some cues in tf2 – I suppose – but not much in l4d (captions on).
Added to that, Heny Mancini and (oddly) Robert Wyatt go well with tf2.
06/11/2009 at 13:26 yabonn says:
Name fixed
06/11/2009 at 13:26 Guy says:
The reserved Brit stereotype is a bit played out. Especially if you’ve ever vacationed in the south of France. Loud, surly Brits there by the ton.
06/11/2009 at 14:14 Malagate says:
@Guy, that’s mainly because the Brits who are reserved wouldn’t stand out in the South of France because they’re not being loud mouthed and surly. Assuming they weren’t so reserved that they’d never leave England in the first place, you wouldn’t notice any reserved Brits because they’d be sitting quietly with their nose in a newspaper/book whilst avoiding eye contact with the surly loud mouthes. I’ve personally gone so far as to pretend to be a non-English speaker when I encounter a non-reserved Englishman in another country. “The squeeky wheel gathers no moss”, y’see?
06/11/2009 at 14:44 TeeJay says:
Also football matches, most town centres on Friday & Saturday nights etc. Peoples’ behaviour changes a lot with the social context / where they are / who they are with / what they have consumed. By Monday morning on the train into work they will be quite different. For some people holidays = no rules. Other times it is due to crowd/group behaviour.
06/11/2009 at 13:37 Sarble says:
*shrugs*
06/11/2009 at 13:39 Elusive Pastry says:
I’m an American on the East Coast who gets a good range of UK, Quebec, and American servers to choose from in various games. If I’m playing on an American server I disable speech 80% of the time just because of the idiots who feel the need to incessantly scream and blather about nothing remotely interesting.
06/11/2009 at 13:42 tom says:
Contrived this may be, but I feel if Chet were complaining about African (or any other nationality that is not primarily Caucasian) folk being “notorious non-talkers” then he would be branded by several groups a racist and then dragged through the streets before being eaten alive by a multi-ethnic group of zombies for all to see.
06/11/2009 at 13:45 The Sombrero Kid says:
he would be a racist, the differences are cultural not ethnic.
06/11/2009 at 13:50 Stijn says:
@The Sombrero Kid: Those are not mutually exclusive ;)
06/11/2009 at 14:47 TeeJay says:
British = cultural not racial.
06/11/2009 at 13:46 Mattthew Walton says:
Usually when I try to make a vocal contribution, as it were, to my team’s teamwork, I get ignored or insulted.
But I don’t much care for team shooters anyway. Everyone else always already knows how to play perfectly (even on launch day) and isn’t interested in helping anybody else.
06/11/2009 at 13:51 TotalBiscuit says:
This is a well-known disorder caused by playing with pubbies. I prescribe a proper gaming community.
06/11/2009 at 13:48 Tom says:
Definition aside, it would still happen. Fact.
06/11/2009 at 13:58 The Sombrero Kid says:
tbh i miss read your post, i thought you said ‘if he discriminated based on race, people would call him a racist’ when actually you said ‘if he discriminated against a culture that was predominantly a different race, people would be calling him a racist’.
i still think the fault is with the over sensitive people rather than with people making statements like this though.
06/11/2009 at 13:53 bansama says:
I wonder how many Brits playing online games are like myself and haven’t even bothered to buy a microphone, let alone plug one into their PC.
06/11/2009 at 14:52 TeeJay says:
I keeping meaning to but just don’t get round to it.
Can anyone recommend a cheap microphone/headset for TF2?
What else do I need to set up or change?
Can I still play the sound effects through my speakers but use the microphone?
Is it ‘push to talk’ and/or when does the mic kick in?
Any other advice?
06/11/2009 at 13:55 gulag says:
In my own experience, you get all sorts. These sorts of issues/discussions tend to arise from ‘me too’ self selection of the participants. I’ve played on servers where the Brits won’t shut up about X Factor, and where the Yanks won’t say boo. The reverse also applies.
I find community servers where a number of regulars are playing to be the most fun. You get plenty of chat, tactical squawks, and some music, regardless of the country involved.
06/11/2009 at 13:59 aoanla says:
I think we should have a poll, since there's at least two more of us in this thread. (Valve know this, by the way, since if you contribute to the Valve Hardware Survey, they do ask if you have a mic.)
edit: checking the October 2009 Steam Hardware Survey, 20% of respondents say they don't have a microphone. So, the upper-bound on people who talk in games (who use Steam) is 80%. Since people who have laptops automatically have mics nowadays, this is almost certainly an overestimate.
