What is it about this game that causes so much Anger?

[guno]

So anyways, i've noticed that versus mode causes a lot of anger in people, including me. This is most often when the director sides against you, but even more when you get a minor glitch that prevents you from getting kills when you should be, or causes you to die. When these things happen, you can't help feel a little mad, sure you can say "it's just a game. but its also a game that takes an hour or more for one session. An hour that was spent in frustration.

Examples:
Last night the following happened within one runthrough of no mercy versus.
Kitsuna boomer vomited TWICE IN A ROW with no horde spawning. and it was 4 v 3 ((infected being the 3)).
Kitsuna was a tank in the finale, and when he punched louis, instead of flying off the roof like he should have, he somehow got on TOP OF HIM. he was at the highest point on the roof, so it was impossible for this to happen, a real freak glitch.
For the first team when the helicopter came, it came immediately upon the tank death, they spent about 15 seconds limping to the helicopter. during that time, NONE OF US spawned. we all had a 20 second respawn, an the tank spawned when they finally got to the helicopter

When OUR turn came, the helicopter took extra time after the 2nd tank spawned to come, but the infected kept spawning. Not only that the tank spawned sooner and CLOSER, as well as a smoker and a hunter. we all got to the helicopter, and then a bunch of common infected started to get in our way, causing one person to be pulled back my a smoker, one to be punched by the tank, and then kitsuna to be one shotted with i think 50 HP by the tank INSIDE THE HELICOPTER.

i got punched by the tank down to a lower level, and when i tried to get back up, I got a glitched common infected on me. i couldn't move, i couldn't shoot him, I couldn't melee him. and he was lodging me upwards, so when the tank finally got to me, i got knocked way high up off the roof.

Was it OUR fault we lost? can you honestly say it was? we were more of a team than they were, we just got shit handed to us by the director spawns and the glitches. The worst part was we would have won if we had gotten into the helicopter.

To top it all off, some annoying player, named "Fletch!? *blazed*" or something. threw salt in the wounds, saying "tankownt" after all of this, despite the fact the tank truely only got 2 of those kills, and the 3rd one was assisted by that glitched common infected. I would normally consider this a "joking" comment, but he said it not once, but twice when we tried to defend ourself.

I personally am never going to play with this fellow again, and i noticed hes in versus playing with people right now! if i ever see him, he is immediately getting a call vote -> kick player -> fletch. and the proper explaining as why such an immature player shouldn't be playing a co-op game.

There was one other player that also insulted us any time we died as infected, as if it was super hard to die as the infected.

What IS it about this game that causes so much issues?

END WALL OF TEXT

[NikkyVix]

Anger? I can only guess..I have yet to experience any sort of pure table-pounding out-of-game rage from what happens in L4D. I can give theorizing a shot:

Possibly the fact that the game's mechanics seem to be left to the machinations of a set of functions (the Director) which has been anthropomorphisized by the players into an actual being, giving a source to channel their feelings for indignation, frustration, and anger when things don't go their way. "FUCK the Director! That's CHEAP! We got no Tanks, they got TWO! We're losing because it wants us to lose!"

It is in the nature of many gamers to blame external sources for their misfortunes first and foremost...how many of us grew up with a sibling that blames the game itself for cheating when we beat their kiesters handily in a game? The Director is a convenient scapegoat for what is simple happenstance, sparking righteous anger against feeling 'victimized' unfairly, breeding Teh R4g3.

Gamers can take stuff really personal and allow it to kill their fun. If feelings of victimization coupled with a sense that the game or the opponents are conspiring against you is strong enough, it'll breed rage. And Left 4 Dead has the mechanics to easily breed such, I wager.

