SNWZY3's CoDBlog #4

Topic: "The Selfish Gene"

This blog is going to be about playing with only yourself in mind and how this can negatively attribute to your team not being half as successful as they could be.

We are all guilty
As already mentioned in the introduction, we are all guilty of being selfish at times, whether it be leaving the player at B to fend for himself whilst you strap your strafe cap on to get to A site and deal with all 5 villains alone and unassisted, or pinching the last chocolate biscuit from the cookie jar.

It does seem to be an ever-increasing phenomenon in this rather small and pokey community we call home. The blog's intention is not necessarily saying get rid of it entirely, but to merely develop it. Everyone has some selfishness inside, its part of being human for Christ's sake. We need to tame that "Me, me, me" selfishness into a prioritised list of tasks to accomplish whilst satisfying your own personal desires. This commonly requires patience, if you can sit through this blog, you have the willing to be able to try change your ways...



The Desire of Fame
So, you watch some generic dribble of a televised talent show and see someone rise from no one to front-page glossy mag celeb in a matter of weeks, why can't that be you? Stunning reality is, it more than likely, won't be you. To believe you are the best straight off the bat is both naïve and ludicrous. That's not to say having the ambition to achieve that is a bad thing, quite the opposite.

Playing as part of a team, which I'm sure many of you will be doing at the minute, is the best way forward. You have 4 other individuals who all want the same goal. To reach the large flashy lights of a European LAN final, centre stage supported by fly honeys bringing you sandwiches at half time. Now, that won't all come by you running round thinking your going to do it all for your team.

Getting a team ace is an achievement, but don't expect it every round. Play "your role" for "your team". If you, want to go far in this particular game, you have to do it as part of a team. If you are a great player, you will be noticed for it, trying to overstretch yourself makes you look desperate and will normally result in failure (notice the amount of times I said you, these are things for YOU and your self ambition.)

Whilst in this topic, I would like to add that thinking you are the best and playing selfishly are two completely different things.





"It's hard to get people to overcome the thought that they have to take care of themselves first. It's hard to get players to give in to the group and become selfless as opposed to selfish." Isaiah Thomas





The Effects – Personally
So, lets take a good look at how this grinds it's way into your game, we have already established that propping up mediocre play by being the last man doesn't make you a good player but can feed into your ego nicely. So why then, do we blame our team, rather than ourselves? According the psychologist Sigmund Freud, this would be your "id" kicking into gear, your selfish personality that looks only to feed itself so to speak. This has a massive control and is normally kept under wraps in your thought process. (According to Freud.)

So we need to let loose on the Super-ego, otherwise known as your 'conscience'. Allowing you to think of the bigger picture, so, watching your teammates into certain areas, smoking for them, providing cover etc.

Although those are the two ends of the spectrum, you have the compiled answer through your 'ego' basically your actual actions. So, to summarise:

• Id – I'm in this to make myself look amazing
• Superego – I don't really mind if I die if the team wins the round
• Ego – I don't want to die but I want to win.

Basically, too much "id" is a bad thing.

The Effects – Team play
Now according to Jiminy Cricket, we should always let our conscience be our guide. So lets put this into perspective. Team pushes A, scope goes B to "Cover the cross", scope knows there is one B shop, scope sits and watches B shop for 45 seconds. Now, as dumb as that sounds, I have, and I'm damn sure you have seen stupid elements like that. Anyway, moral of the story, team gets massacred in A whilst the scope in question gets an uber sick wallbang through B shop followed by a "lololol" to disgruntled teammates. Classic example of selfish play, but can be applied to any class (so stop feeling so hard done to.)

What should have happened, Team goes A, scope goes to B, "watching cross" scope knows there is one in B shop, plays wearily around that area and continues focus on the cross until team have A site on lockdown. Then shifts focus to personal objectives, i.e getting an uber sick wallbang through B shop followed by a "lololol" to which your teammates can join in as you bask in the glory of a splendid job well done.

The Effects – The Community
Now, you may think this is a bit drastic, but... No, think about it. Either the team has folded due to "Loss of motivation" or you have been kicked, they may not give very many reasons as to why the usual "oh it just didn't work", "the chemistry." Being the ideal choices, that, is not what you wanted to hear. Personally, if I was playing selfishly I would rather hear, "you know what, you where a selfish and ignorant player, you had no concern for the team, and we do not want to play with you anymore... Dickhead." It may sound harsh but, they are nonetheless truthful words.

So, time to find another team, then another team, then another team. You slowly but surely, find yourself with a brand. It's a tough job to get rid of, but before you can even begin to think about changing that, you need to be able to SEE yourself do it. Catch yourself mid round and then change it for the better of the team (or mix). Even count how long you are staring at an empty space or sat in one position. Shake off that dreary selfish robe and move with your team. To keep your name in the communities rather dwindling good books.

The Signs
So, I have described the selfish gamer detail but you need to be able to identify the signs. If you are a vocal team leader, get them told. If you notice yourself doing it, for heaven's mercy at least try stop it.

So... summarised:
• Consistently the last one alive
o Normally in a ridiculous spot covering sweet FA
• Caught staring at walls
o Any time now....
• Opposite side to where the team is pushing
o By this I mean, not covering, you might also hear the generic "I've got the back" when you could quite easily cover a much wider area somewhere closer to the bomb that was planted 30 seconds ago.
• Hears calls but doesn't act on them
o "When did he get there!?"

So yeah, I know, it's hard to admit that you do play selfishly from time to time, lets be honest, you have killed 4 people from their team, that's fair enough go for the ace. Running around like a dipshit attempting to "pop heads" is not what it's about.

I want a cookie now.

SNWZY3~

Edited 3 times, last edited 24/9/11 - 6:46pm.

Again, nice read. Got many good points there

Nice blogs man, keep it up