Sportsmanship In Online Video Games

This is a response to someone on Reddit who was bragging about how he or she could farm in-game currency by being AFK during online battles.


This got me to thinking. What is good sportsmanship? Is it just the absence of bad behavior? No. It is also the presence of good behavior. Playing the game it was meant to be played is good sportsmanship. Trying to win is good sportsmanship. Passively going AFK and farming coins is not good sportsmanship. Even though you're not actively trying to ruin someone else's experience. You are still accomplishing it passively.

Think about sports. The Brooklyn Nets had the worst record in the NBA and the Golden State Warriors had the best. What if the Brooklyn Nets didn't even try to win and just let Golden State win? That would be bad sportsmanship. It would be bad for the fans that went to watch the game, the fans watching at home, and look bad on the entire Brooklyn Nets organization.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Bad sportsmanship in online video games is especially dangerous because it is infectious and there is zero accountability.

Think about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When the game first came out, people actually played the game the right way. They played to win, and they didn't gang up on people. A while afterwards, however, things like Taunt Parties emerged where three players would gang up on one. The victim would leave the lobby, the three assailants would remain, and feast on the next incoming victim. Now, these things still exist in Smash 4 if you play FFA For Fun.

I have a dream that one day this gaming-community will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: “Above all, video games are meant to just be one thing: Fun for everyone.”

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