COUNTER-STRIKE: GRAB A WEAPON, THERE IS WORK TO DO Intro Never before has a multiplayer game blended all elements of true competition and sweat-soaked shirt anxiety as well as Counter- Strike. Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game which is based on a team of counter terrorists against a team of terrorists battling in series of rounds, with rounds lasting four or five minutes, won by either completing a mission objective or eliminating the opposite force. Counter-Strike grew from a fun diversion into a way of life, creating rhetorical communities that include gamers and people seeking non-stop action in street style combat. Counter-Strike reveals a fantasy theme that revolves around terrorism and counter-terrorism. Most certainly, this fantasy theme is a part of the fantasy type that argues Good vs.
Evil. In this paper, I will thoroughly describe Counter-Strike and identify the rhetorical communities that utilize the fantasy theme connecting it to similar fantasy themes or fantasy types. I will also be including or referring to only one map called “ Mansion” as the setting, since I am really familiar with it. Description Counter-Strike, better known as CS, puts the player in a role of either a terrorist attempting to hold hostages, blow up land marks, or assassinate a VIP or a counter-terrorist agent trying to thwart the terrorist. To play, each player must connect to a server; when two or more players join the same server a game begins.
A player can choose to play as one of the eight different default character models, four for each side. All counter-strike games are played on a preloaded map, with each map having its own set of victory objectives. While some maps borrow from popular culture imagery, others borrow from more generic setting; such as villages, desert compounds, high rises, factories and offices. Each map generates a game play that neither side has an unfair advantage, persisting strategy and tactics in order to win.
As mentioned before, the map or “ setting” will be the “ mansion”, where the objective is having the counter-terrorists attempting to rescue a set of hostage from close to where the terrorists start. Briefly, the map includes a huge two-level mansion with a front yard and a gate to a street parallel to the mansion. There is also a sewer stretching from the street to the back of the mansion. The map has a lot of strategic hole and spots that can help both teams accomplish victory. Typically each map is played several time, with each time being called a round lasting several minutes. Each round ends either when the victory objectives are met, in this case, rescuing the hostages, times runs out, or when one team has been totally eliminated.
At the start of each round both sides are allowed to buy weapons and ammunition with the money they earned from previous rounds. Players are generally given few seconds before the round begins, known as the freeze time, to prepare and buy equipment. The better a team did in the previous round, the more money they have to spend. Nevertheless, surviving players retain their equipment for use in the next round. Standard monetary bonuses are awarded for various actions during the round. Once each team is equipped, they attempt to completely wipe out the other team or complete the objective, although the former outcome ends far more rounds than the latter.
One of the most interesting features of the game is that killed players become ghosts for the duration of the round. Known as the spectator mode, killed player are able to watch the rest of the round from a multiple selectable views proven valuable in the information shared about the living players. Counter strike remains extremely popular to this day, and gamers are attracted to the different components present in the game. CS is an action lover’s dream; it is the perfect mix between fast action and realistic damage.
You can’t just absorb bullet after bullet and expect to walk away; one shot to the head can mean instant death. In addition, the gun models are some of the most realistic looking of any shooter game available. Also, the environment textures look realistic enough and complement the provided camouflage well enough for you to be hidden, but not be invisible. As in real life, CS captures all aspects of a real combat from the distinguishable differences between good guy and bad gay to the realistic gun sounds. It is the team-based tactics that makes it so appealing to wide range of people in different culture. Working as a team is a must and taking the lone wolf approach will often get you killed instantly.
Teams must come up with different offensive and defensive strategies based on the situation and the environment present. This is one of the most appealing portions of the game that creates a fantastic balance that keeps gamers and players coming back for more. Symbolic Cues CS is famous for its own culture created by players associated with the game. The team element is an important aspect of the game that creates and unifies a language understood by the rhetorical community surrounding it. Relatively, this could only increase the number of symbolic cues shared among players. Counter-Strike communities have a wide range of terms that only members of a certain group belonging to the CS nation can identify and understand.
Excessive Play of CS would result in different situations and scenarios that vary from one time to other. Therefore, players turn to certain analogies and word codes to further simplify the situation on hand. Being a huge fan of the game and a member of CS community, certain terms and phrases could only make sense to the group I belong to known as “ the Bitar Network”. An example would include the code message “ clean up in the hole way” used by the group of gamers I play with and others around the world. An outsider would interpret this phrase at a surface level, not understanding the actions needed following this message. In the rhetorical community, Bitar network, this phrase would require a teammate to meet up in the hole way where a standoff is happening or going to happen.
Simply, the “ the Bitar Network” utilizes certain phrases and terms to further unify a language understood by all members of the group. In addition, more well-known terms used by the community of CS around the world are “ cover me” and “ fire in the hole” and many more; in addition, different strategies such as “ Conga line”, a style of infiltration. All these terms fall or act as few of the many symbolic cues present and impart of the CS nation. Counter-Strike culture is easily spotted and their symbolic cues are easily understood by the Counter-Strike community.