06/11/2009 at 14:05 Rinox says:
A poll seems like a nice idea. Personally never had a mic until 4 days ago, purchased it so I could play L4D2 with some American/Brit friends and no longer be the ‘guy who gets pulled/pounced while typing something witty’
06/11/2009 at 14:07 Butler` says:
Maybe it’s because we’re all on skype / ventrilo and they are using in game chat? :|
06/11/2009 at 14:21 Okami says:
One of the main reasons why I played L4D was in order to listen to all the nice brits from the RPS community talk british to each other. I really like the accent, it’s very soothing to my ears.
06/11/2009 at 14:29 Dave says:
IBT “you should hear Eben when hes had a few beers on the RPSH (eve) vent server.”
Eve is a bit of a special case as your talking to your “clan” mates but we generally have an equal mix depending on the time of day. (ultra late EU/US dominated by the other).
As far as the “Americans are load mouth braggarts and Brits are all tea drinking stiff upper lip types” its total bullshit. Just more of the usual nationalist tin foil hattery.
I’m a loud mouth braggart and i know many Americans who are fond of the odd cup of tea.
What i want to know is where the Canadians are in all of this?
06/11/2009 at 14:35 Okami says:
Loud mouth braggart who enjoy a cup of tea?
06/11/2009 at 14:43 inflightradio says:
I would generally agree that Brits talk less but what they do say is more directly related to the game. Personally i avoid using the mic as the fact that i’m a woman tends to result in at least one person asking me awkward personal questions or booting me from the game because they don’t want me playing on their boys team! These days i just keep my mouth shut and put captions on.
06/11/2009 at 14:49 aoanla says:
What exactly is wrong with not wanting a bit of camaraderie?
06/11/2009 at 15:05 TeeJay says:
Nothing wrong with preferring casual chit-chat *or* preferring quiet / tactics-only. The key thing is to find a server that suits your tates.
Failing that everyone should compromise a bit.
The “ideal” would be having several in-game ‘channels’: one for tactics, one for chit-chat, one for music, one for in-game voice commands etc. rather than having an all-or-nothing decision to ‘mute’ people. Players could opt to talk incessantly on one of the channels while their team mates could switch this channel off and just listen to the ‘tactics’ channel.
06/11/2009 at 14:53 Lack_26 says:
We don’t need to talk, all communication is done through the British Hive-mind (access is received with your passport). I play on a lot of French servers, I quite like the noise, but I don’t want to know what people are saying. Besides, French sounds a lot nicer than most North-American accents.
06/11/2009 at 14:57 Phoshi says:
I don’t do much talking on games, but that’s only because so much of it is totally unneccesary. Yes, guys, I think we should move forward. Bloody hell, of course we should.
06/11/2009 at 15:06 Psychopomp says:
I’m starting to get the distinct impression that the brits seem to be more focused on winning than americans.
06/11/2009 at 15:11 BC says:
I’m a brit with an accent and I have a hard time hearing voices when there is a lot of background noise due to wearing headphones (to hear people talk).
That’s why I don’t talk online.
06/11/2009 at 15:12 bred says:
I’m American.
I like tea.
I don’t talk either.
06/11/2009 at 15:13 Dave says:
@Psychopomp. Thats because we lose so bloody often =D
And yes i suppose i am a loud mouthed braggart who likes a cup of tea. Hmm tea, afk 2secs…
06/11/2009 at 15:16 airtekh says:
Gulity, and I’m not even British (although I do have an English accent)
I think its just from playing on public servers. If I don’t know the people I’m playing with, then I’m reluctant to use voice chat.
I’ll speak only if there is a dire need for it. eg. “TANK!”, otherwise I’ll just use text. Or maybe not ;)
06/11/2009 at 15:18 Bronte says:
I don’t agree at ALL! Brits are the talkers. They never, ever, ever shut up. I play L4D with a bunch of Brits and Americans. Its the English who talk, often without cause and just for the sake of talking, and the Americans who largely stay quiet.
Most talkative: The Swedish. I play with about four Swedes, and my god they NEVER, EVER shut up!
