I love videogames. I plan on working in that field as a content writer, so I also have a passion for them. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding as far as their impact goes. The characters I play jump on monsters’ heads to kill them, use futuristic guns to shoot creatures from another planet or use whatever means necessary to kill all the “bad guys” in the game. I don’t go outside and try to kill everything in my path because I want to. I am intelligent enough to understand what’s real and what isn’t, as most people are who play videogames.

Unfortunately, there is a negative effect from videogames, but it is not the game itself. When playing a single-player game, there could be frustrating parts that make the player angry or there could be a boss battle that the player finally beats and are happy when he/she kill him with his/her sword as a final blow. Single-player games are not the things that cause real-life problems. At that point, it comes from an internal struggle that was there before the person even started playing the videogame.

The problem exists when it comes to competitive online games and it has nothing to do with the creators of those games. Like social media, there is a screen and sometimes hundreds of miles separating two people playing the same game which is amazing. However, because of this separation, there is not much consequence to be mean and angry to somebody for no reason or for, again, an internal issue.

There are many popular games today that have online multiplayer access such as "Counter Strike," League of Legends, Fortnite, Dota 2, Overwatch, and Rocket League, just to name some. Also, most of these games have a competitive scene, in the same vein as sports like football and basketball. This access to play with other people to define worth by skill creates a sense of entitlement when you are a better player. The problem exists when people who are not good believe they are good and create entitlement by their selves. The only way for them to achieve a fake higher status is by putting others down.

It is very rare for people to put blame on themselves in these types of games when they are the problem. There is insecurity that exists, and it is mixed with lack of skill. This creates a problem. I consider myself an okay player, better than some, worse than some in a few competitive games but I prefer co-op or single player games. I’ve been called several names that I don’t think I can say here for obvious reasons. I am not personally affected by it, but I know that many people can be when involving racism, sexism, and homophobia, which can be very prevalent in these competitive games.

This is not to remove the fun that those types of games provide. It’s just to say that videogame players should be careful when playing those types of games and understand offensive and rude language is never actually a personal attack. Those players are just insecure about their skill and have decided the best way to face this insecurity is attacking someone they cannot see. You can’t change their minds in that game time, so the best way to feel good is to focus on oneself and one’s own playstyle and try not to listen to someone telling you if you’re bad, especially if you’re winning. Fortunately, there is also the ability to mute those players during the game, so you never have to talk to them, but I see no reason that a respectable player should have to suffer due to another player’s problems.

There has been some talk recently about how violent videogames seem to be the cause of problems when it is concerning young people in bad situations. This talk has come up almost everytime and every time it's actually not the problem. The person's problem seems to be some sort of internal struggle that can be seen when they play competitive videogames and how they react to losing.

Multiplayer videogames, like social media, are just easy access for people who are already rude and angry to get their point across. Just because there are people on Facebook who react to posts negatively and use offensive language, it doesn't mean we close down Facebook, we just ban that person. The same can be applied to videogames.