There is a ton of specialized lingo that goes on in the game. For example, you’ll see many variations of the word “ newbie”, usually composed of letters and numbers. At times, the shortened “ noob” might be “ n00b, and sometimes you’ll get the occasional “ newb” or “ nub”. All those lingos refer to the level the player is, whether he is a first time player or just not good enough. On the other hand, if you’re a good player, you’re considered to be “ elite”.
However, rarely will you see “ elite” rather you’ll see “ 1337”. The represents the letter “ L”, the 3’s represent e’s, and the 7 represents the letter “ T”. You would hear it as the word “ leet”. Likewise, if you lose, get shot, or if another players simply beats you badly, you just got “ owned” or “ 0wn3d”. Players like to exchange letters with numbers whenever possible. Moreover, sometimes players make up their own suffixes and words.
This kind of misspelling and new slang is what makes counter-strike so appealing to gamers. It is actually pretty easy to get the hang of after a while. For a first time player, this lingo language might be confusing, but after deciphering numbers into letters learning the language is easy to do. Let be clear regarding one thing; counter-strike isn’t the only game where counter-strike language exists and persists. Most online gamers run rampant or similar language to that of counter-strike culture.
However, counter-strike was one of the first online shooter games to utilize and some way invent the slang language adopted by millions of gamers around the world. Counter-strike culture and its language are starting to creep into everyday life. Nowadays, it may be seen in text messaging, chatting and even emails. Some gamers have difficult time seeing the line between what is acceptable online and what the social norms are in real life. For example, in academic essays students that belong to the Counter-Strike community in a way or other having been writing academic reports with sentences like “ I h8 wrk it sux.
” This translates into more work for teachers and students who may not be familiar with such lingo and will have tougher time comprehending longer more complicated words and sentences. In the game itself, this “ insider” language creates a sense of camaraderie among the counter-strike community or group. Of course, mastering this “ insider” language is necessary if a player wishes to be a member of a certain counterstrike clan. It will also mark a player an adept and experienced player. Therefore, mastery of this language along with strategic playing skills is a passport to recognition as an adept insider. One more aspect in counterstrike that can be identifies as symbolic cues that communicates among members of the counter-strike community is player’s name.
All counter-strike players shed the use of their given names, taking an online name. The generic name, “ player,” is given to every player when they begin. However, not changing or personalizing one’s online name is frowned upon by experienced game players, because it marks one as either inexperienced or as unwilling to be identified and therefore a suspect. Names are important symbolic markers, not just for what they communicate about a player’s intent, but for what they also communicate about a player’s perceived stats, interests, age and gender.
Generally, names communicate symbolically to all players on how one prefers to be perceived by another. This may seem odd or unnecessary to an outsider, but in counter-strike culture names are an important part of the “ insider” language that acts as reference to players. Rhetorical Community Counter-strike is well-known for the culture surrounding it and the number of communities dedicated and involved in the game. There are various kinds of group forms supporting counter-strike ranging from professional and amateur gamers to leagues and even televised events.
Certain professional teams have come to earn a living out of it, while other clans and community based groups neither lose nor earn money just involved in the fun part of the game. A counter-strike phenomenon includes leagues and tournaments that are held all over the world. The demographic that consume the game and impart of the communities it creates are most teenagers. The license that the game gives teenagers to experiment is part of CS’s attraction.
In other words, these teenagers feel that the game gives them an option of actively participating in some kind of fantasy role they could not do in real life, allowing them to play with their own feelings. It is an area that is bricked off from everyday life that teenagers can enter and leave at will. Almost all CS’ communities agree that the game offers a way to play with weapons we might be scared of in a safe way with a very few consequence. Certainly, this is not the case in some incidents occurring in the real world. In dramatic fashion, Counter-Strike has been linked to a wide range of disruptive behavior and certain massacres by the people that consume the game.
In similar fashion, CS has been the blame for almost every act of violence done by consumers of the game. In recent years, counter-strike has been linked to few mascaras including the Virginia-tech and NIU shootings. Since the perpetrators of such massacres were consumers and players of counter-strike, the assumption was made that the game creates a platform for players to rehearsal these types of mascaras making it proficient in doing this. On the other hand, CS has been helpful in enhancing counterterrorism. It has even been used by the Chinese government for tactical training.
They found the game very useful, since it is similar to their daily life practice. Featuring real life weapons and given its close resemblance to real life scenarios, CS enhanced the officers awareness in similar situations. In order to understand the rhetorical communities linked to Counter-Strike, we should consider the simple premise the game presents. But this uncomplicated premise masks a complex culture that shares same values and ideas tied to the CS’s fantasy theme. Counter-Strike is about much more than grim gunplay and racking up kills, the team aspect reveals a social side of the game with unique and different reasons for players for consuming the game. The rhetorical communities linked to Counter-Strike, at least the one I belong to; realize the magnetidute of the issue presented in the game.