06/11/2009 at 15:22 JonFitt says:
When I’m playing L4D I discuss hideous generalisations with everyone. All the time.
06/11/2009 at 15:23 Sp4rkR4t says:
If yanks are talking on a server I mute it and play in silence, otherwise I’m fine to talk… when I have a working microphone that is, mine got sat on yesterday.
06/11/2009 at 15:30 aoanla says:
Given that I never played it, I was going purely from the buzz about the game and how it was marketed to me, which was sort of the point (that is: there exists a reasonable fraction of people who don't want to have to buy a mic to "play a game properly". Marketing a game in a way that leads you to believe that you will have to do such is therefore a bad idea).
06/11/2009 at 15:31 Psychopomp says:
On the subject of tea, if you think Americans don’t drink it, you’ve clearly never been down here in the south.
06/11/2009 at 15:33 aoanla says:
He started it. :D
More seriously – I tend to find that, in general, it's more likely that people will try to force other people to "join in with the fun" than it is that people will try to force people to "keep quiet". So, I was just standing up for people being allowed to not have camaraderie if they don't want to.
06/11/2009 at 15:33 aoanla says:
Tea isn't tea if it's freezing and full of sugar. :p
06/11/2009 at 15:38 Don says:
The British Hive Mind… I knew it! As a Yank with a mic, there is nothing I like better in a game like CoD World At War than ending up on a team that works like one, which requires communication. But as I’m older, without a lot of time to play, I’m usually on pubs, so that usually means one guy who thinks he’s General Patton and three other guys screaming STFU! I remember Day of Defeat servers as having the best, most focused ingame chat .
I also get to play with some Brits, being an East Coast denizen. Have always enjoyed it.
Question: Is it true that broadband is much cheaper over here, and could that be part of it? Mine costs the equivalent of 15 British Pounds/month.
06/11/2009 at 15:48 aoanla says:
Well, what do you get for that 15 quid a month? The majority of UK broadband solutions have monthly bandwidth usage caps (although there are providers who offer unlimited deals), for example.
06/11/2009 at 15:51 Snords says:
I don’t talk as my girlfriend takes the piss…
06/11/2009 at 15:53 Heliosicle says:
I’ve never heard of this kind of thing, the friends i play with are all very loud (at least on vent) and playing matches on css (“mixes”) against other brits = mass abuse at one another.
06/11/2009 at 16:07 fugo says:
i vastly prefer left 4 dead with 3 of my friends in the same room. playing online just can’t hold up to that
06/11/2009 at 16:08 Sulkdodds says:
As a Britisher I am incredibly loquacious and tend to have long irrelevant conversations over the microphone. But that’s because I pretty much only ever play games with people who are already my Steam friends. In the past I’ve ended up just sitting around in the L4D safehouses with people, talking, or playing house in the finale strongholds without ever bothering to activate the radio.
06/11/2009 at 16:11 Azazel says:
Used to go on Teamspeak with the entirely Irish Quakeworld clan I was in last year (yes – there are still Quakeworld clans).
That was great fun. And a horrendous amount of swearing, shouting and general rowdy mic abuse :-) Good times.
06/11/2009 at 16:12 Ryan H says:
I ventured tentatively out into XBox Live just after GTA IV was released, to see if any of the modes would hold up. The experience taught me that the usually detestable slurs from idiot American teenagers become surprisingly funny when voiced in the accents of idiot Brittish teenagers.
06/11/2009 at 16:20 Stupoider says:
I don’t talk often because I’d be showing my horrible, british teeth, right?
06/11/2009 at 16:21 Nick says:
Hmm, sounds like a load of bollocks to be honest.
06/11/2009 at 16:21 Don says:
@aoanla
10mb down, 2.5 up generally, without a hard cap (they say) I got rid of my cable tv and use Apple TV and a Roku video streaming device to watch television shows/movies. I use a lot of GB/month and haven’t hit any caps yet. They are just rolling out “Wideband” here in NYC, which is 50mb down, 10 up, for US100/month.
06/11/2009 at 16:22 aoanla says:
So, a question here:
Of the people who mic a lot, how many of you play with friends?
Of the people who don't mic a lot, how many of you play with friends?
(I suspect that a lot of the difference here has to do with public servers, etc. I've never played an online game with voice comms with friends when those friends weren't physically co-located with me. Ergo, I would be talking to strangers if I did use voice comms.)
