KodiaX987
Oct 25, 2007, 11:07 PM
Particular to online gaming is an occurrance that baffles logic, common sense and any and all religions you may mention. While semi-rare in some areas, it is frighteningly common in team-based online games where coordination and situational awareness is key. This state is oft known as, The Deaf-Mute Syndrome.
Some of you may have read my rather encyclopedic explanation of what differentiates the newbie, the newb and the n00b from each other (http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=117317&forum=11&start=0&15#14). This article aims at strengthening knowledge of characteristics common to all three sub-species of humans, but mostly to the newb and, now known as an innate reflex on him, the n00b.
The classic, textbook example of the Syndrome involves a hardening of one's preconceived idea of victory - or, in other words, a narrowing of one's self-imposed cone of possibilities - or, we could also call it a situation where one's mind becomes set in stone. Like the poor warriors before Medusa, an unexplained, invisible evil eye suddenly freezes the ongoing battle into an endless repetition of mistakes that no outside force may influence until the end of said battle. It is an occurrance most favored by the opposition and most feared by the teammates involved, as it means the former is assured to win, and the latter is assured to lose, no matter the progression of the match so far.
A team that becomes trapped into the Deaf-Mute Syndrome will follow a certain mindset to the letter, and unconsciously ignore any advice to do otherwise. Furthermore, should a particular team member repeat his suggestions several times, against the mindset of the team, he will be thus shunned, and his teammates will unconsciously cease to acknowledge his existence. With no medic, ammunition or backup to help him, the lone fighter who is not affected by the syndrome is left is a state of lost hope, fighting for a cause that he knows he will never win. It is thus because of this Syndrome that teams choose to dedicate all their members to the defense of a point with no offense to balance it out, or choose to hop piecewise into a publically known meatgrinder offense with no defense to back it up. In the most shocking of cases, a particular Battlefield 2142 soldier stepped on an antipersonel mine, placed at roughly the same spot everytime, a staggering eighteen times in a row. Despite constant warnings from several of his unaffected teammates, he kept on repeating the exact same maneuver until the end of the match, never stopping to assist others, as by the definition of the Syndrome, he no longer is aware of those who contradict his mindset. To summarize, in his own mind, he was alone on the battlefield against twenty enemy soldiers, and was certain that his relentless charges would eventually bear fruit.
For the record, they didn't.
It is very interesting to note that while the Syndrome is under way, team members remain fully "intelligent" at all times. Despite having lost sight of the big picture, the teammates are still able to communicate with each other and relay warnings and notices about enemy movement and positions. The thinking ends there, however, since as soon as the immediate threats are dispatched, the affected team members return to their previously self-assigned goal. Once again, any attempt to communicate with them, either by chat or by voice, is entirely fruitless and will only result in the alienation of the unaffected teammate, who, in reward for his burst of common sense, is to be punished and left to fight on his own. This explains why there are frequently one-man squads in Battlefield-type games - the more of them you see, the likelier the chance that the team is suffering from a dramatic case of the Deaf-Mute Syndrome. In games comprising smaller teams - such as Counter Strike or Team Fortress, the effect is even more flagrant, as the Syndrome is powerful enough to push the entire team to perform an uncompromising offense or defense - one, but not the other. The Syndrome acts much like Newton's law of physics: what is still is bound to remain still, and what moves is bound to remain moving. The same applies to a team: a team that has a high momentum will keep up the momentum, much like one stroke of the engine powers the next - and a team that has lost its momentum will have difficulty picking it back up again, much like the car that needs a tremenderous charge to start up versus the amount of power needed to keep the engine at idle.
While the Syndrome is highly vicious and stealthy in comparison to other game-related diseases (such as teamkilling, brain farts, n00b moments and Satan condition), it is possible to shield oneself from it. Even better, an experienced gamer is able to detect the effects of the Syndrome on himself, and to free himself from the Syndrome's grasp.
The first step is, of course, to be alert to one's own surroundings and to the condition of the team. In class-based games, the rule of thumb is to use the class that the team is lacking of. This both ensures a healthy balance of team resources, and helps prevent the Syndrome from appearing, as the diversification of the team helps keep the match rolling, and prevent the team from falling into stagnation.