They are all aware of the danger terrorism brings on our daily life. Therefore, by playing the game and living the fantasy world of Counter-Strike gives the players some self assurance that they can do something about the issue. On the other hand, the Brazilian community bands Counter-Strike and prohibits all uses and practices of the game. They share the idea that the game is a direct assault on their democratic and rightful state. Fantasy Themes Due to the natural elements and realistic features found in CS, it creates a fantasy theme that goes beyond the apparent perception on terrorism and anti-terrorism.
At a surface level, the game draws form a fantasy theme based on terrorism and anti-terrorism, employing dramatis personae, set of actions, and an actual setting. The personae presented in the game are the counter-terrorist force and the terrorists, engaging in different roles. More often, as CS’s communities utilize this fantasy theme, the hero will emerge as a counter-terrorist agent representing freedom and liberty. In contrast, the terrorist represent terror and fear, and are often portrayed as the villain. Counter-strike captures the real and actual actions that shape this fantasy theme. Detonating or defusing a bomb and killing or rescuing hostages are all actions that progress during the battle.
In large, actions may include eliminating the opposite force by any means. As for the setting, generic locations are used to be the platform for the confrontation between both sides. CS does a good job in rendering realistic locations giving the gamers a feel of the actual setting this fantasy theme may take place in. In this case, the map “ Mansion” duplicates the actions and setting present in real life.
The actions involved in the map, rescuing the kidnappers, connect to the rhetorical communities by providing them a chance o live the fantasy theme and reacting to the situation. Similarly, the mansion portrays daily life, giving the communities a sense of responsibility to act in order to preserve their values and beliefs. While some rhetorical communities relate to this fantasy theme, others see and go beyond the concept of terrorism. For some communities, it may seem that the game gives them the opportunity to retaliate against western culture and the values embedded in their communities. They see CS as a window to release their anger and rage against such culture in a peaceful way with fewer consequences. In recent history, terrorists have used violence to get their point across to the public.
This kind of fantasy theme justifies the violence acts in the game as necessary for the success of the cause. Their concept claims that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Since the game provide modern and technological weapons to the counter-terrorist force and more traditional street style weapons for the other side, some communities identify with the fantasy theme based on the gap between the super power nations, in other words civilized nations, and the third world countries. Most certain, whatever the fantasy theme that rhetorical communities identify with, they all fall into in a way or another to the fantasy type that dispute Good vs. Evil.
While in this theme the personae representing each side may vary from one community to other, the setting and the actions remain the same. Communities may identify or connect with this fantasy type on a daily basis. Communities find this fantasy theme appealing, since it stresses on camaraderie and team mentality among people to overcome evil in any situation present. SummaryCounter-Strike brings in realistic components into a first shooter game unheard of before, making it the most online played game ever. Real weapons, bullet sounds, and realistic damage all attractions associated with its popularity. Furthermore, since terrorism is a global issue dominating the agendas of almost every government in the free world, people are often linked in a way or other to the fantasy type that highlights Good vs.
Evil. Even though, people may have different opinions and outlooks regarding that matter, rest in sure they belong to the same fantasy type. Different croups and communities may live the game in different fantasy themes depending on their interpretation terrorism issues. Counter-strike, the video game, asserts the personalization of the rhetorical communities living this fantasy. It gives them a mean to express and state their values. Nevertheless, consuming the game is always going to be linked to acts of violence, whether it on a social or global scale.
People may argue that CS gives gamers scenarios on how to carry out violence. Nonetheless, other people think the game does bring immanent stimulus to the subversion of social order and causes no threat to the public safety. In conclusion, Counter-strike isn’t showing any signs slowing down in the mean time. Its effects have almost hit every community and group across the content. Although different fantasy themes appeal for different gamers, CS still encourage the importance of team play and camaraderie which are vital values in every social community.
? Work Citied 1)Ward, Mark. “ Gaming ‘ is good for you’. Technology 12 Feb. 2003 25 Oct 2008 bbc. co. uk/2/hi/technology/2744449. stm>. 2)Clayton, Wolfe. “ Counterstrike. ” Review 25 Oct 2008 html>. 3)Hart, Matt. “ Counter-Strike. ” Reviews 01 05 2001 25 Oct 2008 php>. 4)Snyder, Jesse. “ Counter Strike Culture. ” Journal for Education (2003) 25 Oct 2008 edu/journal/2003/08/snyder. php>. 5)Jonathan Gilbert. “ US vs. Europe at ESWE. ” Gotfrag esport. Sep. 05, 2008. Oct. 17, 2008 “ Wapo writer talks VT shooter/ counter-strike connection, removal. ” Joystick. Apr. 18, 2007. Oct. 17, 2008. ” peopledaily. Sep. 13, 2007. Oct. 17, 2008
