I have a major issue with online gaming in general. It can be either an extremely enjoyable experience or it could be the worst thing in the world. Which one is largely decided by the people you end up getting matched with.
Since about November of last year I have admittedly been a Halo 2 addict. I have always liked video games, but never really found time to play them since I got married in 2001. Halo 2 changed that. I bought an Xbox just because of that game....well to get back to the point of my blog. Playing Halo 2 online is something I do. Not every day, but probably at least once a week I carve out an hour or two....or three to get online with some buddies and battle rifle the heck out of the competition. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose. We usually have fun. Nothing kills the fun more than a 10 year old kid repeatedly dropping the f bomb, another player guessing my sexual preference, or any number of other things that come through my Xbox communicator during a game. I hate it. If it wasn't for the need to discuss strategy with teammates, I wouldn't wear the headset at all. I have heard more inappropriate things in the past year on Xbox Live than I have in my entire lifetime. It's like people try to come up with the most annoying or offensive things, and save it all for online gaming. They talk about your mom, your girlfriend, your dog. They can say whatever they want knowing you can't do any about it. An Xbox controller and the ability to "no scope" someone ( for all of you who don't play Halo online that means you kill someone with a sniper rifle without zooming in with your scope) gives these pre-teen gamers the stones to say just about anything. Now I don't mind a little trash talking, or a slipped obscenity here and there, that's all part of competition, but when you have someone singing Jingle Bells throughout the entire game or giving a play by play of each and every kill they got, that is just pointless.

Now about the Star Wars gamertag. A gamertag is the name you go by whenever you play an Xbox game online. Once you pick it you are stuck with it unless you start a new account. My first gamertag was plain and boring and I regretted it the day after I put it in. Soon after, I bought my little brother a subscription to Xbox Live and talked him into the gamertag "master yoda 23" Being the huge Star Wars fan that I am, I was very jealous of his tag. Then my friend got online and took the name "Mastr Skywalker." I remember a few weeks after he started playing under that name we had a conversation. He hated having that name because he constantly got made fun of. He advised me to not take a "star wars" name in the future. I didn't really take it seriously, and eventually took over my brother's account. Now armed with my new "master yoda 23" tag, I was ready to take on the Halo world with all of my Star Wars pride. Oh boy was my friend right. It's like as soon as people see Yoda or Skywalker they focus on you. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "use the Force, Yoda" I would be rich. People go into bad Yoda impressions, or just tell me how much of a loser I am for having a Star Wars name. My friend even had a guy tell him his "Mastr Skywalker" name was incorrect, because neither Anakin nor Luke became a Master. Well, we all know Luke becomes a Master (well at least those of us who follow the EU) but try explaining that without opening up your self to all kinds of grief. Why can't they just play the game? I don't make fun of their gamertags, and believe you can do a lot worse than a star wars name. If only the world of online gaming were perfect. There would be the occasional comment like "good shot" or "nice game" or "that is a real cool gamertag, I love Yoda"

My account ends in March, and I plan on getting a new name. How about "Master Vos." Nobody knows who that is.


Aa-Ron Jinn
www.JediDirectory.com