Joker: LEEEEROY JENKINS!!!
Third and Five Games
This week I’ll be examining the Joker; not the iconic
villain from Batman fame, but the type of gamer that simply plays for the fun
of it. This is usually the most social gamer, as he or she simply plays for the
laughs and social experiences of gaming. Some more serious gamers will get
annoyed when confronted with the joker, if for no other reason than the joker
cares not for competition or how well they do. They sometimes have more fun
finding glitches so dragons are flying upside down (a la Skyrim) than pwning
n00bs in Call of Duty: Modern Black Ops (or whatever they are on now).
Some gamers may dislike this one, unless they have one in
their party constantly. He doesn’t take your chosen medium for domination or
exploration seriously. He thinks it’s nothing more than a game. In this case he
can be the most self aware gamer, because at the end of the day, he’s right. It
is just a game. He’ll play because he legitimately enjoys the experience of
video games, not to destroy all of his ‘friends’ or get that extra .04% of a
game that you couldn’t reach…and then hold it over your head forever. He seldom
plays single player games though. These games hold no interest to him; as they
are experiences he can only have alone, without an audience. What clown loves
performing without an audience? To an
extent, he actually needs that audience to play video games and enjoy this
outlet so many have for vastly different reasons.
There’s always at least one joker in every group of friends.
These dudes are always hilarious and will point out every absurdity they come
across while traversing the gamescape. A lot of gamers, such as the competitor
or the explorer, have some traits present in the joker archetype, but these
usually come across as being snarky or witty. Very seldom do these other gamers
play just for the enjoyment of the game, like the joker does. I know that I
have at least one joker in my group, aside from myself of course. He’s the guy
that picks the character who has no business leading any charges ever, and decides
to go in guns blazing…only to get turned into a slightly human version of swiss
cheese. He constantly does this because he enjoys the game, and enjoys making
the people he plays with laugh..and trust me, we do laugh. We really do. Sometimes
I take over the role of the joker when we play too. It’s more fun to enjoy the
game socially if you have very little or nothing invested in the outcome.
In Gears 3, I don’t
play to win; I usually don’t play multiplayer games to win, I play to enjoy the
dudes company I’m gaming with. If the situation requires (and I use the word
loosely) someone to jump on a mine, screaming about being avenged or any other
stock one liners everyone has. I’m the guy willing to. I chose Gears 3 because
I’m more or less terrible at it. I enjoy it and always have, but I’m no good at
beating it on my own. The dude who usually takes the joker role, however, is
much more skilled than I am, so I let him have his glory. Everyone needs a win
once in a while, right?
Also, is it too late
for a Leroy Jenkins reference, I think not.
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