06/11/2009 at 16:37 Atalanta says:
I only use a mic when I’m playing with friends, and even then pretty rarely. I’m shy and I’ve been hassled before about my squeaky girly voice (which I can’t really do much about, seeing as how I’m, well, kind of squeaky and a girl), so I use voice commands and don’t worry about it too much.
I’ve found a couple of good, friendly pub servers for TF2 with regulars I like and get along with, and I’ve never really had a problem avoiding the LOLFAG crowd, though.
06/11/2009 at 16:25 Urthman says:
Not surprising that the former Old Man Murray writer might be more tolerant than average of juvenile profanity and homophobic “humor”.
(Yes I realize that OMM’s homophobic jokes were ironic and sort of making fun of homophobia, but they’re still not for people who cringe at kids using “gay” as an insult.)
07/11/2009 at 02:25 Breaker Morant's Ghost says:
Welcome to the internet. I’d strongly suggest you invest in NetNanny if you plan on staying long.
06/11/2009 at 16:34 Serondal says:
I used to play Arm A with a brit. As you may now that game can involve long times of nothing happenign and as an American I can’t stand not talking when nothing is going on :P Yes, he almost never said anything just listened to me and laughed quiet a lot at my horrible jokes (and the other American who did talk back) He was probably sitting there thinking how stupid all our horrible American jokes were. But after a few weeks and months he actaully opened up and starting getting in on the jokes :P He was a great guy though.
When it came down to planning an assault there was none better. The two of us destroyed an entire anti-aircraft battery together with a well timed assault using human air support :) No doubt whilst he enjoyed a cup of tea.
06/11/2009 at 16:44 Army of None says:
“When I’m playing L4D I discuss hideous generalisations with everyone. All the time.”
This.
06/11/2009 at 16:48 monkeybreadman says:
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah theres a hunter on me! blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
06/11/2009 at 16:51 Liquidize105 says:
“When a Smoker pulls you off somewhere you’ve got to yell because nobody can see where you are.”
lol kidnapee is kidnapped
06/11/2009 at 16:52 Pags says:
Stupid question, but how exactly do they know the person that isn’t talking is British if, y’know, they aren’t talking?
06/11/2009 at 17:07 Tei says:
I dunno, but some modded servers detect the country with geoip and show it wen you join. So is doable.
06/11/2009 at 16:57 chesh says:
I drink nothing but tea and whisky, you should talk to me.
On the other hand, I’m not much for random comms chatter either, so maybe I should just get it over with and move to the UK.
06/11/2009 at 17:05 shiggz says:
Interesting on LOTRO it was the other way around.
06/11/2009 at 17:12 Andrew Simone says:
As an American, some of the best online gaming experiences I’ve had have been with Brits for that very reasons. Cheers.
06/11/2009 at 17:12 Railick says:
Now people from Brazil are even worse than Americans if you ask me, they NEVER stop talking :P
06/11/2009 at 20:53 Psychopomp says:
BR?
BR?
GIBE MONI PLZ OR I REPORT U
GIBE MONI
BR?
HUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUE
06/11/2009 at 21:19 Guto says:
Being brazilian, I must admit that unfortunately this is true.
…
Haeuhaeuaeaeah.
06/11/2009 at 21:40 Railick says:
I laser you eyeball ?
06/11/2009 at 17:13 Antlia says:
I think silent players are concentrating more on the game at hand, when jabbering people think of more irrelevant topics. There’s nothing bad in talking, but sometimes it goes too far. If I want to talk to somebody I see in game, I add them as a steam-friend and chat later.
I reckon that the worst are Swedish. They are usually helium-voiced preteens, eager to be friends with you. No thanks (especially ’cause they’re Swedish, nearly every Finn hates them because of the spoilt Finnish Swede -minority). Usually they don’t care much ’bout teamwork nor other players, but hunt for frags. Finns are generally better in videogames :) We talk a lot (tactical stuff) with our teammates and rely on them. Maybe that’s because of sisu.
Elikkäs Suomi perkele.
06/11/2009 at 22:37 D says:
Both finns I know are bald and drink alot. Therefore all finns are bald and drink alot.
