Nov 5, 2009

Valve thinks Brits don’t talk?

Categories: Industry News |Microsoft |PC / Mac |Sony

Tags: Chet Faliszek | left4dead2 | Valve

As I was surfing the web for my morning gaming news, not only did I feel like an old man opening the daily paper but I also ran into an interesting quote over at Destructiod.com. They have Chet Faliszek (pictured above) from Left 4 Dead 2 going on record with a statement that was a little perturbing. The Valve writer says, in a nutshell, that Brits don’t communicate when playing online. The distressing part to me is not that Brits may not be shouting at one another online but rather the fact that someone else seems to think that this is a bad thing.

This is what he had to say:

“One thing I wanted to add before I go for you Brits: communicate. Don’t be scared of a microphone. You guys are notorious non-talkers on both 360 and PC. Americans are just chattering away, working together as a team. If you want to work together as a team you’ve got to talk!”

“You can go into a random 360 game on US servers and it’s crazy talk. It’s fun. I think a lot of people knock that community but again and again I’m surprised by how fun that is. I’ve played expert campaigns where by the end of it we’re best buddies. Realism mode will prod you — you have to talk. If you don’t talk you’re not going to make it. Instead of being harder, Realism’s actually more challenging as a team because you have to communicate. When a Smoker pulls you off somewhere you’ve got to yell because nobody can see where you are.

“The first time you see people play somebody will go in a house to get some stuff, turn around a be like ‘shit, I can’t see anybody’. It’s a scary feeling. We’ll see if that maybe stimulate the British sternness.”

All I can say is ‘WOW’. This is like that one alcoholic buddy of yours that always tries to get you to drink with him. No matter how many times you tell him ‘no’ he is always pushing a drink in your face. Insistent to the point of it downright pissing you off.

I, a citizen of the United States of America, do not prefer to speak online. I don’t see any harm in speaking online, but it just isn’t for me. I understand that some games will require me to do so and I will oblige this or just stay off those servers all together. With that said, every time I go online I got some jerk off screaming obscurities from the other end and this is enough to completely turn me off. Most times it doesn’t feel like communication at all, rather mindless obscenities and childish behavior.

Now in this gentleman’s defense I will say that he probably meant this with all due respect. I’m sure this was intended to be a playful nudge in hopes to spark some interest or response. How does it make you guys feel? Is this just one more thing to pile onto the things you don’t like about Left4Dead2 or does it not bother you in the least? Let us know.

2 Responses to “Valve thinks Brits don’t talk?”

Fips Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
He probably does have a point in that the average Brit is less likely to open up to a total stranger than the average American. That goes as much for the online world as the real one. It’s simply a factor of our societies, norms, even our genes.

But I think you’re right that it’s a pretty big generalisation to say that Brits are silent gamers! I’m not really the best judge, having only played L4D with others I know (and therefore on comms), but for my experience of other games there appear to be plenty of Brits out there willing to fire their inane commentary out into the void. Just perhaps not as many as on the other side of the Pond!
Neil Atkinson Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
From personal experience, we Brits derive much more enjoyment out of sitting quietly while playing online.

That’s not because we’re inherently boring (I hope), but because we’re just having too much fun sniggering at the crazy, shouting Americans and how they’re often taking the game too seriously.