A Daily Dose of Chee-ting
After a lot of attempts to get me to go down for one of their sessions, I finally joined a Laser Tag game today. Our game made use of cute plastic guns produced by Tiger Electronics. I can almost imagine American kids running around their front yard playing with these guns. The guns probably shot infra-red beams, much like TV remote controls, cos I believe laser might prove harmful to human eyes. In any case, the gun had a variety of modes; I heard some game modes can have the guns programmed to activate personal shields.
Some of the games we played include Escort, Assassination, Capture the Flag and King of the Hill. Yes, they sound very much like any LAN shooter game you find out there. However, playing in real-life is very different from playing in a LAN game. Guys who have been through army (and especially those who went through Sispec and OCS) can attest to the sheer exhaustion and frustration of having to run up and down the field attacking an objective again and again until we got it right. Just like any real-life tactical game, sprinting from cover to cover leaves you gasping for air.
All this seems like a recipe for a fun-filled afternoon, right? Well, running around was fun, but the games weren't fun. It's like playing DOTA for five straight hours and being owned every single game. It's like watching as your opponents deny you of towers, then have the cheek to stun you and then gank you. The first few games, I was still getting used to handling the gun, which cost me a few "lives". How would I know that the beams reflect off walls and still score as kills? Why wasn't the gun designed more ergonomically so that aiming down the sights was a lot easier and more intuitive?
Throw in girls who don't know anything about gun handling, fire movement and arc of fire, and that's a recipe for a whopping. I don't blame the girls, really. It's really just a game. We had fun. (Though I wish we could whopp the vendors' smug a**es just once.)
However, the event that stuck to my head was how one of the vendors cheated. Yes, they're supposed to be facilitating the game, making sure that we have a good time. Apparently, that wasn't on the mind of this individual. He went out of the playing area, ended up behind us, and started shooting. Of course he scored a few kills. And he was happily gloating about his cheap shots to the fellow vendors when their team won. (I hope you're reading this Leonard. This was what got me screaming down your back the following game.)
The irony was how another vendor mentioned earlier that it is mostly the beginners who cheat in paintball.
If I had known that he had cheated to get such cheap shots, I would have thrown down my gun and ran for his throat right then. But I only found out later how he got behind our position. (Which was supposed to be tight cos my team-mates were covering the other route.) Isn't that what you want to do to someone who doesn't play fair in a game? Beat them into pulp?
It's a good thing most games have rules that don't allow under-hand methods. But what about real-life? Haven't you heard of the back-stabbing that goes on in the corporate world just to get the promotion? The skivers who get by with minimal work but still receive the same amount of recognision? How about those who take credit for work done by others?
This brings about two questions:
1) Is it fair to do it if so many others are doing it and getting away scot-free (most of the time)?
2) Since I believe it isn't fair, how should they be punished?
Some people believe that such things affect one's karma. If they do something bad, they are opening themselves to bad things happening to them. Like a carwreck, maybe. Others think such acts will result in divine punishment.
Oh, really. So while waiting for karma to do its job, this guy continues having things his own way without a regard for others. I can imagine him giggling with glee as he rubs his hands furiously, his mind a clockwork of sinister ideas. Shall he blackmail his supervisor next? Or how about cheating a trishaw uncle of his fare?
Frankly, I think these people should have situations twisted back to hurt them. A punch in the nuts for that guy who shot me from the back. Probably a "leaked" email to the manager for that colleague who backstabbed you. Maybe they'll understand the meaning of pain then.
Am I being mean thinking about such things, ranting about them? Maybe. At least I feel better now. Now guys, on the count of three, let's pierce the voodoo dolls. -Jimmy
Some of the games we played include Escort, Assassination, Capture the Flag and King of the Hill. Yes, they sound very much like any LAN shooter game you find out there. However, playing in real-life is very different from playing in a LAN game. Guys who have been through army (and especially those who went through Sispec and OCS) can attest to the sheer exhaustion and frustration of having to run up and down the field attacking an objective again and again until we got it right. Just like any real-life tactical game, sprinting from cover to cover leaves you gasping for air.
All this seems like a recipe for a fun-filled afternoon, right? Well, running around was fun, but the games weren't fun. It's like playing DOTA for five straight hours and being owned every single game. It's like watching as your opponents deny you of towers, then have the cheek to stun you and then gank you. The first few games, I was still getting used to handling the gun, which cost me a few "lives". How would I know that the beams reflect off walls and still score as kills? Why wasn't the gun designed more ergonomically so that aiming down the sights was a lot easier and more intuitive?
Throw in girls who don't know anything about gun handling, fire movement and arc of fire, and that's a recipe for a whopping. I don't blame the girls, really. It's really just a game. We had fun. (Though I wish we could whopp the vendors' smug a**es just once.)
However, the event that stuck to my head was how one of the vendors cheated. Yes, they're supposed to be facilitating the game, making sure that we have a good time. Apparently, that wasn't on the mind of this individual. He went out of the playing area, ended up behind us, and started shooting. Of course he scored a few kills. And he was happily gloating about his cheap shots to the fellow vendors when their team won. (I hope you're reading this Leonard. This was what got me screaming down your back the following game.)
The irony was how another vendor mentioned earlier that it is mostly the beginners who cheat in paintball.
If I had known that he had cheated to get such cheap shots, I would have thrown down my gun and ran for his throat right then. But I only found out later how he got behind our position. (Which was supposed to be tight cos my team-mates were covering the other route.) Isn't that what you want to do to someone who doesn't play fair in a game? Beat them into pulp?
It's a good thing most games have rules that don't allow under-hand methods. But what about real-life? Haven't you heard of the back-stabbing that goes on in the corporate world just to get the promotion? The skivers who get by with minimal work but still receive the same amount of recognision? How about those who take credit for work done by others?
This brings about two questions:
1) Is it fair to do it if so many others are doing it and getting away scot-free (most of the time)?
2) Since I believe it isn't fair, how should they be punished?
Some people believe that such things affect one's karma. If they do something bad, they are opening themselves to bad things happening to them. Like a carwreck, maybe. Others think such acts will result in divine punishment.
Oh, really. So while waiting for karma to do its job, this guy continues having things his own way without a regard for others. I can imagine him giggling with glee as he rubs his hands furiously, his mind a clockwork of sinister ideas. Shall he blackmail his supervisor next? Or how about cheating a trishaw uncle of his fare?
Frankly, I think these people should have situations twisted back to hurt them. A punch in the nuts for that guy who shot me from the back. Probably a "leaked" email to the manager for that colleague who backstabbed you. Maybe they'll understand the meaning of pain then.
Am I being mean thinking about such things, ranting about them? Maybe. At least I feel better now. Now guys, on the count of three, let's pierce the voodoo dolls. -Jimmy
posted by Jimmy at 1:06 AM
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