07/11/2009 at 17:59 Eplekongen says:
aw, jeez…
06/11/2009 at 17:14 Nerd Rage says:
I think it’s just that they don’t like talking to Americans. As what must be the only American non-talker, I played on a brit TF2 server for a while, and noticed them chattering away exactly like the kiddies here in the states. One of them even called me gay, but of course he did it in that ridiculous English voice so I had to switch on my mic and ask if that little girl just called me a fag. The server was dead silent for the next half hour. Fear of Americans! It’s been scientifically tested, sort of.
06/11/2009 at 20:58 Dave says:
I’m American and I don’t talk. I bought a headset for TF2, but I just leave it unplugged.
06/11/2009 at 21:40 Wulf says:
So, you performed a Gaijin Smash on a bunch of kids playing a game, because they were acting idiotic as kids of every nation tends to do, and you feel proud of yourself for that?
Okay~! Good show. I’m sure no one else could do that to a bunch of kids playing an online game, and that that was a singular accomplishment, worthy of ballad and song!
9.9
07/11/2009 at 03:45 Nerd Rage says:
Way to take me entirely too seriously. :P
07/11/2009 at 04:06 Nerd Rage says:
That Gaijin Smash link is pretty hilarious though. Thank you for the chuckles.
06/11/2009 at 17:20 Heliocentric says:
I love chatting with eastern europeans and ex soviet bloc-ers. You are forced to figure out what your squad mates are talking about by observation and recall. That and it feels like stalker.
06/11/2009 at 17:41 shiggz says:
Agree. Also i much prefer their temperament. Interesting then the rest of us in the western world engulfed with a spoiled brat culture.
06/11/2009 at 17:41 Frosty says:
Of course we don’t talk to the US. We’re all in bed then.
I’ve never noticed a lack of voice chat being a issue on UK servers or with UK people. If I’m honest I think people in the US talk too much, but that’s just the culture thing. Different people mean different talky talks.
06/11/2009 at 17:43 Railick says:
I know exactly what you mean Heliocentric. I normally play with the name Serondal online and I've played on servers where everyone is speaking russian or what have you. I go about my way until I hear "Surondale! <russian russian russian screaming russian cursing> And I'm like "WHAT?!?!" And they're like "<russian russian screaming cursing spitting BAN> And I have no idea what I did wrong :P
The guy I used to play Arm-A with could get to talking at certain times but when the game was afoot he was all business. I really loved him though because I liked to talk tactics with him and that is a subject he was fully intersted in. I'm also the kind of guy that can make friends with anyone so it generally doesn't matter if a guy is British or French or Canadian I'm very nice to people on the internet now a day and people seem to respond to that. (I'm also very interested in other countries cultures and what not and that seems to make people from other countries like you more when you find interest in their life and how it is diffrent from yours) I've gotten the "You're one of the good ones" From Brits quiet a few times :P
Shadowcat “It hammers at my retinas like an evil woodpecker of pure energy”
06/11/2009 at 17:48 Mitthrawn says:
I’m an american and the places I enjoy playing most are usually French and Prussian servers. I also play on brit servers all the time. I haven’t really noticed any difference in British or american voice spam- but I do know a couple Swedish players who never stop talking and it is HILARIOUS. I always seek out their game if I see them playing SO I would say I haven’t really noticed a difference- there’s always two or three talkers on every time. But I really don’t play much L4D just TF2 so maybe there’s a difference in the crowd that plays each game.
Its also fun to try to pay a game where you don’t know any of the language except for merci. It’s an enjoyable change of pace
06/11/2009 at 23:25 Stijn says:
Prussian Servers! This man has a TIME MACHINE
07/11/2009 at 15:04 Ozzie says:
Yeah, I also wasn’t sure if you, Mitthrawn, were honestly talking about “Preußen”!? Yep, that state stopped existing many, many years ago. Before you were born, presumably.
06/11/2009 at 17:49 Wazzle says:
I really think it just depends on how comfortable they are with their environment (aka server). I’m an American who regulars on a certain pair of TF2 servers. Most of the people who play on this server are Brits, and I’m always joking around with them/abusing them (in a friendly manner, of course…) over mic chat. So, I dunno, I guess the moral of the story is that I’ve spotted talkative Brits.
06/11/2009 at 17:56 phuzz says:
I don’t find US peoples to be too annoying on any of the games I play (on PC), but the epitome of annoying yank brats calling everyone ghei has to be Halo 3. There’s just something about consoles that seems to bring out the lowest common denominator.
