Why I hate the Steam community. (Rant)

Most people who come across this, will most likely disagree. I mean Steam has great holiday sales, cool free games, and memorable games from earlier gens. Ya, I love all of those things about Steam. But the thing I hate is the people. Steam mostly consists of three types of people, Bronies, "Offensive" people, and "pro gamers." I will be talking about all three in this blog.

First there are the Bronies, I don't want to hate on anyone. However I see no logical explanation to why anyone besides children and babies would enjoy My Little Pony. My guess is people just become Bronies to be "funny", "unique", or "weird. If that's true, it just proves that some people are really trying to hard for attention."

Then there's "offensive" people, the reason I put quotations around offensive is because these people aren't really offensive, they just try to be. They set their username to some racial slur, or joke regarding religion, death, or politics. Although, they're really just trying to be funny and get attention, they don't really hate whatever they're making fun of. I mean hey I like a couple racist jokes as much as the next guy. But these people, just try to hard to be funny and shove all of it down your throat like they're trying to accomplish something.

All of the Steam community gets on my nerves, but the people who piss me off the most are the "pro" gamers. They annoy more than the MLG Call Of Duty kids, even more then any kind of fanboy. These are the people that take games, way to serious. I don't mind actual pro gaming, yea it's a cool concept in all. However when someone joins a public game, and starts complaining and throwing a fit over how I suck, it pisses me off. I play games, purely for fun, yes I get a little competitive at times but it's only for games that I should. In my opinion video games should be for just pleasure, if you're not competing for money you should take it easy and love the game, not get frustrated at it. On the other hand steam gamers have a completley different opinion. Just today I was playing on Left 4 Dead 2 versus, I was playing as an infected and all of a sudden a new player joins my team. A couple moments later I screw up my attack, I acknowledged and said sorry. Although, instead of forgiving me this new player starts trash talking me and trying to kick me because of the situation.

Left 4 dead doesn't have any XP or unlock system for versus. Therefore there is actually no point of winning, rather for the thrill and fun of it. So basically this guy was screaming at me over nothing, here's what I think. Players shouldn't join a game and expect every other team member to be as good as them, if they want go join a league or something. People just make a big deal over something that should be purely for enjoyment. What I'm trying to say is, IF YOU ARE NOT PRO DON'T TAKE THE GAME SERIOUSLY!

That's why I personally like the Playstation community better, yeah there are some nasty people on PSN also. However a big majority of people on PSN are friendly, and don't care if you're a beginner or you're just having a bad match. That's just my thoughts on the subject.

[MacDonagh]

Steam has a sub-culture of Bronies? I don't really get the appeal of MLP personally. Someone sent me a link to an episode but it's just not my jam. I'm more of a fan of anime more than anything else I guess. It's just rather bizarre to me that males would be interested in such a show.

On offensive types; I have no real issue with them. I'm rather old and crunchy; so I've heard it all before. People like to shock other people with their "edgy" opinions because they love the reaction. Frankly, it bores me because they aren't genuinely funny.

I've played with a couple of pro types before and they seem like pretty chill guys. Of course, this is only speaking through narrow experience and I don't run into them everyday but I'm pretty laid-back should I hear people calling me a n00b or whatever expletives they wish to call me. It's water off a duck's back.

PSN community is pretty decent. Mostly just friendly people on there.

+1 on fairly well-written blog.

[Imikida]

Thanks for reading. Ya I'm an anime too, and I don't really get MLP either. And I agree, offensive people aren't very funny. The only reason you don't have a problem with pro types is probably because you don't suck like I do, and they hate people who suck lol.

[MacDonagh]

Everyone has their good points. I'm not a very good player either. If someone is shouting me out; I can give out some doozies.

Related video is a close approximation of my reaction to people attempting to trash talk me.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I don't really play online games on Steam (or anywhere else for that matter), but you forgot another annoying Steam dweller: the sale-scummer. Because there are so many Steam sales, there's that sub-culture of gamer who always "waits for the sale", and who brags about their massive game collection (most, if not all of it, bought through bundle packs and holiday sales) and yet they've only played a fraction of it. And yet, their library continues to grow with each consecutive sale...

[mixelon]

The vast majority of my steam library comes from sales, and I don't have time to play through them all. Hopefully one day I will, but it'll be a hell of a backlog. Maybe when I retire in a few decades.. (It's like a gaming pension scheme!) I don't see the problem with this. On most systems I consider myself a collector as much as a player.

Who really brags about their library though? Why would anyone care?

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

Wait, you're complaining about people who buy video games now? WTF? People brag about getting stuff cheaper. Come on now, if I got a car for 5 grand off whatever price, I'd be bragging to all my friends too.

[PopRocks359]

You'll find nasty sorts of people in just about any online community. Though the most obnoxious ones seem to be frequently found on game servers for some odd reason.

I've yet to encounter anything other than trolls in TF2. But I have encountered those awful pro gamers in L4D2. I've been vote-kicked out of games for making minor mistakes that any player could make. It's pretty sad.