Secondly, should the Syndrome's effects be detected on teammates, it is imperative that one never attempts to counter it directly. While the Syndrome is fully aware of straightforward approaches, it lacks peripheral vision - that is, subtle hints are what will help free your teammates from the Syndrome's sickly claws. The concept is to preach by example: the intelligent, unaffected team member is to perform according to his own good common sense, and hope that teammates will eventually follow along. Of course, he must not let his real motives transpire. Experienced team members are even able to lightly prod teammates with phrases such as "excuse me, since you're near, can you come help me capture this point for a little while? I'm having a bit of trouble with it at the moment." Such a precise manner of words fools the Syndrome into believing it has to answer a direct threat - or a trifling, consequenceless task, rather than contribute to a mindset that is contrary to what the Syndrome had established. Much like a firewall is fooled, the Syndrome lets those words reach the teammate's ears.
Thirdly, should one become aware that he has been caught in the Syndrome, then he should immediately cease whatever is doing and open the overhead map or the team class roster, whichever is most appropriate. This maneuver will further shield the team member from retaliations of the Syndrome, and will help him catch up to the events going on in the match. With this refreshed knowledge in hand, he becomes able to operate normally once again. The key is that as soon as one realizes he has been hit by the Syndrome, the Syndrome's grasp dramatically weakens.
Fourth, and final tip, is a rather dangerous method reserved to expert players only. In this scenario, the player commands a squad that is under his direct responsibility, and deliberately keeps his squad mates in the dark about what is going on in the world. The resulting effect is a pseudo-syndrome that is fully controlled by the squad leader. Since the squad members rely entirely on their superior's orders, they effectively follow a particular goal until told otherwise, never asking questions or doubting the squad leader's judgement in any way. In this manner, a good squad leader is able to make his entire squad turn completely around in a matter of seconds, without needing to explain his motives. After all, a squad member's only worries are where he will fight next and what he'll be up against. How or why is something he chooses not to compute. A very dangerous side effect from this practice is that, should a squad leader become permanently lost to the team in any way, the squad members will immediately fall under a heavy variant of the Syndrome's influence, and forever attempt to accomplish the last order they had been given, completely ignoring any adjustments or suggestions to do otherwise.
Thus, to summarize:
1) Be aware.
2) Act as if nothing happened.
3) Perform reality checks.
4) Create a controlled syndrome for your teammates, to shield them from the real Syndrome.
We hope this was an informative article to you. If you are part of the prestigious class of intelligent humans who keep their intelligence even in the online world, then we trust this bulletin will have been useful to you, and will help you remain consistent and competent in your online matches to come.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: KodiaX987 on 2007-10-25 21:09 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: KodiaX987 on 2007-10-25 21:20 ]</font>
Some of you may have read my rather encyclopedic explanation of what differentiates the newbie, the newb and the n00b from each other (http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=117317&forum=11&start=0&15#14). This article aims at strengthening knowledge of characteristics common to all three sub-species of humans, but mostly to the newb and, now known as an innate reflex on him, the n00b.
The classic, textbook example of the Syndrome involves a hardening of one's preconceived idea of victory - or, in other words, a narrowing of one's self-imposed cone of possibilities - or, we could also call it a situation where one's mind becomes set in stone. Like the poor warriors before Medusa, an unexplained, invisible evil eye suddenly freezes the ongoing battle into an endless repetition of mistakes that no outside force may influence until the end of said battle. It is an occurrance most favored by the opposition and most feared by the teammates involved, as it means the former is assured to win, and the latter is assured to lose, no matter the progression of the match so far.
A team that becomes trapped into the Deaf-Mute Syndrome will follow a certain mindset to the letter, and unconsciously ignore any advice to do otherwise. Furthermore, should a particular team member repeat his suggestions several times, against the mindset of the team, he will be thus shunned, and his teammates will unconsciously cease to acknowledge his existence. With no medic, ammunition or backup to help him, the lone fighter who is not affected by the syndrome is left is a state of lost hope, fighting for a cause that he knows he will never win. It is thus because of this Syndrome that teams choose to dedicate all their members to the defense of a point with no offense to balance it out, or choose to hop piecewise into a publically known meatgrinder offense with no defense to back it up. In the most shocking of cases, a particular Battlefield 2142 soldier stepped on an antipersonel mine, placed at roughly the same spot everytime, a staggering eighteen times in a row. Despite constant warnings from several of his unaffected teammates, he kept on repeating the exact same maneuver until the end of the match, never stopping to assist others, as by the definition of the Syndrome, he no longer is aware of those who contradict his mindset. To summarize, in his own mind, he was alone on the battlefield against twenty enemy soldiers, and was certain that his relentless charges would eventually bear fruit.
For the record, they didn't.