Last night, Ailure and I were playing Infected against a team that was obviously outclassed by us. In No Mercy's first phase, in the stairwell that leads up to the turbine area with the gate and the minigun, we trapped the last two Survivors in the stair by a 3-minute-long succession of Hunters, Boomers, and common infected. It was a situation where most people I know would be pissing steaming rage and ready to simply quit the game if they kept being vomited and pounced on for 3 minutes in the same stairwell. But when it was all said and done, and they were finally overwhelmed, they congratulated us on the pressure and didn't seem to show a hint of animosity.

So it's all in how you look at the game, and whether you will rage about circumstances or not. You CAN have fun while losing, and no, the game is not always "out to get you", no matter what that little voice in your head says.

[Purplecat]

The game could use some little rubberbanding, aka the team that is lagging behind heavily gets some advantages. This is how Mario kart works (note how you always get better weapons the worse you do). I like the fact that the latter levels gives more points, therefore giving the lagging behind team a chance to pass up to the 4th stage/finale... but even then.

Sure, Mario Kart is chaotic for that reason but so should L4D be too.

[Wulfie]

[Jinx]

[guno]

No, the problem is that the helicopter took extra time to arrive for us for some reason, allowing you guys to respawn and for the tank to spawn and catch up as he got over to it. for you guys the helicopter arrived immediately, the tank took a moment to spawn AND spawned at the very back of the roof, with us all waiting to respawn still.

again, it really WAS just a really crappy finale, and just prooved that the director still needs some balancing in versus to make it truely fair for teams.

You guys had a much worse time in the finale, and it was a shock for US that you SURVIVED, and became obvious because of the fact that after the 2nd tank died, absolutely nothing happened to you guys, none of the infected even caught up to stop you, and this was with all of you LIMPING..

it was an equal shock that WE lost, because we were doing so freaking well aside from the 2nd tank spawn.

The director often seems to believe that a good team deserves to be punished, and the team thats not doing so well deserves to win.

and at other times, it seems to make the complete opposite choice.

Its so random, you can't ever truely expect a fun experience. Though mind you, i usually do have a fun time in left 4 dead, aside from when people steal my tongued targets with a hunter pounce *ANGRY FIST SHAKE*

[Helios]

Well, the only bits of L4D I've played so far is the demo, and I probably won't be gettin the game until my hatchie 10 days from now (12/24), but I'll give this a shot:

I think what we're seeing here is the latest iteration of an age old problem: Video game rage. Gamers want to win a game, and also want to have fun, and when things don't go their way, they take it out on people (or things that don't deserve it) and blame just about everyone and everything in the whole Universe but themselves.

Left 4 Dead has Hitchcock (aka the Director) running the show, and it's much easier to blame a single entity for your woes than an entire game.

Valve is probably working to correct these various glitches, because they want you to have fun, if people aren't having fun, they won't be playing the game, and others won't be buying it, simple as that.

I myself never really get mad when I'm playing a video game. Whenever I die, I look at what I did wrong, and what I can do to make sure that I do better next time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's a hell of a lot better than chucking my keyboard out the window

So yah, my two cents. Helios out.

[Purplecat]

I was in a VS game where Stage 3 ended by our opposing team as a witch spawned on top of their teammates out of nowhere. They were in the stairway too, just before the sewer so they were a sitting duck too.

Needless to say, they lost the stage shortly after that.

...that's probably about the worst director bug I seen so far too. :/ It was kinda funny but lame at the same time as it removed any challenge for us who were being infected.

[Arcalane]

I've had the Director do other BS moves like that in certain areas. I'm sure I posted elsewhere about how I had a Tank spawn right on top of me in a staircase. Admittedly that wasn't in Versus mode, but it's still a really blatant example of the Director being an idiot sometimes.

[pablofiasco]

its been a while now, but i can remeber a game wehre, the tank incaps or screws up the other three people on my team (one of htem witchie and doom i think?), anyway they yell at me get to safe room, get to safe room, i JUST get inside the room and..
#(%(%*(*^()#$ Hunter spawns IN the room and pins me, Ooops now we gotta restart the $(%*%* part of hte level