Steam is also very buggy and requires constant updates that can cause as many problems as they fix. Steam is far from perfect, but it does have its perks and it even has a rather sizable library.

[Bladesfist]

If you avoid valve games you will find that most people fall into two categories. People that are talking to there friends in TS or Skype and do not talk in game and friendly people. Valve games seem to be an exception with a whole load of vulgar and annoying people in them however it is fairly easy to find a community that is not very tolerant on that kind of behaviour and just join those servers. Something that you can not really do on PSN or Live. The PC community outside of these games seem to have a higher average age than PSN / Live so you will find a lot less trash talk.

I don't think this is a problem with Steam though so your title comes off as flamebait. I don't think I have experienced anything along those lines.

Steam is a very good platform and does digital distribution a lot better than PSN. A lot of people on this site say console gaming is easier but with steam I press one button and the latest version of my game is downloaded straight to where it needs to be meaning I do not have to install or patch the game and at about 6MB/s. The PSN servers have never reached these speeds for me.

[OcelotRigz]

I dont know if a community can be labeled, like i dont think you can say "The PSN is full of retards" or "Live is full of kids", things like that because it all comes down to personal experience. If i play on Steam, have a great time, then play on PSN and have a terrible time, naturally im going to think that Steam has a great community and PS doesn't.
Every community has its fair share of retards and nice guys, its just chance to which ones to meet the most.

I do agree with your specific gripes though, Bronies is just a typical example of people just hopping into whatever cool flock it is to be in at the time, no matter how stupid. Everyone knows what its like when something like this starts in a small town where something like a phrase becomes popular for a while. I remember when everyone in my town said nesh to everything, but jesus christ, these guys call themselves Bronies!!

I dont mind the offensive people, sometimes its funny how other people get so caught up in it, trying to get the better of these people who you cant because their whole point is to annoy people.

These serious "pro" gamers that have the "elite" mindset and talk down to guys, yeah they annoy me. Like you said, gaming is for fun, its a distraction from everyday life, a type of escapism, then you have these guys that break the immersion and defeat the whole purpose of gaming. With these i just turn into a complete bastard and try my best to annoy the shite out of them, which is usually very easy.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

I think you will find all communities are in general intolerable to each other. It goes much deeper than the gaming world. It starts small from hating CoD players, hating system users, religions vs each other and atheism, rich vs poor, the internet wrestling community vs john cena. I wouldn't put it down to the Steam community being messed up. I just think some communities are intolerable to others and that is just the way it is. I'm not even trying to say its a bad thing, either. I haven't come across many problems on Steam and I love using it, but it is by no means my primary source of gaming.

[JD_Shadow]

If you think the "pro" gamers on Steam are bad, you should see how it is on WoW. Good lord, every single time Blizz does the littlest thing to make things a tad more tolerable, you get every elitist out there whining about how they are ruining the game. You can't make one request to fix a bug or anything like that without someone thinking that everything should stay how it is, or that the game is "too easy" now (it never was; Blizz just learned that leaving a lot of bugs, tediousness, and glitches in doesn't make a game challenging or hardcore).

And it's ridiculous of what they want removed, too. It's a laundry list of things that, if they were actually removed, they would bitch that it wasn't in the game anymore.

Of course, most of them are just trolling the fanbase, but really, it's become way too easy to troll and never take responsibility for what is said. Too many do it.

As for Bronies, I never saw the appeal, actually. But then again, I'm not going to insult people for their likes and dislikes. There are games, music, shows, and movies that I like that you might see as "gay" or something like that. Shouldn't really insult people if they like something you venomously dislike. Of course, extremists are in every fandom, so you just have to take it how it comes, but just simply liking a show or movie or whatever doesn't make you any less of a person, I think.

[rainslacker]

Oh hell, on WOW if you make one little mistake in a pick-up-raid, you can get bitched at and thrown out in a heartbeat, even if it isn't a wiping mistake. I was primarily a tank, and God forbid I miss something in my rotation, or not do something to save the raid leaders dumb ass when he screwed up. Seems like a lot of people that play that game think they're leet, when they really aren't. I knew I was really good at my class, but not infallible, and I generally didn't get upset over stupid mistakes others made. I even spent time with people that I thought were trying to get better, but I wasn't really the norm.

As to their forums, yeah they have some of the whiniest people I've ever seen. Unfortunately with the last expansion they were pretty spot on with how casualized the whole game had become. Although now I hear it's more a grind fest for end game and people complain, whereas with the last expansion they complained how easy it was for people to get ready for end game. So it's a no win situation.

[Megaton]

I think it's because it's PC, so internet culture is more prevalent on Steam. That explains the Bronies and the offenders, anyway. Human ego explains the "pro gamers", and you find that crap everywhere.

[Rage_S90]

So few words, and yet so eloquent and to the point.