(PS American people, we don’t hate all of you, just the lolfag 14 year olds with potty mouths)
06/11/2009 at 17:57 Greg Wild says:
I choose death!
Or I talk already. Quite a lot. But I mostly play with friends anyway. Whatever.
06/11/2009 at 18:02 DMcCool says:
Talking lots and being articulate are not the same thing. Quite often they are oppesites.
06/11/2009 at 18:02 blaargh says:
Strange. This American seems to constantly hear British accents in games. Most of the pre-pubescent voices I hear seem to be my fellow countrymen, though. Unfortunately.
06/11/2009 at 18:05 Railick says:
It should be noted that I've been reading RPS so long and playing with British people for so long that I'm starting to pick up some of their linguistic habits (not a lot, but some)
Now I say "I think I'll give it a miss" "It seems a bit rubbish" I use the word "Mate" a lot and call bars pubs. There are probably other little things I don't think about as well.
06/11/2009 at 18:23 Lykurgos says:
I’m a taciturn, laconic Brit, so I endorse this stereotype :-)
06/11/2009 at 18:45 sinister agent says:
“You guys are notorious non-talkers on both 360 and PC. Americans are just chattering away, working together as a team. If you want to work together as a team you’ve got to talk!”
Pfft. If you want to work together as a team, you need to not alienate everyone who isn’t part of your club by blathering on constantly about nothing at all. I only wish TF2 had an ‘automatically mute all’ option.
06/11/2009 at 18:53 Alex says:
Bah. They should take the opposite tack.
TALK IN L4D AND THE ZOMBIES SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU. YOU DO ANYTHING BUT WHISPER INTO THE MIC AND THE WITCH WILL EAT YOUR FACE.
06/11/2009 at 20:39 Pundabaya says:
That would be awesome…
06/11/2009 at 18:54 Haircute says:
I prefer our friends across the ocean to my countrymen by a mile. Playing with most Brits is a fun, laid-back, and ultimately less confrontational experience than with Americans. Playing left4dead with brits and blowing my chance with the tank might result in a few laughs but try pulling that stuff with Americans around and you get “YOU DUMB F***ING F***** CANT YOU DO ANYTHING”
I’m sorry America but most of our countrymen SUCK to play videogames with.
06/11/2009 at 20:29 Howl says:
Too loud, too serious, too enraged, too quick to lay blame on someone else. My heart sinks when I hear an American accent on my team in L4D because I know that the concept of fun will be ground under the military boot of competition the second we are out of the saferoom.
I feel bad coming out with a stereotype but it just seems so ubiquitous in online gaming that heart sinkage has become a conditioned response. I played Dark Age of Camelot for years on a US server and the community was fantastic. There has definitely been a big change in gaming populations over the past decade.
06/11/2009 at 21:09 Vinraith says:
L4D’s user community is absolutely awful, please don’t judge all of us by that standard. Speaking as an American myself, I never play L4D with the wider community for exactly that reason.
06/11/2009 at 21:27 Psychopomp says:
@Haircute
Based on the comments here, it appears that the brits are the Stop Having Fun Guys.
07/11/2009 at 00:07 Ozzie says:
So far my few experiences playing online have been very positive.
I played with 2 friends and we let some other guy join the game. It was a Swede and he only wrote per text. But man, he was awesome! We tried the rooftop exploit in the boathouse level of Death Toll. He was so patient until we made it. And it was great fun to chat with him while the lone survivor continued to fight the zombies for 23 minutes after the rest of died. Best experience in L4D so far. :D
07/11/2009 at 00:14 Ozzie says:
it was on survival, btw.
06/11/2009 at 19:00 Railick says:
I agree with you Haircute I end up muting most American players 9 out of 10 times in TF 2 or DoD but I've never had to mute a brit in my life.
I recall very well a long time ago I was playing Count Strike against a Swedish guy. He would NOT shut up about how much better Sweddish people are at playing CS than Americans because we're just not dedicated enough and not smart enough ect. It didn't help matters that he really was a lot better than me and I don't think I managed to kill him once :P But in my defense it was literally the first time I played the game.
