The Etiquette Of Interactive Games

Imagine that you were asked to play football for your country in an important international match that was being televised to a global audience and as the referee blew his whistle to begin the game, you admitted to your captain, that you did not understand the rules of football, in fact that you had never played football before, but that you had played pool a few times.

How do you imagine that you, your captain, your team mates and the whole viewing audience would feel? Mortified, annoyed, upset, let down? This is how a lot of novices (newbies) think about going into a colossal, online, interactive multi-player game like 'Dungeons and Dragons' for the first time. They are concerned that they will spoil the game for everybody else.

And it is a valid point, but everybody in that game was a newbie once and there are steps you could take to learn a few tips before you start playing. The very first thing to do, is find the game that you want to play and read the manual.

And then read it again and again. The game you opt fo may also have a practice area, where you won't upset the skilled players.

If you see the letters RTFM after you have asked a question of someone, you will know that you did not read the (effing) manual thoroughly enough and that it is time to read it again.

You can also join forums to do with the game in question. Frequently there is a forum attached to the game itself. Players are far more friendly and will be far more indulgent in the forum than in the game.

Believe me, the Wizard of Daz would rather get asked where the bathroom is whilst he is in the forum than when he is battling his archenemy!

You also need to acquaint yourself with the controls of the game. There will be shortcut keys for items like inventory, spells, weaponry, jump, cast a spell, turn left etc etc., so learn them until they become second nature. Again, it is very tedious if each time someone meets you in a game, you ask: "Excuse me, but how do I ....".

Don't be amazed if players start shooting you on sight, if that is how you intend playing the game. Which brings us to another important point: it is just a game. You win some and you lose some and like chess or checkers, if you lose, you just reset the game and start again. Don't let your death become boring if it is unavoidable. Resign yourself to your fate, fall on your sword and start again.

The last essential for a immense online multi-player interactive gaming experience is a fast Net connection and a moderately new computer although the connection speed is the more important.

Fellow players are not going to wait for your arrow to kill them as it leaps from your bow and hurtles across the screen towards them at a snail's pace - they will just side

step it, walk across to you and put you out of their misery with a sword before your arrow gets to where they had been.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is at present involved with Mortal Kombat Quotes. If you have an interest in gaming, please visit our web site now at Mortal Kombat 4.