[SilentNegotiator]

Some of the L4D2 elitists...lol. I was playing public and died once as a boomer (a tight spot where I could either die, and maybe hit one or two players, or wait ahead and waste time not spawning as something useful) and this gal (a grown woman, no less, going by the voice) calls me a "noob" and points out that I had "only" played 50 hours. And I will note that I didn't respond. I wasn't acting belligerent or anything, just rolled my eyes and went to surveying the players. And then she initiates a kick and her friends accepted it....I don't mind being kicked, but the rudeness of the entire sequence was a real nose wrinkler.

Not an uncommon experience, either. I do more than hold my own in L4D2 and there's lots of 3 person groups (IDK why it's always 3, but it seems to be) like that (often a girl and two male friends, too). Room for 0.0% error, say ridiculous, rude things and then kick you in one death.

I think a lot of the problem with Steam is that being on the PC, people will still be in that "arguing on the internet" mode.

I haven't played a lot of games online in recent years. I enjoy a game that feels like an adventure over a short, potentially problematic (lag, people, etc) romp.

[Imikida]

Ya, the same thing always happens to me. Those experiences made me want to write this. I'm a decent player, but when you're playing with the left 4 dead community they want perfection. It really pushes me completely away from the game.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

According to this post, you hate console communities too, because they're filled with equal amounts of 12 year olds who attempt to offend you and curse at your face, bronies (yes, they're on consoles too) and pro MLG gamers (Where the hell do you think the OMG 360 NO SCOPE 1337 crap started?)

[Imikida]

You have a point, I never said people like this aren't on consoles too. However, unless you're playing call of duty most people on PS3 are friendly. I don't play on xbox but I would guess it's the same way. On the other hand, annoying people are all over steam. Mostly because the majority of the steam community consists of the people I just described. What I'm trying to say is Steam has arguably more of the people I described in it then the console communities

Reply To Comment Bellow: I think we must play with different crowds of steam and PSN. Because I've had my PS3 for around the same time as you, and I met a lot of nice people. Ya games like Call Of Duty and Battlefield have assholes. But other games like GTA Starhawk, LBP, and Mortal Kombat have a competitive but nice community. As for steam, I haven't been playing for awhile but I have about 50 hours on L4D and Team Fortress and I have been dealing with nasty people ever since I started.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

I'll respond real quick so you have a chance to edit it if you wish to continue the discussion. You honestly must not game online too much if you think that most people on Ps3 are friendly. I've had my Ps3 since 2006/7 and have met a plethora of assholes on the PS3 in a variety of games I've played.

Everything you're describing is in a sense the same as someone who went to the carnival, got treated badly by a dick carnie and then thinks all carnivals are shit. What I'm trying to say is that what you're trying to say is not right.

[ExCest]

I kind of like PC culture in general. The tend to like to throw jokes and troll idiots (which is funny because idiots will be idiots). I only find @sshats in gaming when I play or watch competitive games. I don't even know what the PSN community is like because NO ONE HAS A MIC!

[alexanderburns]

Some guy posted a link to this in my vision; I did this for fun:
>first line - misused comma
>"Ya" is not a word
>started a sentence with "but"
>another misused comma in the first paragraph
>misused comma in the first line of the second paragraph
>quotation mark fail in second paragraph
>misused comma - first line, paragraph 3
>Should be a comma before and after "hey"
>another out of place "but"
>misused comma - paragraph , line 4
>"they annoy more than the..."
> misused comma - paragraph 4, line 2
>2 misused commas - paragraph 4, line 3
>"yea" isn't a word
>punctuation fail - paragraph 4, line 5
>misused comma - paragraph 4, line 6
>"Playing on Left 4 Dead 2 versus" - misused comma right after that too
>misused comma next line - another misused comma right after that
> "So" should be "So,"
>Fail punctuation after that
>misused comma last line of that paragraph
>misused comma - Last paragraph, first line
>"a big majority" - That's what I call a retard statement
>misused comma - last paragraph- second line
>"That is just my thoughts on the subject"

Verdict: Learn how to use a comma, learn how to write, keep your thoughts in your head so that nobody will know that you're this stupid, and deal with it. I recommend putting down the controller and picking up a book.

[Virtual_Reality]

Bronies are in Battlefield 3 all over the place.

[OcelotRigz]

Yeah, when i was playing BF3, everytime i went on to battlelog it was full of those brony guys, all with their stupid avatars. They almost ruined every conversation with their crap.
That game seems to attract a lot of them for whatever reason.

[TheBungee]

The dumbest rant ever

[RAYMEISTER]

You must be bored.

[Tr10wn]

This rant is stupid also why you prefer the Playstation community? in the same thing there only difference is well its a console its made for casual gaming and most of the games in the PS3 are made for casual gamers and are singleplayer or casual multiplayer but any game that require team effort to win will be like this, it happen in MAG which was probably the only team oriented MP game in PS3 and still happens in games like Halo and GoW, in LoL "League of Legends" you can notice the pro attitude more than any other game but i agree with them, if you suck you shouldn't be playing a game that takes an average of 20 to 30 mins to finish and requires 10 peoples to play you are just wasting everyone's time, instead of ranting you should be trying to learn the game you are playing