Shadowcat “It hammers at my retinas like an evil woodpecker of pure energy”
06/11/2009 at 19:13 Blue says:
I think the general consensus is that loud, obnoxious douches tend to populate the airwaves in pretty much any server, regardless of country. There’s just a whoooooooooole lot more Americans than Brits on, likely, and if you do the math that even 25% of that amount are whooping retards, that’s still a LOT of them, and likely as a result, 25% of people often TRY to talk against the flow of stupid, but 50% just clam up and forget it. I hate playing online because invariably, there’s some screaming twit on there (and don’t even get me started on the morons who start hooting at the fact that I’m female. OH WOW A GIRL PLAYING GAMES, WHAT A REVELATION! Stupid stupid stupids). Just like every single time I go into the women’s locker room at my gym, there’s always some scary old woman there who is topless and doing something gross like clipping her nails. I’m not kidding, it’s terrible. EVERY! TIME!
(AHAHAHA I threw that last line in so you would be so horrified and distracted that I could steal all your tea! I’m not a coffee fan and British tea is the best. Your tea will be mine, all mine, not this horrible Lipton decaf shit! BWAHAHAHA TWINNINGS YOU ARE ALL MINE NOW! TRY AND STOP ME, LIMEYS! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE)
07/11/2009 at 16:43 Quercus says:
I’m sorry, but a girl playing multiplayer games is still too much of a rarity to get any other reaction. My wife loves gaming but generally isn’t into the sort of online multiplayer ones likely to have or use voice comms. I did get her to play Battlefield 1942 for a while but it generally isn’t her thing.
06/11/2009 at 19:22 Railick says:
O.o @ Blue
06/11/2009 at 19:43 sinister agent says:
I think Blue has it. Except for the schizophrenic parts – sorry about that, hard luck there.
Sri Lankan tea is the best, though. This is not a thing to be questioned.
06/11/2009 at 19:51 Vinraith says:
“Sri Lankan tea is the best, though. This is not a thing to be questioned.”
Indeed. In order to truly appreciate this fact, though, it’s necessary to find a direct source.
And now I need to go brew some, damn you all.
06/11/2009 at 19:48 Railick says:
IMHO Tea is disgusting and I can't drink any of it. I have no idea what anyone sees in it. Coffee on the other hand well, I think the Turks had the right idea with that one and Europeans were right to steal the idea :P Nothing hits the spot for me like a cup of steaming hot espresso
06/11/2009 at 19:59 Devan says:
I’m a west-coast Canadian so it’s more likely I’ll end up playing with folks from Australia than from Europe. I generally don’t talk in FPSs except for communication about what’s going on in the game, but haven’t noticed any particular race to be more chatty than another. I also drink tea, but not while I play (because sucking hot drinks through a straw just hurts).
06/11/2009 at 20:34 Railick says:
@Howl – It is a sterotype that is obviously not true for all American gamers, maybe it is just more so with L4D ? I've never been like that I'm always in the "Losing is fun" frame of mind and normally have the highest death count on my team for my random acts of silly heroics.
06/11/2009 at 22:37 Erik J says:
Live in California and can’t stand most random American players, from cocky assholes to constant whiners to outright ignorant (and often racist) bastards. That’s why I play around 2 AM my time so I can run around with better company and just call it a night when you chaps head off for tea and higher pursuits.
In a level-headed American’s defense: Does the UK have anything even close to USA’s South and Midwest population where a lot of the loud mouthed, close minded shit is coming from? Or to rephrase, anywhere in the UK where stupid people are having a stupid amount of stupid children?
07/11/2009 at 02:41 Ed says:
@Erik J – Yup. It’s called England ;-)
07/11/2009 at 16:35 Quercus says:
No, I don’t think there are any specific regions where we have anything like red-necks. As a gross generalisation I would say the northerners tend to be more vocal, but that is about as close as it gets.
06/11/2009 at 22:47 Railick says:
I'm the south :P Then again I'm from Louisville which is like a light in the darkness of eastern kentucky. (for example Louisville voted for Obama but the rest of the state voted the other way) I guess that is why Frankfort is the capital when it's like 1% the size of Louisville.
06/11/2009 at 23:00 Vinraith says:
Let’s give a little credit to Lexington, which is the other blue dot in a red state.
And I think you mean “light in the darkness of western KY,” eastern KY is pretty lightless.
