35–War and Peace

[Write about a recent conflict that you dealt with in your life.]

            Wow, this prompt reminded me that my past year has been rather uneventful regarding conflicts. Besides a few people openly disliking me at school…nothing. That is, of course, if online conflicts don’t count. Tons of those occur very often, but they’re also minor things.

            Let’s see…recent conflicts…

            Ah, screw it. I need something to write about, so I’ll just write about the many stupid conflicts in Overwatch.

            For those who aren’t aware, “Overwatch” is an online game where two teams of six people each choose a character from a selection to use to kill the other enemy. The characters can be roughly organized into the categories Damage Dealers (dealing most damage), Tanks (acting as shields for teammates), and Healers (healing). Of course, it’s not that simple, but that’s all you need to know.

            WELL, I’m sure everyone that plays Overwatch knows of how toxic teammates and enemies, but mostly teammates, get when the game doesn’t go their way. Hell, even when it does go their way do some people find the energy to trash talk their teammates. These toxic players get so enraged that they shout profanities and insults as though their lives depended on their ability to display their proficiency in pointlessly being mean. It’s rather ridiculous, to be honest.

            How does competitiveness bring out such evils from people so easily? Well, I only recently discovered just that. But before I get to explaining that, I feel the need to rant about the aforementioned toxic players.

            “Die.”—is all I want such people to do. The world would be better off if such people that do not have control over their emotions (or just enjoy being mean) would cease to exist and never exist again. Of course, the world would panic and much chaos would occur due to the sheer number of humans that disappeared, but every day after the immediate problems are solved would be better days.

            Seriously, unless they have a mental illness that causes those outbursts, I care not for their excuses. I’ve heard people say, “I just can’t control myself” and “I just let myself slip” after outbursts and their words do nothing to quench the bloodlust that builds within me, unreasonably filling me with the intent to kill them, because we are playing GAMES! Just, f******, videogames! If they “can’t help” but become pathetic wastes of space as soon as they begin losing an inconsequential videogame, what else do they lose their cool for? Their significant other is a being naggy so they scream at them about how they’re trash and punch them? Someone bumps into them on the sidewalk and doesn’t apologize so they attack them? Another random toxic person insults them on the street or in school so they enter a fight to the death?

            Might seem like I’m exaggerating, but these things happen and I think the same people who scream through their microphones about how their teammates need to “F****** KILL [THEMSELVES]” are the ones who act unreasonably.

            Just. Get. Over. It. Or. Commit. Self. Ending.

            Now, regarding how I’ve comprehended how people can be so pathetic in their behavior:

            I get it. I really do. There is a game I played for a few years and got really, really good at. It’s simple but requires TONS of skill to get good at, which I did. I became so good that new players constantly accused me of hacking and decent players asked me to go easy on them. However, due to many reasons, I stopped playing the game for a long time, causing me to become rusty, so to speak.

            I reentered the game recently to see how I’d fair against the current player base…and got bodied so hard. I lost so spectacularly so many times that my body shook with competitive adrenaline for upwards of an hour, at times. Hell, if I start playing right now and end up against the really good players, it’ll happen again! I get so angry that I have to push myself to keep playing if not just get off altogether.

            So, what separates me from the kind of person that throws their anger at their teammates in Overwatch? Everything but the anger. We’re both super angry, super pumped full of hormones, and super willing to find a way to channel that rage. However, I’M NOT A PATHETIC, USELESS, TRASHY WASTE OF SPACE! Never do I blame the people I play with in the game for making me so angry! Never do I insult them to let out some steam! Never do I wish harm upon them!

            The only one I blame is myself for feeling all those emotions. After all, it’s just a game. No one’s life is on the line, there’s nothing to lose. It’s that simple for me to NOT be a bad person, and that’s why I believe people who first turn to being shitty when they get angry should just die.

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            Which is also one reason I’m so picky with friends! There are SO many shitty guys like that! They’re everywhere in the communities I’m a part of! Their behavior is atrocious and I feel the need to end them myself when it happens, so I just don’t allow myself to care about others much until I know enough about them! After all: to me, it’s a betrayal when someone is a shitty person.

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