Mini-Ethnography on Gamer Culture
"Man, Fragged by the LPB Sniper again!!!" That may sound like nonsense to the average person but to the seasoned Counterstrike veteran it speaks volumes. Today, millions of people of all ages are coming together on the Internet to compete against each other in a variety of online games. The most popular of which is an online modification of the game Half-life entitled Counterstrike.
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<br>Counterstrike itself is comprised of players broken up in to two teams, terrorists and counter terrorists, who then compete against each other to achieve a range of goals in a variety of levels. People from anyplace in the world can log in to one of the hundreds of Counterstrike servers running on the Internet and team up with and play against anybody anywhere. To play the game players manipulate their characters movements inside the simulated scenario they see on their monitor. They do so by using the keyboard and mouse in tandem to move around the level, find opposing players and then "frag" or kill them with whatever weapon they currently have, there by eliminating them for the remainder of the round. However, in most cases the teams' goals are more complex than just eliminating the other team. For instance, in one level one player assumes the role of the V.I.P. and his counter terrorist teammates try to escort him to a helicopter on the other side of the level. The terrorist teams objective is to find and assassinate the V.I.P. before he is able to escape. This and other missions like it create an exciting and adrenaline filled environment that are part of the reason gamers just can not quit.
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<br>For the most part people team up with and compete against people they haven't met and probably never will meet in a face-to-face manner. This yields some very interesting results. I was able to observe two peers of mine playing Counterstrike online in the same room on their separate computers on several occasions for extended periods. Also, I installed Counterstrike on my
<br>
<br>Counterstrike itself is comprised of players broken up in to two teams, terrorists and counter terrorists, who then compete against each other to achieve a range of goals in a variety of levels. People from anyplace in the world can log in to one of the hundreds of Counterstrike servers running on the Internet and team up with and play against anybody anywhere. To play the game players manipulate their characters movements inside the simulated scenario they see on their monitor. They do so by using the keyboard and mouse in tandem to move around the level, find opposing players and then "frag" or kill them with whatever weapon they currently have, there by eliminating them for the remainder of the round. However, in most cases the teams' goals are more complex than just eliminating the other team. For instance, in one level one player assumes the role of the V.I.P. and his counter terrorist teammates try to escort him to a helicopter on the other side of the level. The terrorist teams objective is to find and assassinate the V.I.P. before he is able to escape. This and other missions like it create an exciting and adrenaline filled environment that are part of the reason gamers just can not quit.
<br>
<br>For the most part people team up with and compete against people they haven't met and probably never will meet in a face-to-face manner. This yields some very interesting results. I was able to observe two peers of mine playing Counterstrike online in the same room on their separate computers on several occasions for extended periods. Also, I installed Counterstrike on my