06/11/2009 at 23:05 Railick says:
Yah you're right I meant Western (really north western) Still I've been to Lexington and the only thing good about it is there is a freaking castle there O.o Other than that I don't think you could really call it is a city as much as a large village :P lol Also UokK is there and I'm a UofL Fan so BLLELEHHH
But yes I meant Western I’m just at work right now and easily confused :P plus never been good with cardinal directions to begin with.
06/11/2009 at 23:10 Inferno says:
Java server speaks too much if anything.
07/11/2009 at 01:19 EyeMessiah says:
If I’m playing with randoms I almost always disable voice chat anyway. Take that internet! I can’t even hear you!
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07/11/2009 at 02:22 Doctor Doc says:
Yanks may think Brits don’t talk a lot but as Swede I’m used to communicate exclusively with my keyboard, if I have to. Swedes are the worse… and the best, because in 80% of all cases someone do talk it’s just some annoying European don’t know any English (read: russians), preteen or seldom female with really fucking annoying voice or some American type that just talk and talk and talk but nothing gets said.
Brits however have found the perfect balance, I enjoy playing at those server the most and the ping is good.
07/11/2009 at 06:44 Frye says:
Brits were less likely to cheat than others in the Counter-strike days. Basically i couldn’t get a proper game at one point outside of my (british) clan. They are also less likely to openly criticize a teammate and i do feel that over the years they considered me too direct if not rude when it comes to pointing out someone else’s mistakes, but thats dutchmen for ya. I love the Brits, just stay away from me while you’re on holiday :S
07/11/2009 at 10:53 Irish Al says:
The French are great men for the ould chat in online games.
07/11/2009 at 11:43 We Fly Spitfires says:
As a British gamer, the only response I have to this is “meh”.
07/11/2009 at 16:24 Szudden says:
We hate them too. So how can there be so many? It keeps me up at night. The folks I play with usually immediately kick anyone whose voice pitch is too high.
Slightly off-topic, but a fun story: a couple nights back, while a buddy and I were waiting for a lobby to fill up to start a L4D match, a kid joined. Squeaky voice, so my buddy asked his age. Kid said he was 12, so my friend asked if his mom or dad was home, and if so, to put them on the mic. The kid put a gal on who said she was his mother, and my buddy proceeded to tell her that the lobby was full of adults, and there was likely to be a lot of vulgar lanquage and profanity, and we needed her permission to allow the 12 year old to play with us. I had to mute my mic, I was laughing so hard.
She granted permission, but the kid quit almost right away. Thank goodness, as he could only blame lag for his shortcomings.
07/11/2009 at 17:04 seer says:
true Brits are also overeducated and pedantic, and so would know that taciturn and laconic are almost synonymous, and thus using both is redundant. turn in your card please.
on-topic, i’ve found that if you communicate tactical info and don’t prate about what a colossal fart you just ripped, people will communicate back just fine regardless of nationality. (is prate a word? some educated Brit help me out.)
07/11/2009 at 18:33 Mark says:
Remember there likely much fewer brits playing than americans. Also brits are in the curious place of being able to play on european (lots of languages/nationalities) and east coast US servers (almost all Americans).
I’d love to play up to the reserved brit stereotype (you’d I probably think I do in face to face contact) and make all the brits and angophiles happy but I think the issue is 50% the situation most brits are playing in as opposed to an entirely cultural issue.
I will also go out on a limb with a few giant stereotypes and generalisations myself and say American kids are on average probably slightly more privaledged than brits, and there are probably more kids towards the working class end of the spectrum playing than in the UK. Awful thing to say but I have a feeling it’s true. Sorry.
07/11/2009 at 19:00 Javier-de-Ass says:
I don’t know, I seem to have to mute annoying talky island morons all the time.
07/11/2009 at 19:27 Shnyker says:
Hm, I’ve had mixed results with brits on the mic. Most wont say much at all, but I’ve gotten a few who don’t shut the hell up. Though I must say I’ll take the bad team with all the talkies over the pro team in silence.
All studies conducted in TF2
08/11/2009 at 23:13 FRIENDLYUNIT says:
As an Australian I may be somewhere in the middle. If it’s my friends I’ll yabber.
If it’s strangers I’ll make pertinent tactical comments and also the occasional comment appropriate to OMG or LOL moments.
But yes, I very much dislike people who talk constantly (mike-spammers) and they tend to make me go into shock and clam up.