There come times when gaming can cause frustration, both with AAA titles and games from independent developers. That much is understandable – all things in life can be frustrating, even good things. But “game rage” is not a good thing; it’s very real, and it’s really destructive. Whether it’s the multiplayer portion of the game or the single player, it happens. At Family Gamer Review our best efforts are made to give honest reviews and help you make purchases that won’t lead to gamer rage, but everyone buys a bad title now and then. As both a gamer and a parent of gamers, I believe we must know and be able to see some of the warning signs of “gamer frustration” or “gamer rage” in our gamers and even in ourselves, and know what to do. Some may joke about gamers getting frustrated or raging at the game – just search “game rage” on Youtube.com and see the videos. This type of rage can cause a lot of problems from academic performance to family conflict, and even violence. It affects a gamer personally and socially. Studies have shown that if we are not able to control our rage or anger that it will at time manifest itself to our daily lives. With games being more online and interaction with strangers more frequent, it’s inevitable that you will, at some point, run into that gamer that does not play by the rules, or just is trolling others. When this happens, as a parent or even a gamer what do you do? Leave the game to get away from the antagonist or cheater? Join another game? Play something else? What about those other titles that just have a glitch in the game that is preventing you for continuing? Take it from me, some elements (and other players) in gaming can cause rage and frustration, but seeing the warning signs of rage and knowing what steps to take to fix this will make life easier and a better balance of life/gaming.
Here are some things that you can do to stop raging.
1. Stop Playing The Game…
Sometimes easier said than done, but there should be a time in which you should ask yourself, “it this worth me getting upset over?” They will be times in which a multiplayer game will upset you or a single player game will get on your nerves, but it is better to just walk away and play the game later. For parents that are noticing that their children are getting rage, it is best to have them turn off the game, wait 10-15 minutes and then either have them play another game or allow them to understand that raging is not the answer to a bad game/match.
2. Have Another Title Available To Play AKA “Non Stress Game”
When a game gets to raging, sometimes having a “Plan B” game to go to is a great alternative. In our day and age, most gamers have a library of games that they can choose from – just for this purpose! Having a relaxing game on standby is a great way to get out of game rage fast. Parents, when coming to a “Plan B” game, be sure to choose something that is fun for younger gamers that you too can play with them to calm them down. Take it from us, it is a big help when you talk to your younger gamers about their anger. Remind them that the digital world they’re angry over is just a game, no matter how personal the rage trigger was.
3. Take A Break
Games can get hard, frustrating, very challenging, and daunting. At times when you or your gamer is playing the game too much, taking a break will be the best thing for them to avoid getting burned out or to upset with the game. At times, as gamers, we can get entrenched into a game, its story or especially its multiplayer mode with other players online. To fight against fatigue and rage, sometimes it is better to just take a break from the game. This also allows the gamer to come back to the game with a fresher approach to the game and what it offers. There’s often one gamer or group of gamers that causes the rage; a short break can ensure you won’t meet them online when you return.
4. Find a Different Multiplayer Mode
In the multiplayer modes for some games, especially those AAA titles with big marketing budgets, there are bound to be cheaters or just more aggressive players that play in your match. Sometimes they can be profane, offensive or downright bullyish. When this happens and you can’t enjoy that game mode, it is time to find another. Take it from me, when a team deathmatch on Titanfall gets too crazy and people start to cheat or get to aggressive, that is when I look for another game type – like “capture the flag” or “defend the base”. You never know, you may find another game mode that you like even more!
5. Wait For A Patch To Fix The Game
Having a big marketing budget doesn’t always mean a game was well-executed or that it was quality-tested before released. When games come out, there are often patches or updates to fix bugs and other issues that the developer did not see during development, or something with the game that came up after release. This also applies to multiplayer games, as the patches/updates are designed to fix things that cause imbalances in the game. When it happens to your game, but the patch/update hasn’t been released to fix the issue yet, it can cause rage. This is just a growing pain but it can become a raging issue, especially for games that have a large multiplayer following and the issue goes unfixed for months or more. The best thing to do to avoid raging is to wait for a patch to fix an issue in the game, or find out when the developer is going to fix it. Go online and tell the developer (they’re easy to find on social media) the problem! Sometimes the developer may not get to it right away but raging at a game that you know is broken in one way, shape or form is not going to help. Broken code is a lot more common in today’s gaming industry because the games have becomes so much more advanced… but when you see a younger gamer in your family getting mad at a portion of the game, it can be just bad coding that needs to be fixed. Your gamer may be raging because he or she thinks it’s their fault that they can’t pass a certain point in the game. Again, it’s best to contact the developer and let them know about this as they may only find out about these problems when the players speak up about them.
All in all, the idea is to get the gamer away from the game that’s causing the rage. If it’s not game-specific, and you have a gamer in your family who’s raging at all games, we do suggest getting help starting with your family doctor. That may sound extreme, but we’ve seen gamers rage so badly that they’ve destroyed entire rooms and beyond. Again, look up “game rage” on YouTube and you’ll see how detrimental gamer rage can get. If you must, limit your gamer to a library only of games you know to be calm. The gamer can still game, but without the rage – which never has a happy ending.
Let us know what you think or what you like to do to stop game rage with the hashtag #gameragefgr