It is very interesting to note that while the Syndrome is under way, team members remain fully "intelligent" at all times. Despite having lost sight of the big picture, the teammates are still able to communicate with each other and relay warnings and notices about enemy movement and positions. The thinking ends there, however, since as soon as the immediate threats are dispatched, the affected team members return to their previously self-assigned goal. Once again, any attempt to communicate with them, either by chat or by voice, is entirely fruitless and will only result in the alienation of the unaffected teammate, who, in reward for his burst of common sense, is to be punished and left to fight on his own. This explains why there are frequently one-man squads in Battlefield-type games - the more of them you see, the likelier the chance that the team is suffering from a dramatic case of the Deaf-Mute Syndrome. In games comprising smaller teams - such as Counter Strike or Team Fortress, the effect is even more flagrant, as the Syndrome is powerful enough to push the entire team to perform an uncompromising offense or defense - one, but not the other. The Syndrome acts much like Newton's law of physics: what is still is bound to remain still, and what moves is bound to remain moving. The same applies to a team: a team that has a high momentum will keep up the momentum, much like one stroke of the engine powers the next - and a team that has lost its momentum will have difficulty picking it back up again, much like the car that needs a tremenderous charge to start up versus the amount of power needed to keep the engine at idle.
While the Syndrome is highly vicious and stealthy in comparison to other game-related diseases (such as teamkilling, brain farts, n00b moments and Satan condition), it is possible to shield oneself from it. Even better, an experienced gamer is able to detect the effects of the Syndrome on himself, and to free himself from the Syndrome's grasp.
The first step is, of course, to be alert to one's own surroundings and to the condition of the team. In class-based games, the rule of thumb is to use the class that the team is lacking of. This both ensures a healthy balance of team resources, and helps prevent the Syndrome from appearing, as the diversification of the team helps keep the match rolling, and prevent the team from falling into stagnation.
Secondly, should the Syndrome's effects be detected on teammates, it is imperative that one never attempts to counter it directly. While the Syndrome is fully aware of straightforward approaches, it lacks peripheral vision - that is, subtle hints are what will help free your teammates from the Syndrome's sickly claws. The concept is to preach by example: the intelligent, unaffected team member is to perform according to his own good common sense, and hope that teammates will eventually follow along. Of course, he must not let his real motives transpire. Experienced team members are even able to lightly prod teammates with phrases such as "excuse me, since you're near, can you come help me capture this point for a little while? I'm having a bit of trouble with it at the moment." Such a precise manner of words fools the Syndrome into believing it has to answer a direct threat - or a trifling, consequenceless task, rather than contribute to a mindset that is contrary to what the Syndrome had established. Much like a firewall is fooled, the Syndrome lets those words reach the teammate's ears.
Thirdly, should one become aware that he has been caught in the Syndrome, then he should immediately cease whatever is doing and open the overhead map or the team class roster, whichever is most appropriate. This maneuver will further shield the team member from retaliations of the Syndrome, and will help him catch up to the events going on in the match. With this refreshed knowledge in hand, he becomes able to operate normally once again. The key is that as soon as one realizes he has been hit by the Syndrome, the Syndrome's grasp dramatically weakens.
Fourth, and final tip, is a rather dangerous method reserved to expert players only. In this scenario, the player commands a squad that is under his direct responsibility, and deliberately keeps his squad mates in the dark about what is going on in the world. The resulting effect is a pseudo-syndrome that is fully controlled by the squad leader. Since the squad members rely entirely on their superior's orders, they effectively follow a particular goal until told otherwise, never asking questions or doubting the squad leader's judgement in any way. In this manner, a good squad leader is able to make his entire squad turn completely around in a matter of seconds, without needing to explain his motives. After all, a squad member's only worries are where he will fight next and what he'll be up against. How or why is something he chooses not to compute. A very dangerous side effect from this practice is that, should a squad leader become permanently lost to the team in any way, the squad members will immediately fall under a heavy variant of the Syndrome's influence, and forever attempt to accomplish the last order they had been given, completely ignoring any adjustments or suggestions to do otherwise.
Thus, to summarize:
1) Be aware.
2) Act as if nothing happened.
3) Perform reality checks.
4) Create a controlled syndrome for your teammates, to shield them from the real Syndrome.
We hope this was an informative article to you. If you are part of the prestigious class of intelligent humans who keep their intelligence even in the online world, then we trust this bulletin will have been useful to you, and will help you remain consistent and competent in your online matches to come.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: KodiaX987 on 2007-10-25 21:09 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: KodiaX987 on 2007-10-25 21:20 ]</font>